Coming off a 9-3 loss against the Buffalo Bills, I’m starting to believe the Pittsburgh Steelers offense is allergic to scoring points. For the third season now, I will be charting, visualizing, and providing takeaways for the all-important quarterback position for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Couple of notes before we jump in. Thanks to Thomas Mock for his great work that helped me learn much of what I’m using in the series visually. Spikes and clear throwaways are removed due to being the correct situational decision, along with bats at the line of scrimmage. In this game, one bat and one throwaway were removed.
QB Russell Wilson made his Steelers debut, going 8-of-10 for just 47 yards with no TDs or INTs and an 86.2 rating. The main blemish was three sacks, but that falls more on a putrid showing from OT Broderick Jones.
QB Justin Fields went 11-of-17 on the stat sheet his second go-round for 92 yards with no TDs or INTs. But a couple near picks, one sack, and a 78.6 rating. The main positive, though it came as no surprise, was scrambling. 42 rushing yards on eight runs, including the only explosive play of the game (20 yards).
Let’s look at a simple view of all 25 charted passes, with number of throws at each pass distance for the game:
#1. 0-5 air-yards: 56.0-percent. Lots of conservative nature in the preseason. First pass of the game was quick to the flat, with WR Van Jefferson making the catch after going in motion for four yards. Against off-coverage on third-and-12, Wilson hit TE Pat Freiermuth wide-open in the flat at the line that gained 10, but resulted in a second-straight three-and-out.
First pass of the second quarter was from an empty set, Wilson targeting the stop route to Jefferson, but a hit at the catch point jarred it loose. The following third-and-14 was expectedly off-coverage again, encouraging a Wilson checkdown to RB Jaylen Warren at 1-air-yard, coming up just short on the 12-yard gain. Warren also sustained his hamstring injury here, putting his availability for the season-opener in jeopardy.
The following drive started with WR George Pickens in motion, who was then targeted on a stop route and tackled quickly for four yards. Mid-second quarter, it’s third-and-11, and another stop route this time to Jefferson, nearly dropping it but hanging on and talked quick for just 4 yards. Pittsburgh was content going field goal here, but a rare miss from Boswell doinked from 52-yards.
Fields entered inside the two-minute warning and was pressured on a third-and-six fail, Jones losing his block, with the attempt hopping short of RB Aaron Shampklin at 1 air-yard. Another drive opportunity before halftime, hitting TE Connor Heyward on the stop for five yards. Then, three-straight throws to WR Scotty Miller, with a stop and speed-out in this pass distance. The latter set up Boswell, who connected from 43 yards for Pittsburgh’s only points.
My favorite was the only example in the third quarter. A fake toss that Fields sold well, then rolled right and hit the shallow crosser to Heyward wide-open at 5 air-yards, adding nice YAC and hurdling a defender for 15 yards. YAC has improved in Pittsburgh since last season, but this was one of the few this game.
In the fourth quarter, first example was a second-and-ten quick out to WR Jaray Jenkins. The following third-and-five Fields moved the in the pocket, eventually finding WR Duece Watts on the sideline for the conversion right at the sticks. A late comeback effort on fourth-and-four failed, with Fields holding it and finally targeted Heyward (outside his frame) in tight coverage but unfortunately off his hands.
#2. 5-10 air-yards: 40.0-percent. Yet to be mentioned was a quick out to Miller before halftime, picking up a chain-moving 6 yards on second-and-five. First pass of the third quarter was enjoyable, with Fields surveying on a scramble-drill and finding TE MyCole Pruitt who worked open over-the-middle at 6 air-yards, adding a couple in YAC to convert on third-and-seven.
Fourth quarter, WR Dez Fitzpatrick motions and gets open on a crosser off a play-action boot with Fields getting it there despite being hit by a free rusher.
#3. Behind-the-Line: 12.0-percent. Fewer this game (three passes), compared to 29.6 percent in the opener. It was RB Cordarrelle Patterson’s Steelers debut, with an early motion and swing-pass at -7 air yards that did well to get back to the line. The following second-and-ten was a screen to Warren, able to get just 2 yards with OG James Daniels unable to land the block in space.
In the final two-minutes, Fields dumped it off to RB La’Mical Perine at -3 air-yards on third-and-15, mustering only 4 yards.
T-4th. 15-20 air-yards: 8.0-percent. In the fourth quarter, first example was a dangerous near-pick from Fields, targeting TE Matt Sokol on the corner route that the DB undercut, going off his hands incomplete.
A late third-and-seven was impressive, with a great sack elude from Fields, then hit on the throw that was nearly picked. Instead, goes through the DBs hands to Fitzpatrick, displaying great focus despite the tip and awesome toe-tap on the sideline for the 19-yard catch to convert.
T-4th. Explosive: 8.0-percent. Just two attempts, both incomplete. One was nearly spectacular, a go-ball from Wilson at 32 air-yards off play-action despite pressure, with Pickens doing Pickens things for the highlight-grab. But it’s a game of inches and ruled just out-of-bounds.
Then, a missed connection to newly acquired WR T.J. Luther, not on the same page on the deep-post, where Fields threw more vertically than his route and sailed over his head.
T-4th. 10-15 air-yards: 8.0-percent. First play was enjoyable, a third-and-two over the middle that Jefferson sat on at and provided a wide-open target for Wilson, catching the low pass at 13 air-yards and converting.
Here are the dots of completions/incompletions for the game:
Gives a greater sense of the conservative nature, though things opened up a bit more than the low bar set in the opener. Also, while not a ton, there were a couple over-the-middle targets, after no such attempts last game. Hopefully once regular season hits, the Arthur Smith offense will look much more dynamic around the field.
Completion Rates By Distance:
WILSON:
Behind-the-line: 3/3 (100-percent)
0-5 air-yards: 5/6 (83.3-percent)
5-10 air-yards: 0/0 (N/A)
10-15 air-yards: 1/1 (100-percent)
15-20 air-yards: 0/0 (N/A)
Explosive: 0/1 (0.0-percent)
FIELDS:
Behind-the-line: 1/1 (100-percent)
0-5 air-yards: 6/8 (75-percent)
5-10 air-yards: 9/10 (90-percent)
10-15 air-yards: 1/1 (100-percent)
15-20 air-yards: 1/2 (50-percent)
Explosive: 0/1 (0.0-percent)
Completion Rates By Location:
WILSON:
Outside left numbers: 1/2 (50-percent)
Left numbers-left hash: 4/4 (100-percent)
Inside hashes: 1/1 (100-percent)
Right hash-right numbers: 2/2 (100-percent)
Outside right numbers: 0/1 (0.0-percent)
FIELDS:
Outside left numbers: 4/5 (80-percent)
Left numbers-left hash: 1/1 (100-percent)
Inside hashes: 1/1 (100-percent)
Right hash-right numbers: 1/3 (33.3-percent)
Outside right numbers: 2/3 (66.7-percent)
Now for the heat-maps for charted-passes, then completions only:
Even the all-attempts view is uninspiring. The completions-only chart really emphasizes the lack of passing prowess in this game. With the low number of attempts to boot, the heat maps are actually quite generous for Wilson in particular, and it was largely around five-yard air yards for Fields.
Next, let’s look at the 47 charted throws this preseason:
And here are the preseason percentages by pass distance, including the previous average, and 2023 regular season rates to see trends:
#1. 0-5 air yards: Preseason 44.7-percent. Previously 25.9-percent. 2023 35.0-percent.
#2. 5-10 air yards: Preseason 31.9-percent. Previously 18.5-percent. 2023 23.8-percent.
#3. Behind the line: Preseason 21.3-percent. Previously 29.6-percent. 2023 18.5-percent.
#4. 15-20 air yards: Preseason 12.8-percent. Previously 18.5-percent. 2023 10.8-percent.
#5. Explosive (20+ air yards): Preseason 10.6-percent. Previously 14.8-percent. 2023 12.4-percent.
#6. 10-15 air yards: Preseason 4.3-percent. Previously 7.4-percent. 2023 13.0-percent.
I’ll save big takeaways for the end of the preseason, but it’s interesting to see the preseason game trends and comparisons to the 2023 regular season.
To close, here are the 2024 preseason dots and heat maps for all preseason attempts, along with the completions only heat map, which I will summarize at the end of the preseason:
Not overreacting, but hard to ignore third-stringer Kyle Allen having the widest heat-maps. Wilson and Fields…not so much. Can’t wait to see the preseason finale, and while it’s not all about gun-slinging in these games, hopefully it’s a much better performance for the Steelers passing game and offense heading into the regular season.