In a lot of ways, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ win on Sunday resembled just how they want to draw up victory. The defense shined, coming up with several splash plays and winning the turnover battle by five. On offense, the Steelers did just enough to take advantage of their opportunities. All the offense had to do was not screw things up, a task in which it succeeded.
However, for Yahoo Sports’ Charles McDonald, it wasn’t quite enough. He’d like to see the offense be more explosive going forward.
“Their average starting field position was their own 47-yard line,” McDonald said Sunday on the Football 301 podcast. “You’re at midfield almost every drive. And guess what? They still didn’t get a first down on 54 percent of their drives. Like, what’s going on here?”
Interestingly, with the Colts offense coming into this game so hot, and their defense being somewhat suspect, the way the game transpired was surprising. We expected the Steelers’ offense to be chasing points with the defense giving up so many, but it was the opposite.
The splash plays were massive because of the field position McDonald references. The Steelers got the ball in the red zone in the first quarter after a muffed punt. Both Jack Sawyer and Payton Wilson’s interceptions set them up in good field position as well. The defense certainly did its job.
In the past few weeks, it’s been the offense getting the job done while the defense struggles. The offense didn’t have to be too aggressive in this one, playing with excellent field position and the lead for most of the game. However, McDonald would have liked to see the Steelers attack deeper down the field with Aaron Rodgers.
“He was Charlie Checkdown to the max,” McDonald said. “Hey, it’s tough to lose, even when you do average 17 yards per drive, 3.7 yards per play. And the Colts, when you look at percentages, kind of blew them out of the water in terms of what they did on a play-to-play basis. It’s just one of those games where the Steeler magic happened. And they got some crazy outlier performances on special teams and defense to help them kind of pull this [off].”
That forcing six turnovers is unsustainable has been a common refrain since the win. And that was also presented weeks ago after the Steelers forced five in a win over New England. However, this defense is built around creating splash plays. And it’s not like the Colts simply gave the game away. Aside from the muffed punt, the defense had a hand in each turnover.
Offensively, the Steelers have had to go above and beyond to win, or even compete in games recently. But that’s not how this team hopes to win games. It wants to play strong defense and have the offense manage the game into a win from there. While the offense could be better, perhaps the role reversal from both sides of the ball this year has changed some expectations. But the Steelers surely won’t be angry with the play from their offense or defense.
Recommended for you