Four Downs: Steelers shelve blitz-heavy philosophy in opener

1. Four is enough

Going on three decades, a core tenet of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ identity has been an aggressive defense that pressures opposing quarterbacks. In the 2021 opener, the Steelers certainly pressured the quarterback, but they didn’t do it by being aggressive.

After ranking near the top of the league in blitz percentage in recent seasons, the Steelers blitzed less often than any NFL team in Week 1. The league’s statistical arm reported the Steelers blitzed twice during the 23-16 win at the Buffalo Bills; pro-football-reference.com credited them with one blitz.

No matter, as the Steelers still led the league lead in QB pressures, per pro-football-reference.com (tied) and Pro Football Focus.

For perspective, only two teams blitzed more often (39.6% of opponents’ dropbacks) than the Steelers last season. They finished in the top five in blitzing in 2018 and ’19, too. According to Next Gen Stats, the 3.7% of dropbacks in which the Steelers blitzed in Buffalo was their second fewest for a game since at least 2016.

.@MarkMaddenX: T.J. Watt, #Steelers defense were good as advertised and will need to be all season https://t.co/oy3lUmKB3Y

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) September 14, 2021

2. Fantastic front four

The Steelers got all that pressure thanks solely to their font four. Since they stuck with subpackages that featured extra defensive backs virtually the entire game, the pass rush was limited to eight men who played on the defensive line or at outside linebacker. Of those eight, per PFF only Alex Highsmith (on just five of 36 passing plays he was in on) and Melvin Ingram (two of 37 passing plays) were used in coverage — and only sparingly.

“Pressures” is a subjective stat, but CBS Sports reported three Steelers (Cameron Heyward with 12 and T.J. Watt and Ingram with eight each) were among the top five in the NFL in Week 1 pressures. PFF similarly had each in the top 12 of the league.

Among the three outside linebackers who played, ESPN’s metrics actually relayed that Highsmith was better than Watt or Ingram. Highsmith (44%) ranked third in the NFL among edge rushers in pass rush win rate, with Watt ranking ninth (37%). Heyward (29%) was sixth among interior pass rushers in win rate.

#Steelers prez Art Rooney II restated Friday that — even at age 39 — the organization believes Ben Roethlisberger remains a high-level NFL quarterback.https://t.co/sQgwqbaXAZ

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) February 26, 2021

3. Short and quick

Much was made about how Ben Roethlisberger was quick to release his passes and tended to favor receivers who were not very far downfield last season. Through one week, that doesn’t appear to have changed.

Roethlisberger’s average time to throw against the Bills (2.3 seconds) was the same as last season. And it also was again the shortest in the league, per NFL Next Gen Stats. His intended air yards (how far past the line of scrimmage, on average, a receiver was when thrown to) ranked tied for fourth-shortest (5.7 yards).

Officially, Roethlisberger did not attempt a pass to a receiver more than 20 yards downfield. However, that comes with a caveat that a fourth-quarter throw went 26 yards downfield to Chase Claypool and drew a pass interference flag.

Last season, Roethlisberger had the quickest time to throw in the NFL, and his 4.6 average completed air yards was the shortest of any quarterback who started more than half his team’s games.

Ben Roethlisberger completed 18 of 32 passes for 188 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in the 23-16 victory, rallying the #Steelers from a 10-0 halftime deficit. https://t.co/zCSESH6dCo

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) September 17, 2021

4. QB demographics

The NFL released data about the 32 quarterbacks who started Week 1. Roethlisberger, at 39, was the second-oldest behind (who else?) Tom Brady. Ten other starting quarterbacks were older than 30. Three starters were rookies, and four were in their second seasons.

The 11th pick of the 2004 draft, Roethlisberger is among the trend of high-pedigree starters. Only 10 of the 32 starting QBs were drafted after the first round. More starting quarterbacks were the No. 1 overall pick (seven) than were taken with draft picks after No. 75 overall (six).

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