Steelers Four Downs: Quick, short throws, yes, but Ben Roethlisberger still a gunslinger

1. Aggressively quick

Much has been made of it, and it’s true: Ben Roethlisberger is throwing quickly, and by extension, he’s throwing short. But that doesn’t mean he’s abandoned any sort of “gunslinger” mentality.

No quarterback in the NFL this season is attempting passes in less time, on average, after the snap than Roethlisberger, who has helped the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-0) remain as the NFL’s last unbeaten team. Big Ben is releasing the ball an average of 2.29 seconds after the snap, leading the league by a wide margin according to the league’s Next Gen Stats platform. Quick throws go hand-in-hand with short routes, too. Roethlisberger has the second-fewest average completed air yards (a measure of how far downfield a passer throws) among current NFL starting quarterbacks at 4.6.

And while throwing short doesn’t typically equate to throwing “aggressively,” that hasn’t been the case with Roethlisberger. Next Gen Stats measures him as the league’s fourth-most aggressive passer among current starting quarterbacks, according to their metric of “aggressiveness percentage” (18.7%) that calculates how often a passer throws to a receiver who has a defender within a yard of him.

#Steelers Ben Roethlisberger is getting rid of the ball 37% faster than his division rival quarterback is, 12% faster than the average NFL passer and 7% faster than the second-quickest at it. https://t.co/YamDyl991R

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) October 22, 2020

2. Topping tight ends

Mark Andrews has half of all of the Baltimore Ravens’ receiving touchdowns this season (five), and he’s second on the team in catches (20), targets (33) and receiving yards (243). He’s tied for fourth among NFL tight ends in yards per reception (minimum 20) at 12.2, and according to Pro Football Focus only Travis Kelce and Jonnu Smith have equated to a better passer rating when thrown to among all tight ends in the league (122.9).

In short, he’s somebody the Steelers’ defense has to focus on during Sunday’s game. Good thing for the Steelers that according to pro-football-reference.com only three teams in the league have yielded fewer receiving yards to tight ends (234), only five have surrendered fewer tight end catches (23) and only two have allowed fewer tight end touchdowns (the Steelers have allowed one).

Lamar delivers a strike on the run to Mark Andrews! @lj_era8 @MAndrews_81

?: #BALvsWAS on CBS
?: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/wvEEn0SFTV pic.twitter.com/IPKZ3sB2tw

— NFL (@NFL) October 4, 2020

3. Simply special

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was open about being annoyed with his punt coverage team, so much so that he made a change at punter. And if Jordan Berry can help improve that unit, the Steelers’ special teams can be truly special.

They are already one of the best in the NFL, even accounting for what was the worst net punting average in the league over the first six weeks of the season when Dustin Colquitt was the Steelers’ punter. But Berry’s two punts in his second Steelers debut Sunday averaged a net of 47.5 yards. If the Steelers get close to that over the final 10 games of the season, they’ll be pleased.

Every other special-teams unit has been among the NFL’s best. Chris Boswell is tied for first in field goal percentage with a perfect mark (100%). And according to footballoutsiders.com, the Steelers lead the league in opponent average starting field position after a kickoff (the 22.83 yard-line), a compliment to Boswell and the coverage unit.

Ray-Ray McCloud has also been a boon for the return games. The Steelers’ punt-return average is third in the NFL (13.0), the kick-return average is sixth (22.83).

Using more advanced and all-encompassing metrics that account for external factors, the Steelers are rated as the league’s fifth-best special-teams unit by Football Outsiders, which pegs the Steelers as the best kickoff team, the fourth-best kickoff return team, the third-best punt return team and 10^th-best placekicking team.

4. Rivalry run

Much has been made this week about the Steelers-Ravens rivalry and its relative balance. Since 2000, each team has won two Super Bowls and made the playoffs 12 times. Since 1999, each team has won 23 head-to-head meetings.

Since the turn of the century, in only one season — 2013 — did neither the Steelers nor Ravens make the playoffs. Only once since the Ravens were “born” (converted as the old Cleveland Browns in 1996) have both had a losing record in the season.

The Steelers and Ravens have both made the playoffs during a season five times — four of those featured a postseason meeting between the two. The Steelers have won three of those.

How important are these annual games in deciding AFC North pecking order? Only once has one team swept the other and not finished ahead of it in the final standings (2015).

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