Four Downs: Numbers show contrast of Steelers defense in 1st, 2nd halves

1. Half-and-half

The Pittsburgh Steelers were expected to have one of the NFL’s best defenses. But that’s only been half true so far this season.

The Steelers have been among the best on defense… in the first halves of games. Come the second half, they’ve statistically been one of the worst.

When it comes to points allowed, the Steelers rank third in the NFL during the first half. Opponents are averaging 7.8 points per game against them before halftime. But after halftime, the Steelers have allowed the ninth-most points in the NFL (13.4 per game).

The per-quarter breakdowns are particularly striking when comparing points per game allowed in the first and third quarters: the 2.4 allowed in the first is fifth best in the NFL, but 6.4 in the third ranks 26th.

While raw points is the bottom line, a more analytical look at the Steelers’ situational defense portrays the head-scratching disparity between halves even moreso. Footballoutsiders.com uses an industry-respected metric called Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA) that takes into account strength of opponents and other factors. It rates the Steelers as the NFL’s fourth-best defense in the first half but fourth-worst in the second half. The Steelers defense ranks as the third-best in DVOA in the first quarter but last in the third quarter.

. @MarkMaddenX: The #Steelers’ “elite” defense crumbles at inopportune times. https://t.co/pJVSd5IYLs

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) November 11, 2021

2. Dink-and-dunk

Sunday’s Steelers game against the Detroit Lions features two passing offenses that fail to stretch the field. The teams are two of bottom three in the NFL in yards per catch and also among the bottom six in yards per pass attempt.

Breaking it down further, the NFL’s Next Gen Stats compute the Lions’ Jared Goff (3.7) and Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger (4.4) average the fewest and second-fewest average completed air yards (how many yards beyond the line of scrimmage a receiver is when the ball is caught) of any quarterback in the league. Goff (6.3) and Roethlisberger (6.8) are behind only the New York Jets’ Mike White for the second-fewest average intended air yards in the league.

(For basis of comparison, the league leader in both categories is Lamar Jackson at 7.5 average completed air yards and 10.1 average intended air yards).

It stands to reason Goff and Roethlisberger are among the bottom four NFL quarterbacks in average Air Yards to the Sticks. Goff’s passes, on average, are thrown 2.4 yards in front of the first-down line to gain. For Roethlisberger, to the chagrin of some Steelers fans, he throws 1.9 yards short of the sticks on average. Only White and the Vikings’ Kirk Cousins throw shorter.

So Ben Roethlisberger CAN still throw it deep ????

(via @NFL)pic.twitter.com/zE34BemgeC

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 10, 2021

3. All day Diontae

Diontae Johnson has been Roethlisberger’s go-to guy over the past two seasons. He by far leads the Steelers in targets (69). According to Pro Football Focus, Johnson has been thrown to 29% of the time he has been out on a receiving route. That’s the most for a Steelers player since then-All Pro Antonio Brown in 2015.

If you subtract throws to running backs and leave out the Sept. 26 game Johnson missed because of a knee injury, Johnson has accounted for 53% of the Steelers’ targeted throws this season. For basis of comparison, consider during Brown’s career-high season for targets and catches in 2015, the 193 times Steelers quarterbacks threw his way accounted for 38.5% of all throws to WRs/TEs.

Chase Claypool deep threat ????

Please be fine ????????????
pic.twitter.com/UndIz0sfdO

— PFF Fantasy Football (@PFF_Fantasy) August 6, 2021

4. Deepest cut

That the Steelers are playing without Chase Claypool (toe injury) on Sunday could further compress their offense. The relatively few times the Steelers have thrown deep, it most often goes to Claypool.

The average of 11.4 yards beyond the line of scrimmage that Claypool is when he is thrown to by far leads the Steelers. Johnson is second at 8.9.

Per PFF, Claypool has four of the Steelers’ 10 receptions this season that were caught 20 or more yards downfield.

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