Something is ailing Steelers offense
Their offense that entered the season with such high expectations as possibly the best in the NFL looked like the worst Sunday at Heinz Field.
They rank 17th in yards produced, 19th in points (including a special teams TD), and now second in the league with seven interceptions thrown. Benched Browns rookie DeShone Kizer, who has nine interceptions, is the only quarterback in the NFL who has thrown more than Ben Roethlisberger’s seven. If you prefer your quarterbacks based on passer rating, Roethlisberger ranks 33rd among them all in the league this season with a 75.8. He entered the year with a career rating of 94.1 after he produced a 95.4 in 2016.
It’s hard to believe, as he offered Sunday, that “Maybe I don’t have it anymore.” Nevertheless, he has not played anywhere near his past form in the first five games of the season.
The Steelers noted that Sunday was Roethlisberger’s 50th career 300-yard passing game. That’s not really a good thing and here is why:
Roethlisberger’s record in the 49 games he has thrown for 300 yards or more (another was a relief effort in a win against Cleveland two years ago) is a pedestrian 2722 (.551). In all games as a starter, he is 126-62 (.670).
His record then as a starter in games in which he throws for fewer than 300 yards is 99-40 (.712).
In other words, the chances of the Steelers winning when Roethlisberger tops 300 yards passing are a mere 55.1 percent while their chances when he does not compile that many are 71.6 percent.
And the more passing yards he piles up in a game, the even greater chance the Steelers have of losing. Of his 14 most prolific passing games, the Steelers have gone 3-11 (.214).
There really is no reason then for the Steelers to celebrate when Roethlisberger throws for 300 yards or more. Certainly there wasn’t Sunday when he completed 33 of 55attempts for 312 yards.
To repeat what guard David DeCastro said after Jacksonville stomped them 30-9 Sunday: “There’s nothing worse than being down 14 points and having to pass the ball 50 times. The offense in general, this is not what you want.”
For whatever reason, they did not run Le’Veon Bell much. One week after he ran 35 times in Baltimore for 144 yards, Bell ran 15 times for 47. Bell has 371 yards rushing and a 3.6-yard average per carry this season, down from 4.9 last season and the lowest since his rookie year if it continues on that path.
Now they go to Kansas City, the only unbeaten team in the NFL. The Chiefs are on a roll after winning in Houston Sunday night. The Steelers are not.
“Doing this long enough,” Roethlisberger said, “you understand not to panic and not to hit buttons like, ‘Oh, man, what do I do, change all this and that, go see people?’ You just come out on Wednesday and be ready to practice.”