Wild-Card Sunday: The Steelers begin their quest to Tampa

3rd Down Conversions and Tight Coverages

It is a friendly reminder that a team needs to make it easier on themselves if they’re in a critical 3rd down situation or on a 4-down drive if success is the goal. Small or big penalties like a False Start, an Illegal formation, an Ineligible man downfield, a delay of game, and a Hold puts a stop in the track for a probable conversion. As well, the types of catches the Receivers can’t bring down and a poor performance by the Offensive line derails any progress.

In all of the 17 games the Steelers played in (that we’re thankful for as well), they converted 42.17% of their 3rd Downs, in the last 3 games (Browns, Colts, and Bengals) it dropped to 36.36%. Games happen in the trenches and routes need to switch up to get receivers open through the Cover defensive schemes. Claypool and JuJu have gotten double-teamed and it does make it tougher when no one is down the field, and Ben has thrown a few interruptions into the areas that aren’t just there. He’s a Veteran to know when to throw the ball away or take a gasping sack. The good news is that despite Chris Boswell has been missing with a Quad injury and a previous Covid exposure, Matthew Wright has done the best job he can do in the circumstances.