The 2024 football season is finally here! Now in its third season, we’ll be charting, visualizing, and providing takeaways for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ most important quarterback position.
Before we get into it, a few notes. Thanks to Thomas Mock for his great work in helping me learn a lot of the visuals used in the series. Spikes and clear throwaways were removed because they were the right situational decisions, and bats on the line of scrimmage were also removed. One throwaway and one spike were removed in this game.
QB Justin Fields started without Russell Wilson. As a passer, Fields was 5 of 6 (83.3%) for 67 yards, no touchdowns or interceptions, and a QB rating of 113.2. But he also had other issues, including two fumbles and two sacks on C Nate Herbig, and didn’t show much as a scrambler.
Kyle Allen was the only other QB to play in the opener, going 17 of 23 (73.9%) in the final three quarters. He had 193 passing yards and a red zone touchdown to TE Connor Heyward in the flat. But Allen also threw a sack and interception on his final throw in a comeback attempt in a 20-12 loss, posting a 95.0 QB rating.
Let’s take a quick look at the 27 passes charted along with the number of throws at each passing distance in the game.
#1. Behind the Line: 29.6%. Vanilla led the way in passes behind the line as expected in the preseason. Seven of those eight passes were screens, six of them to running backs. The highlight was the first pass of the game, when Fields passed to RB Najee Harris for -5 air yards despite a QB hit (OT Broderick Jones), showing off his ability to force a missed tackle for a huge 16-yard gain.
One non-RB play was a sidearm screen to WR George Pickens, who picked up where he left off last season with improved YAC for a 10-yard chain mover. Another was a play-action to Flatt off Hayward, who thankfully saw plenty of it and was tackled quickly with no YAC for a loss of two points. Allen also threw one badly to RB LaMical Perin off play-action.
Overall, five of eight passes resulted in positive yards (62.5%), two of eight resulted in first downs (25%), and both third down attempts were unsuccessful.
#2. 0-5 Airyards: 25.9 percent. This is generally the most common pass distance for NFL teams, with seven attempts in this game. The first example was Pickens’ other target, a stop on a 5-yard run and a missed tackle on 2nd-and-11 for 15 yards. The starters showed YAC once again.
The next example is a short 2-yard target on 3rd-and-13 to TE Pat Freiermuth, who was out of coverage and encouraged Fields’ decision to stop the opening drive. The next example is a 2nd-and-1 red zone attempt, where he ran a shallow crosser to free WR Scotty Miller from his sticks and convert for a 3-yard gain.
In the third quarter, Allen knocked down WR Jaray Jenkins on a stop route for five air yards and added another impressive YAC performance, including a forced tackle on 2nd-and-11 that gained 16 yards.
The most encouraging was the aforementioned Heyward touchdown, where he roamed flat on a 1st-and-goal from the 6-yard line, recording 4 yards of YAC and rushing for a 4th-and-6. On the final drive, RB Daijun Edwards caught a leak from 1 air yard and forced a missed tackle, gaining 9 yards. The final example was another stop route to Jenkins, who went out of bounds for a 1st down and stopped the clock.
What’s encouraging is that five of the seven plays moved the chains (71.4%), but the only third-down attempt was a bust.
T-3. 5-10 Air Yards: 18.5 percent. There were five plays here. Two came in the last minute, slant routes for 8 air yards. WR Deuce Watts was the first recipient, holding on despite a big hit. The other two WR Tarik Black caught Allen’s high/behind throw on a 3-and-one and ran for 11 yards with some YAC. Another one that hasn’t been mentioned was the out route he threw to Miller to end the third quarter.
Overall, he was successful on first down three of five times (60%), and only on third down.
T-3. 15-20 Air Yards: 18.5 percent. 5 attempts. This deeper intermediate pass distance is one I’d like to see more consistently, and is often the least common pass distance since I started charting in 2022.
The first example was off play action, where Fields made a nice throw despite a QB hit (Herbig/Jones) that resulted in WR Van Jefferson having a 20-yard explosive play with a crosser over the middle from 18 air yards.
The first pass of the first quarter was another explosive gain (24 yards) as Allen evaded pressure (T Dylan Cook) and ended up leaving WR Calvin Austin wide open for 19 air yards, adding some YAC. Unfortunately, the last pass of the game fell into this category, as Allen threw WR Jacob Copeland over the middle for an interception, sealing the loss.
The encouraging thing is that four of the five were explosive plays, but one was an interception.
#5. Explosives: 14.8 percent. However, four of his passes in the opener were explosive in the air yards, but Fields had none, and that will likely change as the preseason progresses.
First, Allen’s first pass in the second quarter was exactly 20 air yards, despite the free rusher coming out of the play-action, and he stood tall in the pocket and hit a deep crosser to WR Dez Fitzpatrick, who added a healthy 34 yards of YAC. Later in the quarter, Allen threw a high route to Miller for his longest air yards of the game (40). The latter was quick but went over his head and was nearly intercepted (out of bounds).
The next example was another great play where Austin was wide open on 7 routes, grabbing 20 air yards on a 2nd-and-17 and adding YAC for a 25-yard gain. The last example to start the 4th quarter was another play-action with a nice double move by Miller, grabbing 21 air yards and adding a healthier YAC for a 38-yard gain. Great catches and throws under pressure (Joey Fisher, Devery Hamilton).
In total, three of the four were caught, including a YAC, and the incompletion was the longest attempt (over 40) in double-blast air yards.
#6. 10~15 air yards: 7.4 percent. Short-range was the least common, with only two attempts. One was Fields’ last pass, a short pass over the middle just behind Jefferson, who controversially made the catch but was questionably ruled an incompletion. Tomlin did not challenge.
Another was the most painful throw of the game. On fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line, Austin ran free to the corner of the end zone, but Allen turned it over for a touchdown. It was a very unfortunate missed opportunity, and OC Arthur Smith planned the play perfectly.
The game’s completion/incomplete points are as follows:
Two things stand out. Fields started conservatively, with no explosive attempts and only two attempts over 10 yards. Second, neither quarterback had a target in or between the hashes. So while Smith’s offense enjoyed the route concept at first, it will be interesting to monitor going forward.
Completion rate by distance:
Justin Fields:
From behind: 2/2 (100 percent).
0-5 Air Yards: 2/2 (100 percent).
5-10 Air Yards: 1/1 (100 percent).
10-15 Air Yards: 0/1(0 percent).
15-20 Air Yards: 1/1 (100 percent).
explosive: 0/0 (not applicable).
Kyle Allen:
From behind: 5/6 (83.3 percent).
0-5 Air Yards: 5/5 (100%). Touchdown.
5-10 Air Yards: 4/4 (100 percent).
10-15 Air Yards: 0/1(0 percent).
15-20 Air Yards: 3/4 (75 percent). Blocked.
explosive: 1/2 (50 percent).
Completion rate by location:
Justin Fields:
Left outer number: 2/2 (100 percent).
Left number – left hash: 1/1 (100 percent).
Internal hash: 0/0 (not applicable).
Right hash – right number: 0/0 (not applicable).
Right outer number: 2/3 (66.7 percent).
Kyle Allen:
Left outer number: 3/4 (75 percent).
Left number – left hash: 6/7(85.7%). Blocked.
Internal hash: 0/0 (not applicable).
Right hash – right number: 3/3 (100 percent).
Right outer number: 5/7 (71.4). Touchdown.
It’s an interesting baseline number. It’s just one game, and we’ll continue to track and provide additional information as opportunities increase.
Now let’s look at the heat map for chart passes and the heat map for completions.
These heat maps will become more accurate and informative as the sample size grows (fewer attempts = wider color spread). Not to be over-reactive, but the overall point is that I hope things open up more in the air yards and in the middle of the field as the preseason progresses.
I’m looking forward to seeing how these two quarterbacks and the others, especially Wilson, the anticipated starter, play out going forward.
