Fewer chances for Steelers receivers might be leading to more dropped passes

Attempted passes are significantly down, but dropped passes are way up for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

As tight end Vance McDonald noted, “I know that sounds counterintuitive.” But the Steelers say there’s a correlation.

“Everyone wants to make a play, and they want to have opportunities,” offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said. “And maybe when there might be fewer opportunities in the pass game … maybe they overdo it sometimes and want to make more out of (a play) than what it really is.”

The Steelers passing game is struggling, ranking 27th in the NFL in yards per game and 29th in yards per attempt. This is not an unexpected development, of course, after the trade of Antonio Brown and season-ending injury to Ben Roethlisberger.

But what is perhaps unexpected is the self-inflicted harm from the Steelers passing offense. According to Pro Football Focus’ definition, the Steelers dropped five passes Sunday in the 17-12 win against the Los Angeles Rams. That gives them almost as many drops through nine games this season (17) as they had all of last season (21).

The Steelers’ drop percentage of 5.8% of targeted throws is almost double their rate of dropped passes from last season (3.0%). And attempted passes per game are down almost 30% from an NFL-high 43.1 in 2019 to 30.3 (seventh-fewest in the league) this season.

Like McDonald alluded to, fewer passes can lead to more drops because skill-position players feel the pressure of having fewer chances to make their impact on the game.

“With the lesser amount of opportunities, that’s definitely a real thing for receivers,” McDonald said, “because the last thing you want to know and carry with you, is, ‘I didn’t perform well.’ That’s going to hit everyone to some degree.”

In a startling admission, McDonald said he was “angry” and “unhappy” after Sunday’s win.

“I shouldn’t feel that way, because we won,” McDonald said. “But … ”

Among his four touches that netted 13 yards on one rushing play and seven targeted throws, McDonald had two drops and a fumble.

James Washington also fumbled at the end of a 34-yard gain, and receiver Diontae Johnson fumbled (albeit on a punt return) in addition to having a dropped pass. Jaylen Samuels and JuJu Smith-Schuster also were credited for drops Sunday.

McDonald and Samuels have three drops each for the season, per PFF, and Washington, Johnson and Smith-Schuster two.

In addition to the 17 drops, Steelers pass-catchers have six fumbles after receptions this season.

“I think what happens is if you’re not touching the ball a lot,” Fichtner said, “especially, skilled players, when they get the ball, they want to go make something happen and want to be a playmaker like they are.

“But every time isn’t the time to, so (in trying too hard) we put the ball on the ground. We have left some balls out there, just in catching. And I think those are the small things this week that we just have to keep talking about that are so important.”

Mason Rudolph's toughness, physical and mental, have been his most impressive trait he's consistently shown. Not easy to stand tall in the pocket with Aaron Donald barreling down on you. Jaylen Samuels drops what should've been a 3rd down conversion. #Steelers pic.twitter.com/i1xX9TP6ZO

— Alex Kozora (@Alex_Kozora) November 12, 2019

What can be done about the recent spate of drops? Not much. Quarterback Mason Rudolph said he might approach a receiver who dropped a pass and “slap them on the butt” as a way of conveying encouragement.

The idea being, don’t dwell on the negative when dealing with athletes with proven track records.

“They wouldn’t be here if they can’t catch the ball,” Fichtner said.

With a first-year quarterback and one of the NFL’s best defenses at the Steelers’ disposal, targets for receivers aren’t likely to increase anytime soon. So they’re going to have to reconcile the relative lack of opportunities with an obligation to protecting the ball when they do come.

“We have a lot of great receivers, a lot of great playmakers,” Rudolph said, “but hey, everyone’s human. Sometimes we don’t catch the ball. Sometimes I miss a pass. That happens, and we move forward.”