3 reasons the Steelers will not win the Super Bowl this year
By Andrew Falce
AY/A
For those of you that don’t know, this stat is called adjusted yards gained per pass attempt. It takes into account what the average completion is as well as accounting for interceptions, sacks, and touchdowns. What is unique about this stat is that it goes two ways, as it can tell how efficient your offense is at passing (you want that number as high as possible) as well as how efficient your defense is at stopping the pass (you want that number as low as possible). Essentially, the higher your offensive AY/A is, the better their passing game is.
In 2017, the Eagles had a respectable 7.7 AY/A on offense and a really good 5.84 on defense. The Patriots were slightly better on offense, posting a 7.8 AY/A versus their defense giving up 6.53. Far and away, the Chiefs had the best offensive AY/A, as their offense posted an 8.8 while their defense only gave up 6.15.
The Steelers defense is certainly doing their part, only allowing a 5.65 AY/A (a really strong number). The issue is, the offense is only putting up a number of 6.6, almost a full yard lower than the Eagles did in 2017. None of the eventual Super Bowl winners had an offense putting up less than 7.7, which makes the Steelers’ lack of success here that much more concerning.
This simply means the Steelers offense isn’t putting up the points or moving the ball nearly as well as these offenses were. This has been clear on the field recently, as the offense has struggled despite facing teams considered inferior by most analysts. With the Steelers banking on a strong passing game this year, this number needs to get closer to 7.5 if they want to be seen as a legitimate contender. If not, the pass-happy Steelers will struggle to move the ball and in turn, will waste their defensive dominance in this stat.
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While the Steelers are still atop the AFC, they have some obvious flaws that need to be addressed if they want to be legitimate Super Bowl contenders. The loss to Washington in no way has doomed their season, but if the three stats above don’t improve, more than likely the Steelers will be watching the Super Bowl from home.