Chalk Talk: That fourth-and-1 call is even worse than you thought

It's difficult to imagine that the Steelers could ever turn in a worse performance than they did in the season opener. Yet, last week's pantsing in Houston easily trumped it.

After reviewing the film for more than two days now, there is still one thing that I just can't get over: That atrocious fourth-and-1 play call. And, putting it in the broader context of the whole game, it's somehow even worse than it was when we all witnessed it live.

Let me be clear that just about everything in this game was bad for the Steelers. Save for a handful of guys, such as Najee Harris, Isaac Seumalo and Keeanu Benton, this was as bad of a team performance as I've seen in a long time. They were out-coached, out-muscled, out-played and, for lack of a better term, out-swagged. This was as bad as it gets.

I'm running out of patience for Levi Wallace to remember how to properly contain the edge:

I'm running out of patience for Patrick Peterson to show he's still got something in the tank:

And, I'm running out of patience for this team to remember how to tackle:

But, if there's one play that can fully encompass the ineptitude of this terrible, terrible offense, it's this fourth-and-1 play call:

There is plenty of blame to go around for everything that play is and isn't, but I'm going to start with the coaching. After all, Mike Tomlin has the ultimate say in what type of play is called in this kind of a situation. It's a "weighty down," as Tomlin loves to call them, and it came at a crucial stage of the game.

Somehow, the Steelers were only down by 10 at this stage of the game, and had the momentum. They had produced points on their two previous drives while forcing the Texans to punt on their two previous drives. If this drive produces more points, it's a one-score game. This is as "weighty" as it gets.

Matt Canada's call here is a version of a snag concept, running this out of a 3x1 and bunching the trio. The first read is Allen Robinson on a quick out route. Connor Heyward's choice route, where he can run either a curl or dig, is usually the second read, while George Pickens' corner route is most likely the alert if the Texans deploy a favorable coverage, such as Cover 2. Then, Calvin Austin III running a deep dig is most likely the last read.

NFL.COM

Now, the snag concept is supposed to stress the flat defender, and works especially well against Cover 3 (remember this for just a little bit later). If Cover 2 shows up and the flat is taken away, the tight end's choice route could be a safe throw while the corner route is a bit more aggressive, though any kind of outside leverage on the safety should set up well for a big completion.

As you can see from the play, the Texans deploy Cover 2. The cornerback stays in the flat and takes away Pickett's first read. Pickett doesn't anticipate either Heyward or Pickens to get open, spins to go outside the pocket and, well, you know what happens by now.

Three reasons why this is a terrible play call. First, the snag concept just isn't a great call for short yardage situations. Yes, it can stress the defense a bit vertically and might create space underneath. However, there aren't many viable, easy options in case the first read is taken away. Remember, the Steelers only need a yard here. Cover 2 works well in preventing shorter completions. If the flat is taken away, the success rate for the play goes way down.

Second, Tomlin is well known for stressing situational football in practice. Seven shots is a great example of that. Those of you who haven't watched practice at training camp in Latrobe, it's when the offense and defense face each other seven times with the ball on the 2-yard line. They're two-point conversion simulations. But, those also translate to actual plays near the goal line, as well as short yardage situations on crucial downs, such as third- and fourth-and-short. 

If throwing the ball is the call here -- which Tomlin confirmed during his Tuesday press conference due to the absence of Dan Moore Jr. and Pat Freiermuth -- there needs to be a better play call here that provides more options.

“It was just a play that we had at the time that obviously didn’t get the result that we wanted," Canada told reporters Thursday.

Third, and most egregious, when the Steelers were faced with a second-and-16 earlier in the game, look at what the call was then:

NFL.COM

It's the same exact play. They didn't do anything to disguise it. It's the same play in the same exact formation. 

But, and I can't stress this enough, why is the same play called for two entirely different football situations? On second-and-long, the primary goal is making third down manageable. Sure, take advantage of a busted coverage, but at least get enough yards to unlock more options on third down. Defenses will most likely deploy a coverage to better keep the ball in front of them, and the Texans did exactly that. They played Cover 3, which has the cornerback leave the flat and plays into the snag concept. Robinson gets wide open, and the Steelers get an easy eight yards to make it third-and-8:

In no way should any play be on the call sheet for second-and-long and short-yardage situations. Period. That's just terrible coaching.

Now, the coaching isn't the only issue here. And, this is also very indicative of the biggest issues with Pickett thus far. As Najee Harris aptly pointed out this week, it's up to the players to execute the plays that are called. Pickett just doesn't do that here at all. 

Scroll up and watch it again. Pickett's back foot hits, and he sees the defense takes the out route away. Then, as soon as that front foot hits the ground, he immediately spins to break away from the pocket. No thought to stand tall and work through his progression. Just immediately decides to abandon ship while the offensive line gives him a clean pocket.

Now, looking from the end zone view, Seumalo's assignment spins to the inside and it looks like he might have been beaten:

However, Pickett had more than enough room to shuffle a tad to his left, keep his eyes downfield and avoid the rusher in case he broke free. But, there was no commitment to staying in the pocket. Regardless of what was actually going through his mind, the tape shows that Pickett determined that if the first read wasn't there, he was dead set on trying to open things up by leaving the pocket. And, he got himself hurt in the process.

What's truly maddening about this is Pickett would have had Heyward or Austin open had he stayed in the pocket for another half second. Heyward broke inside on the dig and had enough separation to give Pickett a clean target. Now, I don't anticipate Pickett seeing Austin going through the progression here. Maybe if Pickett determines the defense is in Cover 2 ahead of the snap, he can take it upon himself to look elsewhere. But, any throw to anybody on this play is better than what ended up happening. Throw it to Pickens on the corner route. Cover 2 is a good coverage to try and complete a corner route. Give him a chance. Again, it's a better option than what happened.

This is the stuff Pickett desperately needs to clean up. I've been harping on this for weeks now. Pickett has to commit to becoming a better pocket passer. Sure, he should use his legs if he has to. It's a great tool at his disposal to extend plays or create something when there's no pocket. However, no quarterback has any future in this league if they can't break down coverages and make throws from the pocket.

The offensive line hasn't been great so far. So, maybe that has him a little skittish. But, this issue with Pickett goes all the way back to college. He did this while he was at Pitt. Quarterbacks can get away with that, and sometimes even thrive on that, at the college level. This is the NFL. Defenses are faster than they ever have been before. It just doesn't work the same way as it did even a decade ago.

This one play really highlights the biggest issues with this offense right now. There are certainly others. The running game hasn't been great. Receivers need to be more consistent with their routes. Pickens can get a little lazy with his route running at times. Stuff like that has to stop.

None of that changes the fact that the coaching miscues and Pickett's biggest flaws have really hurt this team through the first four weeks. Sure, there's time to clean stuff up. This team used the bye week last year to shut a lot of people up. Maybe they do that again this year. Who knows.

But, egregious moments like this cannot happen if the Steelers have any prayer of becoming even an adequate offense this season.