Tim Benz: Steelers ‘popcorn’ problem exists with passing game too

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin dusted off one of his favorite “Tomlinisms” to describe his offense’s anemic run game.

“The bottom line is popcorn,” Tomlin said Tuesday, just a few hours removed from his team’s first loss of the season.

Tomlin often busts out the “popcorn” phrase when he wants to illustrate various, random, inconsistencies that “pop up” within his team. You don’t know which one is going to “pop” next, but when heat is applied, every kernel seems to blow up.

Sadly, Tomlin’s popcorn analogy has never been more true than when he was describing the Steelers (11-1) failing rush attack. Because there is something wrong popping up on just about every handoff. The offense gained a scant 21 yards on 14 carries during a 23-17 loss to Washington Monday night.

The blocking. The play design. The running backs’ abilities to hit the right crease.

“If it was one identifiable thing, then you would pluck that one thing out and move on with your day,” Tomlin continued. “It’s probably a myriad of the variables.”

While the run game is a popular area of complaint for Steelers fans these days, there sure is a jumbo bucket of popcorn to serve up for the passing game the last two weeks as well.

Lots of drops. Interceptions. Less than perfect accuracy on the throws. Cold weather. Pass breakups by defensive backs. Uncalled pass interference. Passes deflected at the line of scrimmage. A fluky bad snap or two. And some penalties.

The Steelers pass game has been hindered by every one of those problems on various occasions over the last few games.

Maybe the popcorn is to blame for all the butterfingers among the receivers lately, too. Depending on how strict your standard of a “drop” is, the pass catchers have been right around 15 total over the two most recent games against Washington and the Baltimore Ravens.

“Those guys, (their) job is to catch the football, particularly routine ones,” Tomlin said. “Where there’s a pattern, you should expect fewer opportunities. That is just fair, that’s just part of this business and what this game is about.”

That sounds good. But since just about every receiver has had a drop or two over the past two games, I’m not sure who else is going to get a shot — except maybe a bit more playing time for James Washington.

Let’s be honest. The biggest problem with the air attack is that it is being used too often. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has attempted 238 passes over the last five games alone, for an average of 47.6 attempts per contest. Between 42 and 53 attempts in each game.

Stunningly, over the last four of those contests, those numbers were accumulated even though the Steelers were either tied or leading for most of those games.

No wonder so many things are going wrong. The operation of a completed pass is much more difficult than that of a run. There are far more components than simply getting the snap under center and handing it to a running back.

Look at all those examples we listed above.

One variable has not been a problem for Roethlisberger. He hasn’t been sacked in any of those 238 throws. Good for him getting rid of the ball. A round of applause as well for the receivers getting open quickly and the offensive linemen for their blocking.

But since Roethlisberger is releasing the ball so quickly, a lot of these pass plays aren’t going for much yardage. He’s only averaging 5.58 yards per attempt over the last three games. For a full 12-game pace, that’d place him 32nd among qualifying quarterbacks.

That’s not to mention how many other empty plays are occurring within the passing game.

Over the last two contests, Roethlisberger had 35 pass plays that were either intercepted, incomplete or dropped (15 versus Baltimore, 20 versus Washington). Let’s take roughly half of that number and say the Steelers run the ball 17 of those times instead of throwing it.

For as bad as the Steelers are running the ball, are all 17 of those runs failing to gain at least one yard? I doubt it.

And if those plays originate in a formation where handing the ball off is at least an option, is it perhaps likely that the defensive linemen aren’t in a rhythm of knowing they can strictly pass rush, count for two seconds and then throw up their hands in an attempt to swat a pass?

Make the opposing defense guess on occasion.

I don’t know if eight or nine additional runs per game will help all that much. But it couldn’t be worse than what we’ve seen the last two weeks. A meager three offensive touchdowns to go along with the 35 empty pass plays tells me that.

Not to mention a failed goal-to-go sequence in each game and numerous third- or fourth-and-short busts.

I normally get popcorn at a movie. But occasionally some candy is a nice option. And I think Steelers fans deserve a treat right now.

Like the occasional first down. Because there’s been way too much “popcorn” with this offense for the past five weeks.

Not just running the ball. Throwing it, too.

Joe Rutter and Tim Benz react to Mike Tomlin’s Tuesday press conference and look ahead to the Steelers game in Buffalo Sunday night.