At times during the 2022 NFL season, the Pittsburgh Steelers' offense seemed stagnant, especially during the first half of the season in which the team had just a 2-6 record. Eventually the team was able to turn it around, going 7-2 after the bye week to finish with a 9-8 record. Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis recently released lists of each team's success in the red zone, as well as avoiding third down situations. If Pittsburgh can find a way to make it to the top of these lists, their record should improve drastically from the 2022 season and this offense full of young potential would show major improvement.
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The Pittsburgh Steelers offense huddles up during a game.
Steelers' Success In The Red Zone
During the 2022 NFL season, Pittsburgh had a red zone play success rate of just 43 percent, meaning that the yards gained on a play either met or exceeded expectations just 43 percent of the time. This rate of success was just 13th in the NFL, and had the Steelers tied with the Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, and San Francisco 49ers. At first sight this doesn't seem bad at all, finishing in the top half of the league in red zone play success rate and being tied with four playoff teams in this statistic should be something to be happy with. However, all four of these teams had a better touchdown scoring percentage in the red zone than Pittsburgh, which helped propel them into the playoffs.
The Steelers scored touchdowns on just 52 percent of their drives into the red zone during the 2022 season. This was 22nd in the NFL. Even Steelers Offensive Coordinator, Matt Canada, called out the offense for the lack of scoring efficiency in the red zone. The team is on par with playoff teams in red zone play success rate, but need to stop settling for field goals and find a way to score more touchdowns in order to compete with playoff teams.
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Najee Harris (#22) takes a handoff from Kenny Pickett (#8) against the New York Jets in Pittsburgh, PA.
Steelers Avoiding Third Down
This young offense saw more third downs than 20 other NFL teams last season. Only two playoff teams finished below them in this category, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Chargers. Steeler Nation knows that this offense was behind the chains most of the time, and found themselves in far too many second-and-long situations which would oftentimes lead to a third down. This also ties into the Steelers' touchdown percentage in the red zone, due to the team seeing so many third downs on many of their drives that reached the end zone, those drives would often result in a field goal attempt.
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Steelers' Chris Boswell prepares to attempt a field goal while Pressley Harvin III sets the ball up from the snap.
With more experience for the offense entering the upcoming NFL season, hopefully Steeler Nation will see more touchdowns in the red zone as well as the team staying in front of the chains. After signing free agent guard Isaac Seumalo, drafting Broderick Jones, and adding Nate Herbig, it is safe to say that the offensive line has been restructured and improved greatly. Hopefully, this will lead to more success for the running game, which can lead to better runs on first down, and less second-and-long situations.
Kenny Pickett having a full offseason as a starter is crucial for the success of the Steelers' offense. Having a new and improved offensive line will allow the team to use the run game to open up the passing game for Pickett. This should lead to the team being more efficient in the red zone and in early downs to provide easier third down situations.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Let us know in the comments below!
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