Short-yardage issues seem to boil down to sheer will
KARL ROSER / STEELERS
Broderick Jones during Wednesday's practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.
The Steelers struggled to sustain drives in their loss to the Browns, specifically by failures on third- and fourth-and-short situations. The theme around the locker room isn't a dramatic change, just better execution.
"At the end of the day, we've gotta find a way to convert it," Russell Wilson said after Wednesday's practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "Maybe it's breaking a tackle. Maybe it's ... finding a way to find a way. That's what it is, especially on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1. It's all of us together. We know we're capable of that."
Multiple promising drives fell short due to this failure, which fall in line with Mike Tomlin's assessment of his team not "warming up" to the action at the beginning. The Steelers went 2 for 5 on third- and fourth-and-1 situations against Cleveland, and they did the same exact thing against the Ravens the week prior.
But this hasn't been an issue throughout the season for Pittsburgh. Overall, they are 17 for 29 (58.6%), the fourth-worst percentage in the NFL. But they converted eight in a row spanning Weeks 5-10. That also goes to show how few those situations came up. They only had five total conversions in as many opportunities against the Raiders, Jets and Giants.
This really appears to be a situation of just losing up front. The Browns converted both of their opportunities last week, and both were runs in between the tackles to Nick Chubb.
Something's gotta give.
"Just all 11 guys being on the same page at the same time and executing," Broderick Jones said. "That's all it is."
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THE ASYLUM
Chris Halicke
9:22 pm - 11.27.2024South SideShort-yardage issues seem to boil down to sheer will
KARL ROSER / STEELERS
Broderick Jones during Wednesday's practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.
The Steelers struggled to sustain drives in their loss to the Browns, specifically by failures on third- and fourth-and-short situations. The theme around the locker room isn't a dramatic change, just better execution.
"At the end of the day, we've gotta find a way to convert it," Russell Wilson said after Wednesday's practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "Maybe it's breaking a tackle. Maybe it's ... finding a way to find a way. That's what it is, especially on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1. It's all of us together. We know we're capable of that."
Multiple promising drives fell short due to this failure, which fall in line with Mike Tomlin's assessment of his team not "warming up" to the action at the beginning. The Steelers went 2 for 5 on third- and fourth-and-1 situations against Cleveland, and they did the same exact thing against the Ravens the week prior.
But this hasn't been an issue throughout the season for Pittsburgh. Overall, they are 17 for 29 (58.6%), the fourth-worst percentage in the NFL. But they converted eight in a row spanning Weeks 5-10. That also goes to show how few those situations came up. They only had five total conversions in as many opportunities against the Raiders, Jets and Giants.
This really appears to be a situation of just losing up front. The Browns converted both of their opportunities last week, and both were runs in between the tackles to Nick Chubb.
Something's gotta give.
"Just all 11 guys being on the same page at the same time and executing," Broderick Jones said. "That's all it is."
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
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