Steelers Offense has to get Better in the Redzone to be a Superbowl Contender

A team that nobody wants to see in the playoffs. A team getting hot at the right time. A team that’s playing as well as any in football over the past few weeks.

That’s what I’m sure many of you have heard about the Pittsburgh Steelers lately. I’ve even seen some that mentioned a possible Superbowl return for Mike Tomlin’s team; riding his hot offense through the post-season.

The Steelers offense is historically good right now, scoring 30 or more points in 5 consecutive games, which is a franchise record. The team holds the 5th best scoring offense in the league, averaging 26.5 points per game. In games that Ben has played, they average 29.7 points per game.

I think that plenty of people are satisfied with the Steelers offense right now, but frankly, I’m not. They could be better.

They rank 5th in scoring offense, but are 2nd in the league on yardage with 404 yards per game, trailing just the Cardinals, and might lead the entire league if Ben Roethlisberger had been playing the whole year.

Obviously, 5th isn’t bad, but the discrepancy between yards and points shows that this team is stalling in the redzone far too often. If you look at that stat compared to the rest of the NFL, the Steelers are pretty average.

The Steelers get into the endzone 57.8% of the time that they enter the redzone. That ranks 14th in the NFL behind offenses like the Titans, Redskins, and Chargers.

I’m sure plenty of you are thinking, sure, they kick a lot of field goals but 30 points is 30 points.

You’re right, it’s worked… so far.

If this team makes the playoffs though, and they’re playing on the road against someone like New England, a Dalton-lead Cincinnati, or Denver; they’re going to need to score touchdowns instead of settling for field goals.

Against those team, I worry about whether the defense can do enough to allow the offense to take 3 instead of 7 (or 8).

The Steelers’ defense this season has been basically the exact opposite of the offense. The Steelers rank 11th in the league in scoring defense, surrendering 20 points per game. In yards though, they’re giving up 367.3 yards per game, ranking 22nd.

The Steelers have been very good at locking down in the red zone, and while I don’t have the numbers available, have been extremely good at forcing turnovers in the red zone; the most recent example being Stephon Tuitt’s interception on Sunday.

While it’s great that they’ve locked down near the end zone, I would consider a lot of that luck, and not necessarily something that would continue against a team like the Patriots, who never turn it over near the end zone, in the playoffs.

If this offense could get up into the top 10 area in red zone conversions for touchdowns, they could be a historically good offense, and not just Steelers history. I’m talking NFL history.

This Sunday will be a great test for the Steelers offense. The Denver Broncos rank as the best in the league in nearly every defensive category. They’re one of the rare defenses that has the personnel to match up across the board with all of Ben Roethlisberger’s weapons, and also bring a scary pass rush.

I also think that the Steelers’ secondary is going to struggle with covering Demarius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, but if Ben and co. are able to take care of business in the red zone, I don’t see Brock Osweiler being able to keep up.