Red zone offense, Minkah Fitzpatrick and how the plays get made
Some random thoughts on the Pittsburgh Steelers this week.
My mom out-footballed me this weekend. Not that it is overly difficult to do that, but man did she get me. My parents and I were having a drink on Sunday morning, watching football pre-game shows on TV before the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens game when my mom randomly, out of nowhere, said “I have a question. Do you think there is any chance they might use Justin Fields today? Just to try and confuse the Ravens?”
My immediate reaction? No chance. Not happening. No way they are going to do that. If they were going to do it, they probably would have done it by now.
It is an idea that has been talked about ever since Russell Wilson reclaimed the starting job, and every week there was talk about a special package of plays the Steelers might have for Fields. Every week he did not actually see the field.
Not only did the Steelers break out that package of plays in Sunday’s 18-16 win over the Ravens, they did it during one of the most important moments of the game in the fourth quarter as they were trying to get a first down to secure the game.
(He also had one snap earlier in the game.)
As soon as he walked out onto the field I was stunned. I did not expect it. After the game I immediately called mom and said “I owe you an apology …. you were right.”
Maybe the Steelers were saving the Fields package for the right moment against Baltimore. Perhaps they did not want to waste it against the New York Jets, New York Giants or Washington Commanders and did not want to give the Ravens any film on it.
Either way, it worked.
Fields carried the ball two times for 17 yards, including a key nine-yard run that gave them a very manageable third-and-one where they could close the game out. I will ignore the fact Fields slid too early on that nine-yard run and did not get the first down himself because the next play (again with Fields) worked and they won the game.
Now that we have seen it, I would not hate seeing it a little more often in certain situations.
Specifically down inside the 10-yard line.
Red zone offense continues to be a major issue for the Steelers, and it showed up in a big way on Sunday as they took four trips inside the Baltimore 20-yard line (including one that started inside the 20-yard line) and they were only able to come away with nine points (three field goals). They also turned the football over in the red zone for the second week in a row, this time on a brutal Wilson interception.
That sort of efficiency in that area is not going to cut it every week. Especially if you have to play Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes. It might not work against Lamar Jackson again, either.
Wilson’s ability to play in the red zone in Denver a year ago was one of the big things that was pointed to in turning to him as the starter. So far, it has not showed itself here. Which brings me to a fascinating stat I saw this week from Steelers beat writer Alan Saunders.
Both Wilson and Fields have led 11 offensive drives inside the opponents 10-yard line this season.
With Fields at quarterback the Steelers scored eight touchdowns on those drives, kicked one field goal, and averaged 5.4 points per drive. I am assuming that includes the drive at the end of the Los Angeles Chargers game where Najee Harris was tackled at the one-yard line, which was followed by the Steelers running out the clock to end the game. It could have very easily been another touchdown. They were also stopped on a fourth-and short inside the five-yard line in Atlanta in the season opener.
With Wilson at quarterback the Steelers have scored just four touchdowns, kicked five field goals and averaged 3.9 points per drive.
That is interesting. So why is that happening?
My guess is that it is a reflection of the Steelers’ wide receivers not being able to get themselves open in small windows, Wilson holding onto the ball and not running, and the plays just not coming together quickly enough.
With Fields, there was an entirely different dimension at play due to his ability to run the football. Several of those touchdowns that the Steelers scored with him at quarterback in on those series were the result of him running it in (he has five rushing touchdowns in his six starts). You can call different plays. You can design runs for him. You can run read options. Fields can take it upon himself to run if there is nothing open.
You are not really getting that with Wilson.
Wilson has played better than I anticipated, but there are still some obvious flaws here. He has hit a few big passes downfield, but over the past few weeks there has not been a lot of consistency to the passing game. That is not me saying they should bench him or go back to Fields as the starter. Not even close. Wilson clearly opens things up in the passing game because he can do things fields can not do (or will not try to do). What am I saying is that maybe when it gets down to plays inside the 10-yard line that you have a couple of plays for Fields to try and make something happen where he is giving defenses a different dimension to account for when they line up.
It is not a cure all. It will not fix all of the problems. It might be worth trying.
It is not conventional, but there is not much about this team that is conventional. If you have talented players that can help you win in certain situations. Use them.
Minkah Fitzpatrick has been a focal point this season because he has not made many splash plays on defense, a trend that has been going on for the better part of the past two seasons.
It is noteworthy because in his first few years with the Steelers he was constantly creating turnovers and putting up big numbers, and also because he is one of the highest paid safeties in the league and one of the highest paid players on the highest paid defense in the league.
Never seeing him make a play is certainly worthy of some discussion.
But is it a problem, and why is it happening? Or more accurately, not happening?
It could be a matter of usage and what the Steelers are asking him to do. They play a ton of single-high safety and seem to be asking him to play the deep middle of the field in an effort to help cut down on big, downfield passing plays.
It has, for the most part, worked. The Steelers do not give up a ton of big passing plays, and teams generally seem to avoid going at Fitzpatrick. Probably because they know what he is capable of. Sometimes you will see Fitzpatrick in coverage on a completion or a big play, but this is the NFL. Sometimes the other team is going to beat you. You are still looking for big picture stuff here.
Which brings me to my overall point here: Do I care who actually makes the big plays on defense (or offense, for that matter) as long as somebody is making them and the team is doing what it needs to do?
If Fitzpatrick is being asked to play the deep middle of the field, and if teams are avoiding him, is that a bad thing? The defense is the No. 2 defense in the league in terms of points against (trailing only the Los Angeles Chargers) and are tied for the third most takeaways in the NFL.
They are doing everything you want a top-tier defense to do. They keep teams out of the end zone, they take the football away, they make big plays. Do I care who actually makes the big plays as long as everybody is doing their part? I do not.
If Fitzpatrick playing centerfield forces teams to keep the ball short, and that creates opportunities for Joey Porter Jr., Donte Jackson, DeShon Elliott, Payton Wilson or Beanie Bishop to create takeaways, is that a problem? Would anybody feel better if Bishop had zero interceptions and Fitzpatrick had three of them? It makes no difference to me.
It is the same thing with sacks. If teams are putting two or three people on T.J. Watt and leaving Alex Highsmith or Nick Herbig in one-on-one matchups and they end up getting the sack, does that change the result? Of course not.
The question then becomes, is that worth a nearly $20 million per year salary? My response to that is a resounding yes, as long as it works. It is not as simple as just putting anybody back there in that spot and getting the same results. It has to be a player that is good enough to do it, and a player that is good enough to keep teams from wanting to go after them. If you put Terrell Edmunds back in that spot, teams are not going to be afraid of him. At the end of the day I just want a good defense and for somebody to make the plays. That is what they are getting. That is all that matters.