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Who Was Pittsburgh Steelers Preseason MVP?
by Michael Bean on Sep 5, 2011 5:48 PM EDT
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Thankfully the preseason schedule has come and gone, and NFL fans can now turn their attention to the start of the 2011 regular season, which begins Thursday night when the defending champion Green Bay Packers host the 2009 Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints. For the Pittsburgh Steelers, the new year begins three days later in Baltimroe where they'll square off against the rival Ravens for early-season positioning in the AFC North.
The Steelers finished their-four game preseason schedule with a33-17 win over the Carolina Panthers. The game featured some good and some bad, but the best news came in the form of an injury-free 60 minutes of action for the Steelers. Jason Worilds, starting in the place of the not-quite-right James Harrison, looks like he's not cut out to maintain the standard of excellence at outside linebacker, particularly against the run. It's not clear how concerned we should be, but the entire Steelers defense looked unimpressive on Carolina's opening series, a nine-play 71-yard scoring drive engineered by rookie Cam Newton.
Jonathan Dwyer answered with a 50-yard touchdown scamper, an encouraging sign from the '10 sixth round draft pick who'd reported to training camp heavy. Shaun Suisham and Swayze Waters then successfully converted on four field goals in the second and third quarter, before rookie Weslye Saunders finished off the preseason scoring with a 15-yard TD reception from Dennis Dixon.
Here are a few interesting team and individual stats for the Steelers 2011 preseason:
- +10 turnover differential. If the Steelers can replicate that type of success in the regular season, they'll be awfully tough to beat. Of course, the Steelers were superb in this department last season, so one might expect that they regress a bit towards the mean. I sure hope not though.
- 6 sacks vs. 9 sacks allowed. Were the Steelers to allow just a shade over 2 sacks per game over the course of the '11 season, they'll be in great shape. However, if the Steelers fail to pressure the quarterback like they have in recent years, the pass defense will be in a dangerously challenging position.
- Ben Roethlisberger's stats: 21-of-31 (67.7%), 361 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, 146.6 QB Rating.
- Antonio Brown's stats: 9 receptions, 230 yards, 25.6 ypc, 3 TDs. 4 kickoff returns, 109 yards, 27.3 ypr, Long 50.
- Isaac Redman stats: 22 carries, 117 yards, 5.3 ypc, 1 TD.
39 commentsPittsburgh Steelers Red Zone Efficiency, Weeks 15 - 17 Edition
by Michael Bean on Jan 5, 2011 11:38 PM EST
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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
Pittsburgh Steelers Red Zone Efficiency, Weeks 13 & 14 Edition
by Michael Bean on Dec 16, 2010 4:25 PM EST
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Suffice it to say, don't expect the Pittsburgh Steelers redzone numbers (on offense at least) to be befitting of their sparkling 10-3 record. The Steelers have struggled to put the ball in the endzone despite moving the ball fairly efficiently in other portions of the field. Let's take a quick look back to see how they fare in their Week 13 and 14 wins over the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals.
Week 13 Totals vs. Ravens
RZ Trips: 2
Touchdowns: 1
Field Goal Attempts/Makes: 1/1
Turnovers: 0
TD Efficiency: 50%
FG Efficiency: 50%
Scoring Efficiency: 100 %
Week 14 Totals vs. Bengals
Pittsburgh Steelers Red Zone Efficiency, Week 12 Edition
by Michael Bean on Dec 3, 2010 3:21 PM EST
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Obviously when you only put up 19 points in nearly 70 minutes of action, you're either failing to capitalize on red zone opportunities, or simply not getting inside the opponent's 20-yard line very often. The later was the case for the Pittsburgh Steelers during their 19-16 overtime victory against the Buffalo Bills last Sunday. Despite racking up 426 total yards of offense, the Steelers had just one red zone trip. It came on their very first offensive series in fact. Pittsburgh approached Buffalo's RZ on three other series, but were denied due to penalties, sacks and in one instance, a very good play by the Bills.
Let's take a look at the season totals after Week 12
Week 12 Totals vs. Buffalo Bills
Pittsburgh Steelers Red Zone Efficiency, Weeks 10 & 11 Edition
by Michael Bean on Nov 27, 2010 4:16 AM EST
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It's been several weeks since I've keep tabs on the Pittsburgh Steelers redzone efficiency on offense. As I was watching football on Thanksgiving Day, I marveled at how much more efficient other teams seemed to be at capitalizing on RZ opportunities - even lowly teams like the Detroit Lions. But hey, you can't have it all. I'll take profiency in the win coloumn over anything else, and despite the Steelers' RZ strugles, they still seem to be doing enough to emerge victorious most weeks. Whether or not that needs to change in the final six weeks of the season reamins to be seen - it depends on the defense and the special teams as much as anything else. But suffice it to say, the Steelers' offense will have to be better inside the 20 if they hope to bring home the hardware come January and February.
Let's see how they've done the past two weeks, as well as check in with their season-to-date totals inside the redzone through Week 11. Spoiler Alert: It's not pretty, but the good news is there's plenty of room for improvement for this particular 7-3 team.
Go Steelers!
To the numbers...
Week 10 Totals vs. New England Patriots
Pittsburgh Steelers Red Zone Efficiency, Week 9 Edition
by Michael Bean on Nov 12, 2010 9:14 PM EST
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It's been several weeks since we've updated the Pittsburgh Steelers' offensive efficiency inside the red zone. The Steelers only breached the New Orleans' 20 yard line once during their Halloween night loss. On Monday night against the Bengals, the Steelers were better, scoring 17 of their 27 points inside the red zone. Let's take a quick look...
Xfinity Survey
by Michael Bean on Nov 5, 2010 12:11 AM EDT
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If you're so inclined, take a moment to fill out a survey about Comcast/Xfinity, the most heavily invested sponsor of BTSC and the other 31 SB Nation's NFL blogs. I do appreciate you guys continuing to support the site as it gradually has attracted more corporate sponsorships this past twelve months or so. I know they can be a bit tedious at times to digest in between our regularly scheduled programming. This is still a labor of love that I consider a hobby more than one of my jobs, but obviously it's not only nice to receive some financial compensation for the dozens of hours I invest into the site each month, but also a bit more necessary now that I'm not just fresh out of college and allergic to schedules, planning and the like...
Now, a word from the folks at SB Nation and Xfinity headquarters about the survey. - Michael Bean -
Pittsburgh Steelers Red Zone Efficiency, Week 7 Edition
by Michael Bean on Oct 27, 2010 4:50 PM EDT
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It wasn't a pretty day for the Pittsburgh Steelers offense inside the Miami Dolphins' red zone. The Steelers had three trips inside the 20, none of which resulted in touchdowns. Of course, the final trip to the RZ resulted in a game-winning field goal after the controversial fumble by Ben Roethlisberger. The Steelers also scored from 21 yards out on a Hines Ward catch and run. But for the first time really all year, the running game failed to get going, and that included when the Steelers had marched down inside the 20.
To the Week 7 and season-to-date numbers...
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