The Pittsburgh Steelers have been miserable in a lot of facets. A run game that’s spun its wheels. An offensive line not playing its best. Drops littered all over the field.
All that adds up to one central issue. The Steelers can’t move the ball on third down.
Through the first three weeks, they’re 9 of 35 on third down. Sunday was no better, an offense limping its way and finishing 3/12 on the almighty “possession downs,” a phrase Mason Rudolph used multiple times in speaking with the media.
“Those possession downs, third downs, gotta convert,” Rudolph said in his initial recap of the offense’s performance.