Today I wanted to piggyback off a great discussion on a recent Terrible Podcast, and that is first downs and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers offense has struggled to get things going the first two games of the season, and it all starts on first down. Let’s look at their success rates (40 percent of the needed yardage, or six yards gained) compared to the rest of the league through two games (NOTE: spikes, kneels, aborted plays removed):
Pittsburgh ranks 27th in the NFL currently, with just 45.2 percent of their first down plays on offense being successful.