The difference Russ made last night

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

37 points against a defense that while missing some players (isn't everyone?) is a highly rated unit.

you can spin stats however you want to support any argument. All I know is what I saw.

A sloppy ineffective first half until the game turned on the interception.

After that, I saw:

an offense that had everyone involved
an offense that produced chunk yardage
an offense that wasn't limited to one part of the field
an offense that had some cleverly designed plays
an offense that was able to sustain drives (7 minutes to end the game comes to mind)

so yeah, it's just one game - and I'm not making super bowl plans just yet.

But what I saw last night was something we haven't seen in a long time. I believe someone posted we haven't had a performance like that since 2019.

The stadium was rocking, the fans were having a blast, the steelers were jumping into the bleachers.

I suppose there will always be some that want to find a way to be miserable.......

but last night was a great time at Acrisure. I hope there's more to follow......

That's a fair analysis.

[Northern_Blitz]

I said this in another thread, but I'm interested to see what the results look like on PA vs games with Fields.

It will be too small a sample to see anything real. But it seemed to me like we did better on PA yesterday. Although maybe that's because it "felt" like we've been doing poorly on PA for the last few weeks at least.

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqDPkgtlEW0[/url]

Looks like adding links with a link button works now.

Also looks like PA passing is working now.

Coincidence? Only the Illuminati know for sure.

[NorthCoast]

The way people use passer rating as a metric, it's literally ALL about the QB.

And when it's underthrown and hits the back of the defender's helmet but still goes for a 40-something yard gain, passer rating is useless. Ditto Garrett Wilson gift wrapping and handing an INT to Beanie, who returned it to the 1.

Those plays go the other way, that game might go down to the wire.

Stack it, go back to the lab, get better for the next game.

There is something in football called defense. The Steelers had a better one in the last two games. The difference is the offense took advantage of the turnovers in both games. Something that they struggled to do with Fields (or Pickett) as QB.

[NorthCoast]

Fields threw plenty of jump balls that Pickens did not come down with. Heading into this game, Pickens drop rate had skyrocketed and his contested catch rate had plummeted.

Fields' catchable ball rate dropped badly in the last two starts. He was top 10 going into the LVR game but is now at 15th after his last two starts.

[NorthCoast]

Biggest difference between the offense with Wilson vs Fields; Wilson was in shotgun on only 25% of snaps. In Fields' last game, he was in shotgun on 52% of snaps. Smith's offense in PA relies mostly on the QB being under center. The result of this was that early passing downs (1st & 2nd) ended with a 1st down on 41% of plays. This is double what Fields typically had in games.

The other thing Wilson did that Fields struggled with is made the defense pay for blitzing. Wilson was blitzed on 35% of his dropbacks, but got no sacks, and was pressured only 27% of snaps. He did a great job rolling away from pressure and getting rid of the ball for positive yards.

[Buzz]

I think a big part of the difference in offensive success can be attributed, not just to the switch at QB but to a change in philosophy

The offense was allowed to open up, take some risks... get everyone involved
the players responded by making plays

Yes, Russ was quicker to make decisions than Fields, but I think that's a function, in part, of being given the green light to just go play ball

I’m not the only one who thinks this: https://steelersdepot.com/2024/10/ry...-fields/%20%5b

(and yeah, Russ throws with better “touch” on his passes, that doesn’t hurt, either!)

[Eich]

I was at this game.

A good part of the first half was the same old, "here we go again" misery on offense. The crowd was actually starting to chant, "we want Justin". CRAZY.

But as mentioned earlier, after the interception, EVERYTHING changed. There was an energy that could be felt and everything started working. Wilson started looking a lot more comfortable and the scoring started looking a lot easier. And Pickens was catching everything.

I think the team gets a lot from Wilson's veteran presence. He never looked rattled, even under pressure. Interesting that he took so many sacks in Denver. He seemed prepared for pressure with us against the Jets. Seriously hoping this trend continues. It FINALLY looked like a professional offense out there, after a slow, rusty start.

This was a really, really great game for my gf and I to attend. Absolutely perfect tailgating weather and gametime weather. And we couldn't have asked for a better performance to see in person. The offense found its groove. The D played up to its potential. And special teams were special. LOVED IT.

[Oviedo]

I don't think the last two posters are capable of separating fandom from cold analysis. Thrilled we won, but not agreeing with the analysis I see and hear.

You don't have to take everything personally.

I don't think you are capable of seeing your ARE NOT a qualified analyst and you can't get past your prejudices to be a real analyst. The problem is you really believe your opinions are legitimate analysis given you bring lots of baggage with your opinions...particularly your negativity towards Tomlin which invalidates anything you say as analysis

[Northern_Blitz]

Gonna piss people off, but his PFF grade was 64, which matches the eye test. This is why box scores and passer rating are notorious liars, especially in small sample sizes.

The passing GAME as a whole might have rated 109 or whatever it was, but to assign that all to the QB when there were defenders that fell down, balls bouncing off of defenders' helmets to receivers, great catches over defenders on underthrown balls, broken tackles and YAC, wide open play action throws, etc., is terribly misleading.

I think PFF can be a valuable tool. But using it as a single metric for "how good was the player" doesn't work.

Wilson's PFF score was lower than Rodgers.

I think that's a good example of how giving each play equal value pretends that NFL games aren't won and lost on a few big, impactful plays.

[Northern_Blitz]

Biggest difference between the offense with Wilson vs Fields; Wilson was in shotgun on only 25% of snaps. In Fields' last game, he was in shotgun on 52% of snaps. Smith's offense in PA relies mostly on the QB being under center. The result of this was that early passing downs (1st & 2nd) ended with a 1st down on 41% of plays. This is double what Fields typically had in games.

The other thing Wilson did that Fields struggled with is made the defense pay for blitzing. Wilson was blitzed on 35% of his dropbacks, but got no sacks, and was pressured only 27% of snaps. He did a great job rolling away from pressure and getting rid of the ball for positive yards.

PA success much better last game as well.

Brief synopsis of the video posted above:

We called the 5th most PA passes in the league in Fields' 6 games. He wasn't in the top 32 QBs in terms of Yards/PAattempt.

In one game, Wilson got more than half the yardage on PA than Fields did in 6 games. It's probably unsustainable, but Wilson currently has the highest Yards/PAattempt in the league.

[NorthCoast]

PA success much better last game as well.

Brief synopsis of the video posted above:

We called the 5th most PA passes in the league in Fields' 6 games. He wasn't in the top 32 QBs in terms of Yards/PAattempt.

In one game, Wilson got more than half the yardage on PA than Fields did in 6 games. It's probably unsustainable, but Wilson currently has the highest Yards/PAattempt in the league.

And some fans were worried about losing Fields' rushing yards... LOL. Wilson more than made up for that.

[Buzz]

Agree with Blitz, the improvement in play action was a huge key to our offensive success

[Northern_Blitz]

And some fans were worried about losing Fields' rushing yards... LOL. Wilson more than made up for that.

I was in that group. Not in the "for sure it will happen" camp, but in the "man...under Fields QB running was the only thing we were doing consistently well".

I think that the benefits of having a better passing game outweigh a good QB running game.

But the good QB running game was the bird in the hand for us.

Hoping that the passing game continues to get better with Russ. That he can shake the rust off. And that we can keep putting up 23+ ppg like we've done in the last couple games.

Glad that it's not the O from last season with this OC and either of these QBs.

[WindyCitySteel]

Wilson showed better escapability than I thought he had. He also got a big boost from Warren's pass pro, which is top notch.

[Northern_Blitz]

Wilson showed better escapability than I thought he had. He also got a big boost from Warren's pass pro, which is top notch.

The PA pass to PF was pretty impressive for someone I didn't think had much in the way of mobility IMO.

Looked like he was going to get plastered there IMO.