The scoring problem has nothing to do with the passing game

[Gnutella]

Total non-passing TDs by NFL team (2012)

33 - New England
28 - Washington
25 - Carolina
24 - Houston
22 - Baltimore
22 - Seattle
21 - Chicago
21 - Minnesota
21 - New York Giants
21 - San Francisco
20 - Denver
19 - Tennessee
18 - Miami
17 - Detroit
17 - Indianapolis
17 - New York Jets
17 - Tampa Bay
16 - Buffalo
15 - Cincinnati
15 - Cleveland
15 - New Orleans
14 - Arizona
14 - Atlanta
13 - Green Bay
13 - San Diego
12 - Dallas
11 - Philadelphia
10 - Kansas City
10 - St. Louis
9 - Pittsburgh
6 - Jacksonville
4 - Oakland


This season, the Steelers ranked 22nd in the NFL in TDs scored, with 36. Of those 36, 27 were scored by passing, eight by running, one by defense, and zero by special teams. Only four teams had fewer TD runs. Only three teams had fewer defensive TDs. No team had fewer special teams TDs. And as you can see on the chart above, only two teams had fewer non-passing TDs overall.

Conversely, only seven teams had more TD passes than the Steelers this season -- and this is with Ben Roethlisberger missing three-and-a-half games, and the backup QBs combining for one lonely TD pass.

As I've illustrated elsewhere, Roethlisberger was on pace to throw 33 TD passes in 16 games at the rate he was throwing them when he played.* If the Steelers had 33 TD passes, they'd rank 5th in the NFL in that regard, but still only 15th in total TDs. If they could rank in the top five in TD passes but still only be midpack in total TDs, then this proves that the scoring problem has nothing at all to do with the passing game.

It should also be noted that eight of the top dozen teams on that chart are playoff teams, but only two of the bottom dozen are. For that matter, only four playoff teams have scored fewer than 20 TDs by means other than the pass. In other words, there's a strong correlation between versatility in scoring TDs and the likelihood of making the playoffs.

(*: I am fully aware that playing 16 games could have resulted in fewer than 33 TD passes for Roethlisberger, but it could have just as easily resulted in more than 33 TD passes, for all we know.)

[kan_t]

Thanks. I think it's nonsense that Ben doesn't buy in Haley's system. The problem is that the running game is non-existence. Even the Saints and the Packers have better running game than the Steelers and the Steelers still insist to have a 'balance offense' which to me is stupid.

[pete74]

Good read. I definitely makes sense. I don't think anyone can deny that Ben was tearing it up before his injury. We need to run the ball better and find a way to keep Ben in for a 16 game season because he seems to get hurt and miss time every single year. I can't remember the last time he played 16 games.

[lloydwoodson]

25 of 33 of New England's non-passing tds were from rushing touchdowns.

Brady rushed for 4 himself. He threw for 38. Brady's offense = 38 (Tom) + 25 (Rush) = 63 tds from the offense.

Roethlisberger's offense = 26 (Ben) + 1 (Batch) + 7 (Rush) = 34 tds from the offense.

Wow. Tom Brady threw for more tds than Pittsburgh's offense could put up total. Kind of embarassing.

Don't pretend that New England's passing offense didn't set up their run to punch it in from a couple yards out. That would be dishonest. NE was 4th in passing last year and 2nd this year. Pittsburgh was 10th last year and 14th this year. Not so good from a top 5 qb.

Stevan Ridley is the reason the Pats have a rushing attack again. They went from 20th to 7th on the strength of his running.

Last year when the Pats were 20th in rushing they were still 3rd in rushing tds with 18. Why? BECAUSE THEIR PASSING GAME PUTS THE BALL ON THE GOAL LINE.

Pats offense: 2 1st rd picks 0 at skill positions 36 ppg

Steelers offense: 5 1st rd picks 3 at skill positions 21 ppg

STOP MAKING EXCUSES FOR BEN'S INEPT OFFENSE!!!!!

[Gnutella]

The Patriots also averaged half a YPC more (4.2) than the Steelers did (3.7). In fact, only three teams had fewer YPC than the Steelers did. Furthermore, the Steelers ranked 14th in the NFL in net passing yards, and the difference between them and the 10th-ranked team was a mere 196 yards. And this is all in spite of Roethlisberger missing three games. Moving the ball through the air was not a problem for the Steelers when he played. In fact, at the time of his injury, the Steelers ranked 10th in passing yards. The running game simply was not good this season, and is the main reason why the offense didn't score more.

[lloydwoodson]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

The Patriots also averaged half a YPC more (4.2) than the Steelers did (3.7). In fact, only three teams had fewer YPC than the Steelers did. Furthermore, the Steelers ranked 14th in the NFL in net passing yards, and the difference between them and the 10th-ranked team was a mere 196 yards. And this is all in spite of Roethlisberger missing three games. Moving the ball through the air was not a problem for the Steelers when he played. In fact, at the time of his injury, the Steelers ranked 10th in passing yards. The running game simply was not good this season, and is the main reason why the offense didn't score more.

If Tomlin had not decided that the Steelers were going to change philosophies when

he came to town; if he had not drafted "weapons" in place of linemen in a shift from

power football to a NE/Indy copycat offense centered around Ben; if the Steelers had

addressed the elephant in the room which was a deteriorated OLine; if the Steelers

had drafted more than 2 OL in 5 years on day 1; if the Steelers had decided early they

werent ok with Ben throwing 500 times a year and had drafted some linemen... then

we would not be having this conversation... the Steelers would be running the ball

not this Sunday but next with home-field advantage.

[plenewken]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

The Patriots also averaged half a YPC more (4.2) than the Steelers did (3.7). In fact, only three teams had fewer YPC than the Steelers did. Furthermore, the Steelers ranked 14th in the NFL in net passing yards, and the difference between them and the 10th-ranked team was a mere 196 yards. And this is all in spite of Roethlisberger missing three games. Moving the ball through the air was not a problem for the Steelers when he played. In fact, at the time of his injury, the Steelers ranked 10th in passing yards. The running game simply was not good this season, and is the main reason why the offense didn't score more.

Steelers passing ranking:
2012: 14th in yds 8th in receiving TDs
2011: 10th 13th in TDs
2010: 14th 21th in TDs
2009: 9th 7th in TDs
2008: 17th 18th in TDs

Steelers running ranking:
2012: 26th in yds 27th in TDs
2011: 14th 15th in TDs
2010: 11th 8th in TDs
2009: 19th 20th in TDs
2008: 23th 11th in TDs

Steelers total pts scored
2012: 22th
2011: 21th
2010: 12th
2009: 12th
2008: 20th

Looks to me that regardless if Ben plays a full season or not, the Steelers' passing offense is still average.
Overall, passing or rushing doesn't matter, the Steelers haven't been able to put points on the board for many years.

[WVABE]

And in the end its all still a team effort.

[Gnutella]

Originally Posted by plenewken

Looks to me that regardless if Ben plays a full season or not, the Steelers' passing offense is still average.

They were in the top quartile for TD passes this season. That's not "average."

[lloydwoodson]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

They were in the top quartile for TD passes this season. That's not "average."

I point out that Brady threw for more tds than the Steelers offense got collectively. Unphased Gnutella proceeds to champion Ben based on his individual statistics.

A quarterback is responsible for his team's offensive production. Period.

Look at RGIII this year. He was 20th in passing yards and 20th in passing tds. His offense was the 4th best scoring offense in the league and his team ended 10-6! That was an amazing season. He did a helluva job.

I could care less about his individual statistics. He did what was required to effectively operate an offense and score points.

He was helped by a solid running game from Morris and a decent defense. Every qb needs that. Every qb should have that. It was moronic for Tomlin and Arians to neglect the running game for as long as they did.