PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It was a point Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith was making Thursday with reporters about why he likes his team. His reason for optimism and support for his group is some of the stats don’t tell the story.
He pointed to total yards as an example, the Steelers are currently 30th in the league with 741. And while the top dozen teams include some of the best through three games—Buffalo, Indianapolis, Detroit, Chargers. It also includes Dallas, Bears and the Patriots with the Giants 13th.
Smith pointed out you can see teams gain a lot of yards and not win. The evidence is those teams listed. Some of that comes from wasted opportunities, but also there is hidden yardage gained by teams late in blowout losses as opposing defenses are playing soft.
The veteran offensive coordinator feels you can manipulate stats however you want, to serve whatever purpose, but he said three are among the most meaningful to him.
Turnovers
Steelers are a +5, tied with the undefeated Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville for best in the NFL. The offense has three turnovers, which on its own is middle of the pack, but combined with the defense makes it best in the game.
Possession downs
This is an area where the team has mostly struggled, bottom third in the league at 38% on third down. Also, the time of possession is 29th in the league and something Mike Tomlin pointed to as to why the run game struggled against the Patriots.
Red Zone
The Steelers have been outstanding. The last few years, especially early in the season, it seemed like it was just field goal after field goal. This year the Steelers have scored seven touchdowns in eight red zone appearances, only Philadelphia has been better. The Eagles are perfect in red zone conversion into touchdowns.
They three traits are key for Smith, plus one other. The ability to overcome mistakes and still win.
“That’s what excites me about the group we have, you got the right guys,” Smith said Thursday. “You get in those tough moments (Sunday at New England), you stall out. You start hot, obviously were cold, (but) they bowed up and we were at our best when we needed to be, same in New York. That’s encouraging.”
That can be said not just about the offense, but the running game. Steelers ran for 53 yards in the first quarter, -5 in the second and third combined, then on that game-winning drive were able to get a six-yard run, five-yard run and then on third-and-two, a four-yard run all from Jaylen Warren. Smith said there were other times where runs were there they just didn’t hit, but the blocks were what they wanted. He said the point of attack was better, specifically with Troy Fautanu and Mason McCormick.
“When you come in here on Mondays, get back to work on Wednesdays, you are looking at the progress, we call it the process and not so much comparative results,” Smith said.
He said when you focus on comparative results you are going to get a bunch of selfish guys and selfish coaches calling games to pad stats instead of working to win a championship. Smith believes they are working down that title path.
“You’ve got to be objective,” Smith said. “You can’t be delusionally optimistic. You can’t be overly cynical, you just got to be objective and realistic and know on this journey, the best teams are the ones that improve.”
“We got the right guys, which is why those two road games we won. Guys have stood up when it’s critical.”
They haven’t seen a test like this yet this season. Steelers offense must win their keys, improving on those possession downs or Brian Flores’ Vikings defense could make it a long day in Dublin.