Brown’s status; assistant addition
The eight teams that participated in the first round of the NFL playoffs put the wild in wild-card weekend. Three of the four games were decided by seven points or fewer with two that came down to the wire. The Eagles won by one point, the Cowboys by two and the Chargers by six.
The finishes that had fans on the edge of their seats mirrored a regular season which had more close games than any other season in NFL history.
• Seventy-three games were decided by three points or fewer, the most in a season in league history.
• Nearly half of the games in 2018 were decided by seven points or fewer. There were 125 games that were decided by that margin, tied for fourth-most in a season in league history. That represented 49 percent of all games (125 of 256).
• Taking it one step further to include all one-score games, there were 136 games that were decided by eight points or fewer, also the fourth-most in a season in league history. That accounted for 53 percent of all games (136 of 256).
• And finally, there were 175 games — 68 percent of all games played this season (175 of 256) — that were within one score (eight points) in the fourth quarter, tied for third-most in a season.
The dream of former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle is alive and well. There is more parity in the NFL than almost any time in the history of the league.
Anyone who watched the Steelers play this season can attest. Twelve of their 16 games were decided by seven points or fewer. That was nothing new for them. In 2017, they played in 10 games that were decided by seven points or fewer. Over the past five seasons 43 of their 80 regularseason games were decided by seven points or fewer.
They’ve been remarkably consistent in their success rate in close games. They were 4-3 in games with seven-point margins or fewer in 2014; 4-4 in 2015; 4-2 in 2016; 8-2 in 2017; and 6-5-1 in 2018.
Other than 2017, the clear outlier season in the past five, the Steelers needed to win games on the final or penultimate weekend of the season to make the playoffs. They were able to win those games in 2014, 2015, 2016 to get into the playoffs. They could not do it this past season when a three-point loss in New Orleans did them in.
While the four-year playoff streak was impressive — other franchises would sign in blood for such a streak — it was not easy. And playing in a competitive division such as the AFC North almost guarantees it won’t be easy in future years.
The Steelers played in four games that could be classified as blowouts or at the very least non-competitive games in the fourth quarter. They lost to the Ravens, 26-14, and had comfortable victories against the Falcons (41-17), Browns (33-18) and Panthers (52-21).
Their final seven games not only were decided by seven points or fewer; they weren’t decided until the final minute. Four of them were losses, and all four played a role in keeping the Steelers out of the playoffs.
One of the losses haunts the Steelers more than others.
“The Chargers game,” outside linebacker Bud Dupree said. “We were up by a lot. That was crazy.”
The Steelers held a 23-7 halftime lead and lost on the final play of the game.
“Also, the Oakland game,” Dupree added. “We never should have lost the Oakland game. We have to stop playing down to the level of the competition. We have to start playing to our potential. There are too many good guys on our roster not to be dominating every game.”
Of course, it would be easier for the Steelers if they did have more dominant performances, especially against inferior competition. That continues to be their Achilles’ heel under Mike Tomlin.
The Patriots, for example, only played in five games this past season that were decided by seven points or fewer. They were 3-2 in those games, but they won six games by 12 points or more. That’s double the number the Steelers did. And it’s the reason the Patriots earned the No. 2 seed in the AFC and will play host Sunday to the Chargers.
But the past two seasons indicate it won’t be easy for these Steelers to do that. For better or worse, this is a group that plays an inordinate number of close games — 23 of their past 33 games including the playoff loss to Jacksonville were seven-point margins. The answer most likely isn’t in more dominating performances, as Dupree suggests.
The answer, in this ultra-competitive era of the NFL, is rediscovering ways to win close games.