Steeler Nation is obviously thrilled the Steelers have a week to rest and prepare for their Divisional Round game at Heinz Field two Sundays from now. Mike Tomlin, his staff, and every last player has been working extraordinarily hard all year in order to secure a home playoff game. I'm sure they're ecstatic about the opportunity in front of them, and I imagine they're happy to have an extra week to rest their battered and bruised bodies. As a fan, a very small part of me wishes the Steelers played this weekend. However, the extra week definitely provides a nice opportunity to catch up on some of the writing that is hard to get to during the whirlwind paced regular season. Let's do just that and wrap up our year-long look at the Steelers' offensive performance in the redzone.
Once the offseason arrives (hopefully not until February), we can dive much deeper with our analysis, but for now, let's stick to the basic overview we've been using all year.
Week 15 Totals vs. Jets
RZ Trips: 3
Touchdowns: 2
Field Goal Attempts/Makes: 0/0
Turnovers: 0 (game ended with Steelers in Jets redzone)
TD Efficiency: 66.66%
FG Efficiency: --
Scoring Efficiency: 66.66 %
Week 16 Totals vs. Panthers
RZ Trips: 5
Touchdowns: 2
Field Goal Attempts/Makes: 2/2
Turnovers: 1 (downs)
TD Efficiency: 40%
FG Efficiency:100%
Scoring Efficiency: 80%
Week 17 Totals vs. Browns
RZ Trips: 5
Touchdowns: 4
Field Goal Attempts/Makes: 1/1
Turnovers: 0
TD Efficiency: 80%
FG Efficiency:100%
Scoring Efficiency: 80%
2010 Season Totals
RZ Trips: 49
Touchdowns: 24
Field Goal Makes/Attempts: 19/20
Turnovers: 2
TD Efficiency: 48.9 %
FG Efficiency: 95 %
Scoring Efficiency: 87.7 %
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Notes
* Steelers had 16 redzone touchdowns through 14 games. Not good. However, in the final three contests of the '10 season, Pittsburgh added 50% to their season total with 8 TDs. Very solid.
* This past three weeks is a good example of how stats can be a bit misleading. The Steelers redzone scoring efficiency actually went down this past three weeks thanks to being stuffed inside the Panthers 5 on 4th down, and on the final drive of the Jets game when the clock expired with Pittsburgh knocking on the door at around the New York 10 yard line. Make no mistake about it though - the Steelers have been head much, much, much better inside the redzone down the stretch than they were for most of the 16-game slate. In fact, I'd contend that Pittsburgh's marked improvement inside the 20 is one of the primary reasons why the Steelers have a great shot at winning Lombardi No. 7 in about a month's time.
* Of course, it has to be said that Pittsburgh's final two opponents were less than world-beaters defensively, but even against the Jets, the Steelers were more competent with their redzone offense. Credit the offensive line of the Steelers, and kudos to Bruce Arians as well for improved play calling in the hardest area of the field to operate. Before the Panthers game, I wrote in my preview that I expected a trick play to be run at some point in the second or third quarter. Well, turns out the Steelers were saving it for their divisional rival the following week. Makes sense I guess. But point is, good work by Arians for dialing up some trickery rather than stubbornly sticking with sets and play calls that had proven to be ineffective earlier in the year.