The time-of-possession battle is a critical component of the outcome of games in the NFL. Today, I wanted to share data to give context to how much of an issue it has been for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Let’s look at the average time of possession per drive on both sides of the ball. For the visuals, times are in seconds.
It’s a grim picture indeed. The Steelers’ offense has an average time of possession per drive of 2:26, tying for next to last with two other teams (Baltimore, Tennessee). Likely more shocking is Pittsburgh’s defensive results, which have been on the field an average of 3:19 per drive, ranking 31st.
So, Cincinnati’s offense and Miami’s defense are the only units that have been worse than Pittsburgh at time of possession on both sides of the ball. Whoof.
Here are the time of possession differentials (offense – defense):
A -53 average time of possession differential for the Steelers, dead last in the NFL. That’s nearly a minute difference, with the Bengals and Ravens flirting with that discouraging fact, and Cleveland is the only AFC North team with a positive differential. Didn’t have that on the bingo card going into the season.
The Browns’ defense being the better unit is unsurprising. It is tied for second best and could pose a problem for the Steelers’ offense next game if that continues. Calling for Pittsburgh’s defense to make a noticeable improvement seems more reasonable on paper. Buffalo has a league-best +38 differential, which is 91 points stronger than Pittsburgh.
All that ultimately matters is winning, which the Steelers have done in their 3-1 start to 2025. Coming off a bye week, the most time to evaluate and correct team-level issues in the busy NFL schedule, this is likely high on the radar. If improved, it would complement other things the team is doing well. But some things need attention, like a recent study of Pittsburgh’s big plays showed, and time of possession should be very high on the list.
