Friday Football Footnotes: We know the Steelers offense is lagging, but what’s going on with the rest of the NFL?
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If there is one NFL trend the Pittsburgh Steelers can claim to be a part of, it’s a lack of scoring.
The Steelers are averaging only 18 points per game. They ended up at 20.2 a season ago. And keep in mind, seven of their 54 points were the result of a Minkah Fitzpatrick interception that went for a touchdown on defense in Week 1.
At 19th in the league, though, the Steelers are only a little below average in 2022. So quarterback Mitch Trubisky and company are hardly alone in their offensive struggles.
The excuse of “It’s early, offenses are working themselves into form” isn’t applicable either. Via the Associated Press, the 20.3 points per game by teams was the lowest for a Week 3 since 2009 and the fourth lowest for any week in the past five seasons. Overall, the 21-points-per-game average for the NFL is the lowest through Week 3 since it was 20.2 points per game in 2010.
So, how come? Why is scoring down across the league with so many rules and constructs within the game tilted toward the offense? I asked Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada if he had any theories.
“Obviously, I see that, but I don’t have any,” Canada said. “I’ll let you guys wonder why that is. We’ve got to score more points. That’s certainly my focus.”
No doubt there’s enough meat on the bone to keep Canada busy there. How about on the other side of the ball, though?
“I don’t have any (theories). I don’t know why that would be,” Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “I’m assuming that guys are getting used to the different trends that are going on in the league and maybe adjusting to them a little bit better. That’s maybe why scoring is down.”
If, by “guys,” Austin means his own peers as defensive coordinators, he might be onto something. Some have posited that increased usage of two-high safety shells is an effective way to defend against the talented quarterbacks, wide receivers and play-making tight ends in the league.
I buy that. But if you ask me, the biggest reason for a dip in scoring is the glut of talent and athleticism along defensive fronts these days, as opposed to what appears to be a lack of depth league-wide when it comes to offensive line play.
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Why wouldn’t that be the case? If you are 6-foot-4, 290 pounds, why wouldn’t you want to be a pass-rushing defensive lineman who gets paid more money to make big plays rather than being an offensive lineman who only gets noticed when things go wrong?
As a result, the few human beings on this planet who have the size and athleticism to be on both sides of the ball obviously gear their careers to rushing the passer instead of protecting him.
From high school on to the pros. If they have the choice.
Kinda like if you are 6-foot-3, 190 pounds and run a 4.3-second, 40-yard dash, it’s more fun to be a wide receiver than one of the cornerbacks who are getting burned by people like that.
Those positions are where the money and draft capital seem to go from NFL teams as well. I mean, how often these days do you hear or read in advance of a game, “Team X’s offensive line is far better than the opposition’s defensive front-7”?
That doesn’t happen very much. Finding seven or eight high-functioning rotational defensive players along your front seems a lot easier to do than finding five really capable O-linemen to play every snap.
Another notion advanced in that AP article is that some of the league’s most established veteran quarterbacks are off to bad starts.
Writer Josh Dubow reported that Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City), Tom Brady (Tampa Bay) and Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay) combined for just 43 points Sunday. That’s the fewest points scored in the 57 weeks all three of those All-Pro QBs have started. The previous low was 55 in Week 15 of the 2018 season. Those three men have combined to win four of the last five MVP awards.
That may not be about age or diminishing skill. That may be more about the fact that, in each case, those quarterbacks have all endured major losses when it comes to receiving weapons and offensive linemen due to injuries and offseason departures.
Those are some ideas as to why scoring is down so far in 2022. The next question: Will the trend continue?
I doubt it.
We all know the NFL likes points. It likes excitement. It likes scoring. It likes fantasy football players being engaged. So you know how the league is going to even things out, right?
Penalties.
Look for a lot more defensive pass interference calls this week. More defensive holds. Maybe that 50/50 bump along the sideline gets a 15-yard penalty when it wouldn’t have a week ago. I bet a few extra roughing the passer penalties will be called after that trend had been reigned in a bit this year, thanks to a higher threshold to draw a flag for 2022.
I’d also bet that we’ll see offenses get away with murder when it comes to things such as holding and offensive tackles jumping early on the snap.
As if that stuff doesn’t happen enough already.
Hey, it doesn’t matter how the yards come. The NFL just wants the offenses moving the ball and points going up on the scoreboard. The league will never say that out loud. It doesn’t have to do so. Almost every rule, trend or mechanical aspect of game management for 50 years has been geared to aid offenses and make life more difficult for the defenses.
The NFL Network’s premier Sunday program is called “Red Zone” for a reason.
As of Thursday, though, Austin didn’t reveal any edicts from the league about a crackdown on defensive penalties.
“The league does a good job in terms of educating our guys on what they’re looking for. They send out videos every week that are talking about penalties, talking about things,” Austin said. “So, they give you a warning on things that they may be looking at or looking for. That’s kind of a moving target and could change from week to week, month to month. It’s our job once the league says, ‘Hey, this is maybe something that’s getting out of hand,’ that we make sure we coach it and that we’re diligent in it.”
That being said, I’m still expecting lots of penalties in the Steelers game Sunday against the Jets at Acrisure Stadium. Especially defensive penalties.
Brad Rogers’ crew will be working the game. These officials have called seven defensive pass interference and three defensive holding penalties in three games. They have called the third-most penalties overall this season, with 41 in three games.
Austin may not like that. But Canada? He’ll take any help he can get for his struggling offense. As I bet many of his offensive coordinator peers would at this point as well.
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic joins me to preview Jets vs. Steelers. We discuss what New York’s offense will look like with Zach Wilson back at quarterback, their offensive line issues, and if the struggling Steelers offense can get on track against the Jets defense
Listen: Tim Benz and Zack Rosenblatt break down Steelers-Jets