Johnny_S(tatistics) Week 16: Hanging by a Thread

Two game winning streak!  Woooo!  Playoffs or not, I am glad we won that game.  Hurting the Ravens playoff chances and getting them to shut up about being a "better" football team, made my season.  The last two days have been hard to take though.  Every single Ravens fan in existence now believes the league is fixed and the refs won us the game.  That sentiment always makes me want to punch that person or call them a moron.  I might need anger management after this week with Ravens fans...

Statistic of the week:  Since the Ravens always whine about penalties I decided to look into it.  They are the 30th ranked in penalties with 110 this season (#32 GB  - 114 penalties).  That puts them at 7.33 per game about a penalty and a half above league average (5.8).  I was curious to see where the Steelers were, considering we are also a physical team and have a couple of OL that constantly make mistakes.  We are ranked 9th with 80 penalties this year and a 5.33 penalties per game average.  That is 2 under the Ravens average.  Yeah, and we are the dirty team?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Defense

Ranks
(last week)

20.0 points per game (T-9th)
304.2 yards per game (6th)
5.1 yards per play (T-9th)
83.1 rush yards per game (1st)
3.8 yards per rush (T-4th)
6 rush TDs allowed (4th)
222.1 pass yards per game (T-17th)
5.8 yards per pass attempt (T-9th)
18 passing TDs allowed (T-12th)
40 sacks (T-2nd)
-5 Turnover Ratio (T-22nd) 

(this week)

20.0 points per game (T-12th) v
305.5 yards per game (6th)
5.0 yards per play (T-7th) ^
89.3 rush yards per game (3rd) v
3.9 yards per rush (T-6th) v
6 rush TDs allowed (4th)
216.2 pass yards per game (16th) ^
5.8 yards per pass attempt (T-8th) ^
20 passing TDs allowed (T-14th) v
44 sacks (2nd)
-4 Turnover Ratio (T-21st) ^

It has been a long time coming; the Steelers finally lost their #1 ranking for rush defense.  Around week 11 we had the best rush defense by a long shot.  We were averaging around 68 yards a game and second best wast +15 yards at least.  Since that game it has been a rapid decent.  Half of me believes it is the absence of Aaron Smith, but the other half of me realizes that James Farrior has looked awfully slow this year, especially against Ray Rice.  Before this game and Rice's 141 yards the Steelers had not allowed a 100 yard rusher in 33 games (most in the NFL).  Oh well, this has been a season for ending streaks.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Offense

Ranks
(last week)

22.5 points per game (15th)
375.1 yards per game (8th)
5.9 yards per play (T-4th)
32:33 Time of Possession (4th)
38.6% 3rd down completion % (17th)
110.2 rush yards per game (19th)
4.2 yards per rush (T-15th)
9 rush TDs (T-19th)
286.9 pass yards per game (T-4th)
7.2 yards per pass attempt (T-6th)
24 passing TDs (T-8th)
43 sacks allowed (30th)
21 turnovers (T-11th) 

(this week)

22.5 points per game (T-13th) ^
369.2 yards per game (9th) v
5.8 yards per play (T-7th) v
32:13 Time of Possession (5th) v
38.6% 3rd down completion % (17th)
106.1 rush yards per game (22nd) v
4.1 yards per rush (T-20th) v
10 rush TDs (19th)
263.1 pass yards per game (T-7th) v
7.1 yards per pass attempt (T-7th) v
25 passing TDs (11th) v
47 sacks allowed (31st) v
23 turnovers (T-20th) v

Will Ben get sacked 50 times this season?  Last year we had 25 turnovers the whole season, compared to 23 this year.  It will be interesting to see where a lot of our numbers fall this year compared to last year.  I think the biggest difference will be defensive numbers, which in my opinion, are a huge result of the inability to force turnovers.  I'll talk about that whenever our season ends.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes on the Week 15 Game

Starting Field Position

Steelers: Own 36.5 (includes last drive because Steelers needed a 1st down)
Packers: Own 34.42 (includes drive at end of 1st half)

Field position is always huge when we play the Ravens.  We definitely won that battle yesterday.  Good punting and decent ST coverage definitely played a huge part in us winning on Sunday.

Average Starting Field Position this Season

Last week:
Steelers: Own 28.43 (23rd)
Opponent: Own 27.41 (7th)
Differential: 1.02 (13th)

Through Week 15
Steelers:
Opponent:
Differential:

Stefan Logan and Special Teams

I've been a naysayer of Stefan Logan for the last couple of weeks.  Logan came to play yesterday and constantly put the Steelers in position to score on short fields.  On 4 kick off returns he had 129 yards, which is a 32.3 average and had a long 49 yard return that led to a score early in the 1st half.  Keep in mind the Baltimore Ravens have the 5th best kick off team allowing an average of 20.5 yard per return.  Additionally Logan had one punt return for 17 yards late in the game that gave us good field position to eventually kick the game winning field goal.  Is that why we have Logan on the roster?  I'd love to see a lot more of this from that small speedster.

The coverage units really only allowed one big return, albeit it came in the 4th just after we went up 23-20.  Ultimately, it did not cost us because the defense came up huge with the forced fumble on Wacko Joe Flacco.  Anyway, Anthony Madison appears to be the best decision Tomlin has made all year.  He had two tackles on ST on Sunday and was around the ball carrier all day.  Since Madison got here the Steelers have not allowed a return TD and he has 6 tackles, and has been instrumental in all ST stops.

JEFF REED KICKED IT INTO THE ENDZONE FOR A TOUCHBACK! (sorry about the caps, but that is tremendous) I forgot it was off a penalty =(

They Ain't Gettin' Any Younger

Two players that stuck out to me Sunday, and not in a good way, were James Farrior and Deshea Townsend.  Once again Ray Rice made Farrior look like he was standing still.  And Todd Heap made Townsend look like a joke.  On Heap's first TD Deshea saw the ball coming and positioned himself behind Heap.  Todd Heap is 6-5 and Deshea is 5-10.  I suppose Townsend was just giving Heap a late Christmas gift on that one.  I will not miss him next year and I believe that Farrior should not be a starter or an every down back.  I don't see much of an argument against that.

Tyler Grisham vs. Limas Sweed

This will not get talked about a lot anywhere else, so I am specifically addressing it.  Earlier this week, someone said Grisham was most likely going to be the #4 next year over Sweed (this statement made before any preseason games are played).  Okay, lets settle down.  There is a reason Sweed was drafted in the 2nd round and Grisham went undrafted.  Tyler is 5-11 and ran a 4.65 40 yard dash in camp compared to Sweed who is 6'4 and ran a 4.55 40.  Taller and faster.  Well Sweed drops the ball?  A few plays after Grisham made his first NFL reception for 14 yards he dropped a pass in the red zone on a crucial drive in the 4th quarter.  The reception would have led to a first down, but instead the Steelers met 4th down and were forced to kick the FG.  I still prefer 6-4 Limas going into next season over an undrafted 5-11 receiver.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stats That Make Me Queasy

• Smash Mouth Football? I know this year we have gotten away from running the ball, but it never seemed more eminent than this week. The Steelers ran the ball 23 times on Sunday for a 2.1 yard average.  What makes it worse is that Rashard Mendenhall took a huge leap backward this week, in my opinion.  He seemed timid to take hits and did not hit the hole with force at all.  The "Spin-den-haul" stuff has gotten unbearable because he avoids contact by spinning and exposes the ball more.  His fumble came on a run up the middle where Mendenhall did not hit the hole and tried to spin away from contact.  To me, Parker looked a lot better on Sunday because he was hitting the designed holes in the plays and putting his shoulders down around contact.  These numbers were most painstaking to me because the Ravens abused us on the ground with 38 rush attempts for 148 yards and a 4.6 yard average.

• Ben was sacked 4 more times on Sunday to bring his season total to 47.  4 sacks by a poor pass rushing Ravens team that has only 29 sacks this year (24th).  With the Miami Dolphins next, 41 sacks this year (5th), there is no doubt in my mind that Ben will have been dropped 50 times this year setting a career high.

End on a Positive

• In his always informative and awesome Pregame Zone Blitz, ncoolong, spotlighted Santonio Holmes, the "Ravens Killer."  He mentioned that, prior to Sunday, Holmes had scored at least one touchdown in the past 6 Steelers/Ravens games.  In his 4 year career, Holmes has faced the Ravens 9 times and has 35 receptions, 613 yards, and 8 touchdowns.  That averages out to about 4 recs, 68 yards, and a touch down per game.  The only 2 games Holmes did not score a TD against the Ravens were in his rookie year.  Then in his sophomore year, the 3rd career game against the Ravens, Holmes broke out with 4 recs, 110 yards, and 2 TDs.  Since that break out, he has been an absolute dagger in the Ravens side.
• TURNOVERS!  Finally, our turnover margin improved when we went +1 on Sunday.  We forced 3 turnovers compared to the Ravens 2.  The James Farrior interception was the first pick the Steelers have had in nearly 200 pass attempts.  More importantly, was the forced turnover at the end of the game that put the ball back in our offenses hands who closed out the game.  You have to absolutely love that the fumble recovery was a result of a heads up play by our #1 draft pick rookie Ziggy Hood.  Also, big props to LaMarr Woodley for another huge game.  He had 7 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and his pressure forced the interception.  I cannot make up my mind who has been more consistent, LaMarr or Santonio.  One thing is clear, they both have unusually weird first names.
  
• I'd be the fool of all fools if I did not mention Ben Roethlisberger's tremendous feat he surpassed on Sunday.  With his 259 yard performance on Sunday, Ben became the first Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback to surpass 4,000 yards passing in a season (4,108 yards as of the last whistle).  Terry Bradshaw had held the single season passing record for 30 years with 3,724 yards in 1979.  Ben now has his eyes set on Bradshaw's career record of 27,989 yards.  Right now he has 19,082 yards and is essentially two more 4,000 yard season away from topping that 26 year record.  Even if Ben does not win as many Superbowls as Bradshaw, the two will be tied for all time best Steelers QB in my mind.
  

Playoffs or not, Go Steelers!  You should always root for your team whether they win or lose.