The Steelers have only had 112 drives on offense (last in nfl)

[polamalubeast]

http://footballoutsiders.com/stats/drivestats

It is the team that had the least drive in the NFL with the Packers...This is the big reasons why the Steelers are 19th in points scored.This is a very misleading stats.

If you look at the average point scored by drive, the Steelers are 10th, which is not bad, despite the poor game against the Chiefs.

[fansince'76]

Good stuff, PB. Yet we have just as many offensive TDs (24) as the 7th-ranked-in-scoring Ravens (link (http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?tabSeq=2&statisticCategory=SCORING&conference=ALL&role=TM&season=2011&seasonType=REG)) with SIXTEEN fewer offensive possessions. Gee, you think defensive TDs and turnovers might have something to do with these rankings too?

[X-Terminator]

Good stuff, PB. Yet we have just as many offensive TDs (24) as the 7th-ranked-in-scoring Ravens (link (http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?tabSeq=2&statisticCategory=SCORING&conference=ALL&role=TM&season=2011&seasonType=REG)) with SIXTEEN fewer offensive possessions. Gee, you think defensive TDs and turnovers might have something to do with that ranking too?

Sorry, but I have to penalize you for illegal use of facts and logic to point out the obvious. 15 yards, a loss of down and a $100,000 fine from Goodell Castro. :heh:

Anyway, of course that is the biggest reason why the Steelers are 19th and not in the top 10. I figure they'd average at least 3 more points per game if they had more takeaways, which would put them in the top 10. Hell, the Bears have also scored 24 offensive TDs, but they lead the league in takeaways, have 4 defensive TDs and some guy named Hester has chipped in with a couple of return TDs. Therefore, they're ranked 6th. So total scoring is kind of a misleading stat all things considered, and isn't necessarily an indictment on the offense one way or the other.

[zulater]

Part of that might be due to time of possession? A seven minute drive is still only one drive. Where are they ranked in total plays?

[polamalubeast]

Part of that might be due to time of possession? A seven minute drive is still only one drive. Where are they ranked in total plays?

maybe

And it helps a lot the Steelers defense!

The best example is the game against the Patriots.

And the steelers are 3rd in the time of possession.

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?seasonType=REG&offensiveStatisticCategory=GAME_STATS&d-447263-n=1&d-447263-o=2&d-447263-p=1&d-447263-s=TIME_OF_POSS_SECONDS_PER_GAME_AVG&tabSeq=2&season=2011&role=TM&Submit=Go&archive=false&conference=null&defensiveStatisticCategory=null&qualified=true

[fansince'76]

Hell, the Bears have also scored 24 offensive TDs, but they lead the league in takeaways, have 4 defensive TDs and some guy named Hester has chipped in with a couple of return TDs.

Good point about STs. Whereas our kick return game in a nutshell this year has consisted of AB getting a halfway decent return which is often subsequently wiped out by a holding penalty and our offense winds up starting the ensuing drive right around our own 10-yard line. Not sure where to look it up, but I'd be willing to bet our average starting field position on offense is among the worst in the league, if not the worst, this season as well. We have rarely gotten short fields this year outside of the KC game.

[tube517]

In that same chart:


LOS/Dr represents average starting field position (line of scrimmage) per drive

According to that chart avg starting field position is 27.44. 23rd in the NFL

[fansince'76]

In that same chart:


LOS/Dr represents average starting field position (line of scrimmage) per drive

According to that chart avg starting field position is 27.44. 23rd in the NFL

So, pretty much bottom third, and two spots removed from the bottom quarter of the league. Good eye - I overlooked that.

[polamalubeast]

Good point about STs. Whereas our kick return game in a nutshell this year has consisted of AB getting a halfway decent return which is often subsequently wiped out by a holding penalty and our offense winds up starting the ensuing drive right around our own 10-yard line. Not sure where to look it up, but I'd be willing to bet our average starting field position on offense is among the worst in the league, if not the worst, this season as well. We have rarely gotten short fields this year outside of the KC game.


The Steelers are 23th in the field position.

He was 27th before the game against the Chiefs.

It is written in LOS / dr

http://footballoutsiders.com/stats/drivestats

[fansince'76]

The Steelers are 23th in the field position.

He was 27th before the game against the Chiefs.

It is written in LOS / dr

http://footballoutsiders.com/stats/drivestats

27th...27th! Shows how much one game can skew these rankings. I thought even 23rd was a bit high - our starting field position more often than not has completely blown chunks this season. Adding to this is the fact that every punter we face seems to metamorphose into Ray freakin' Guy against us and winds up pinning us inside the 10 all game to boot.

It's also instructive to note that Green Bay ranks 3rd in the league in that category. It helps immensely when the offense isn't forced to go 80 or 90 yards (or more) for a TD practically EVERY time they get the ball, you know?

[tube517]

27th...27th! Shows how much one game can skew these rankings. I thought even 23rd was a bit high - our starting field position more often than not has completely blown chunks this season. Adding to this is the fact that every punter we face seems to metamorphose into Ray freakin' Guy against us and winds up pinning us inside the 10 all game to boot.

It's also instructive to note that Green Bay ranks 3rd in the league in that category. It helps immensely when the offense isn't forced to go 80 or 90 yards (or more) for a TD practically EVERY time they get the ball, you know?

Yep. It seems like Brown gets up to the 28 and then we get a 10 yd penalty either on the kickoff or on the first play. It seems like that every year though. Arians' fault :chuckle:

[XxKnightxX]

Who cares about possesions , its all about efficiency, how many possesions did the Giants have after that ass whooping? Yep real hardcore stats. And the way I see it, the less teams see our defense, the better we can attack their offenses as well as control the tempo of the game. Welcome to Steelers football 2.0. Fire Arians :bananalama:

[suitanim]

One of the most telling stats in football, I mean one you can almost look at and tell without knowing anything else whether a team is winning or losing, is field position differential. Ours is terrible. BUT, in spite of poor field position, the fewest drives in the NFL and a retarded OC (sorry, couldn't resist), we somehow still are tied for the best record in the AFC.

[X-Terminator]

Who cares about possesions , its all about efficiency, how many possesions did the Giants have after that ass whooping? Yep real hardcore stats. And the way I see it, the less teams see our defense, the better we can attack their offenses as well as control the tempo of the game. Welcome to Steelers football 2.0. Fire Arians :bananalama:

They're 10th in the league in points per drive. I'd say that's pretty efficient.

[Psycho Ward 86]

Our defense is still one of the best in the league and in the last couple of games has given the offense ample opportunity to score.

The Packers and Steelers are tied for the league low in offensive drives with 112, and they're first and we're 19th. HMMM.

[polamalubeast]

Our defense is still one of the best in the league and in the last couple of games has given the offense ample opportunity to score.

The Packers and Steelers are tied for the league low in offensive drives with 112, and they're first and we're 19th. HMMM.

You not want to understand!

First, the packers have the best offense in the NFL.

Secondly, the Steelers are 10th in points per drive, you will not want to understand

And thirdly it is only the game against the Chiefs than the Steelers defense gave the offense opportunities to score points.

Unfortunately, the offense had its worst game since 2 months.

[Psycho Ward 86]

The only point you've made by comparing us to the Packers is that we are a horribly inopportunistic offense, but no one needed stats to see that. We sure need layer upon layer of excuses to cover up the fact that we suck at scoring.

[polamalubeast]

The only point you've made by comparing us to the Packers is that we are a horribly inopportunistic offense, but no one needed stats to see that. We sure need layer upon layer of excuses to cover up the fact that we suck at scoring.


The Steelers are 10th in points per drive.

No, it does not suck for the scoring.They are not the best offense in the league, but they are in the top 10.

It should only improve consistency.Against the Chiefs, was the first bad game of the offense since 5-6 games.

Do you really think the Steelers would be 19th if they would have had 130 drives?...I hope not!


It has stats that are very misleading, and the stats that says the Steelers are 19th is very misleading.It should not just judge on only one stats to judge an offense or defense.

[fansince'76]

The only point you've made by comparing us to the Packers is that we are a horribly inopportunistic offense, but no one needed stats to see that. We sure need layer upon layer of excuses to cover up the fact that we suck at scoring.

No, the point he's making is that the supposedly all-important points-per-game statistical ranking is a misleading one, and it is. Kind of like the Chargers finishing with a #1 league ranking on offense AND defense last season, yet finishing 9-7 and out of the playoffs. It's also no secret that the Packers have the best offense in the league by a mile, but that comparison was never made to begin with.

[NCSteeler]

Anytime the offense can hand the defense a 14-20 point lead(like the packers O often does) then of course the defense makes more plays and even more opportunity for O to score. It's pretty rare for us to get up early and often. Our defense is usually caught in the precarious position of protecting a one score lead or no lead at all.

[Psycho Ward 86]

No, the point he's making is that the supposedly all-important points-per-game statistical ranking is a misleading one, and it is. Kind of like the Chargers finishing with a #1 league ranking on offense AND defense last season, yet finishing 9-7 and out of the playoffs. It's also no secret that the Packers have the best offense in the league by a mile, but that comparison was never made to begin with.

in yardage, not points. What good is being able to move the ball at will if you can't score? We have the same problem as the Panthers. Boy, if they could gear their offense to score off of less of just their big plays and more off of their redzone play, they would be in the running for an NFC wild card spot (even with a shaky injury depleted defense). I cant argue the point about the Packers, that's just indisputable, but we definitely have the firepower to be an upper echelon scoring team and we just arent playing to our potential yet.

[fansince'76]

in yardage, not points. What good is being able to move the ball at will if you can't score? We have the same problem as the Panthers. Boy, if they could gear their offense to score off of less of just their big plays and more off of their redzone play, they would be in the running for an NFC wild card spot (even with a shaky injury depleted defense). I cant argue the point about the Packers, that's just indisputable, but we definitely have the firepower to be an upper echelon scoring team and we just arent playing to our potential yet.

San Diego's offense was ranked #2 in points scored in 2010 as well, while their defense was ranked #10 in points allowed (their kick coverage sucked out loud as badly as ours did in '09, so that's largely why they wound up 9-7). However, I agree that our offense could be performing better. I was pretty disappointed with their performance in the KC game. If Moore would have just held onto the damn ball and Wallace would have caught just one of the two he dropped, we'd have won by a pretty comfortable margin.

[pepsyman1]

San Diego's offense was ranked #2 in points scored in 2010 as well, while their defense was ranked #10 in points allowed (their kick coverage sucked out loud as badly as ours did in '09, so that's largely why they wound up 9-7). However, I agree that our offense could be performing better. I was pretty disappointed with their performance in the KC game. If Moore would have just held onto the damn ball and Wallace would have caught just one of the two he dropped, we'd have won by a pretty comfortable margin.

I've been pretty disappointed in our scoring for YEARS. Other than this year our defense has usually been VERY opportunistic, but we haven't been in the top 10 in scoring since 2007(and that was 9th). The Patriots have been in the top 10 EVERY year except 2003 (12th) for the last DECADE. THAT would be what I would label as efficient. Arians is nothing special.

[suitanim]

I think people are once again missing the point. The way defenses stop offenses in the NFL is through attrition. You basically ask the defense to eventually stop the offense by making them successfully execute, and do it repeatedly. The longer the field, the more opportunities for break-downs, ergo, the Steelers have trouble scoring because they have long fields to work with. The stats bear that out.

Why do the Pats score so many points with their little dink and dunk? Because they execute brilliantly almost every game (and it pains me to admit that). In their match-ups with defenses, they simply execute better than the defense does, and have less break-downs. So what we see from the stats is that the Steelers are taking longer, and using more plays, to get into the RZ. Once there, they break down more because of attrition. The ways to fix that are to create more turnovers and to have a better return game. Short fields equal more points.

Now, if you want to blame Arians for the bad starting filed position and poor field position differential, that's fine....but please realize you might as well go ahead and blame Obama as well, because both have absolutely about the same amount of influence on the situation, which is none.

Defense.
Special Teams.

[X-Terminator]

I've been pretty disappointed in our scoring for YEARS. Other than this year our defense has usually been VERY opportunistic, but we haven't been in the top 10 in scoring since 2007(and that was 9th). The Patriots have been in the top 10 EVERY year except 2003 (12th) for the last DECADE. THAT would be what I would label as efficient. Arians is nothing special.

Was Arians the OC for all of those years? I don't think so. But guess who was OC in 2007? If you said Bruce Arians, go to the head of the class. What else was one of the big reasons they had that #9 ranking? They led the league in rushing. You don't think that has a connection too, do you? The Steelers really haven't been able to run the ball very well since then, which is another reason why they have not scored more points. And for as "bad" as the O was in 2008, they still averaged more PPG than they do now. Why? Because they led the league in total defense, points allowed and takeaways. Gee, another connection!

Here's the bottom line...you can point your finger at BA all you want. But there is more to the PPG stat than meets the eye. If they could run the ball better, their red zone offense would be better, and thus they'd score more. If the defense created more turnovers and gave the offense more short fields, they'd score more. Can you and the other Arians haters at least acknowledge these points before throwing him into downtown traffic?

[polamalubeast]

The most important thing is not the stats or points scored, were the victories.

I do not want the Steelers score 40 points against weak opponents and that after they lose the close games as is the case for the Chargers since 2008.

The important thing is winning and since 2004, the Steelers scored 348 points in 13 playoff game, 194 points in 7 games with Bruce Arians.

The offense has a slump at a time every year, but they prove they can fix issues late in the season.

They have always scored at least 20 points in each playoff game since 2004.