Interesting Analytics

These are interesting Analytics showing the Offensive and Defensive rankings average by team for each team that won the Super Bowl over the last 20 years.

Final Average Rankings (2005–2024)

• Total Offense (Yards): 9.7
• Total Offense (Points): 7.9
• Total Defense (Yards Allowed): 8.9
• Total Defense (Points Allowed): 8.4

It goes to show that Defense is just as important as offense according to analytics. I would not have realized this had I not looked it up. The Steelers Defenses on average have been good enough over the last few years, the issue is we have had to spend alot of money to make the defense good enough at the expense of the offense.

The common theme for almost all the Super Bowl winners is of course they all had good to great QB’s on the majority of the squads.

The Steelers have fallen short in a few areas here. We have been unable to find or develop a QB since Ben retired. This is no easy task. It's also obvious.

The other issue here is we have been unable to develop the offense as a whole and have been unable to proportion our salary cap spend in that area because of what we have tied up in the defense. I understand part of it is we have veterans on defense who are in their second or third contracts and we have three to 4 stars on defense being paid handsomely. My issue is with this is our defensive scheme is really dependent on these stars to perform for the defense to be effective.

The Steelers have to find a way to reduce the spending on the defensive side of the ball and yet still be effective. Obviously drafting well on that side of the ball is important but revising the scheme to enable lesser players to perform and develop at a high level is something that needs to be looked at so they can take some of that money and start spending it on offense to take the offense to the next level.

 

One of the reasons I don''t like Austin's defensive scheme is because it leans too heavily on the ability of the players within it. If it were more creative we would see greater return for some of the players currently rostered, and be able to consider moving on with the vets hitting third contract without taking as great of a loss.

That's not advocating for the team to move on from Watt as much as it is a point of the finger at not getting full value out of a Fitzgerald or Queen. OTC valued Minkah at just $5.6M last year - he carries a $22.5M cap hit in 2025, $24.5M in 2026. Queen was valued at $7.2M last year - he accounts for $17M each of the next two years.

Strategic overpays for the right players is fine. Watt's valuation last year fell $8M shy of his $30M cap amount. I'm willing to bet on him bouncing back this year despite his being a year older, since he was obviously not at 100% toward the end of the season. Heyward was a risky extension that divided the board last year. He managed to turn in an $18M valuation. I don't necessarily expect him to hold that line at age 36 and 37, when his cap hit is $19M, but if he's within $5M or so of that number I'm good.

Obviously DE and EDGE are key cog positions to the defense and Heyward and Watt are within reasonable range of the cap percentage they account for. Fitzgerald and Queen, though, are taking up chunks that would be better spent elsewhere. (...theoretically, at least. An argument can be made for a similar lack of innovation schematically on the other side of the ball.)

 

For the Steelers, the defense has arguably been more important than the offense toward winning a SB.

2010: Total Yds=14th, Total pts=12th, Total Yds Allowed = 2nd, Total Pts Allowed= 1st
2008: Total Yds=22nd, Total pts= 20th, Total Yds Allowed= 1st, Total Pts Allowed= 1st
2005: Total Yds= 15th, Total pts= 9th, Total Yds Allowed= 4th, Total Pts Allowed= 3rd

 

This is exactly what I was trying to say but you said it better. I see teams defensively with less talent doing alot more. KC is one example of that. Their DC reminds me of Lebeau alot. Our defense is way too vanilla. We rarely rush more than four and when we do its pretty obvious. We lack innovation, blitz design and discusses as well as the same on the back end. We took a high salaried Safety and lined him up 20 yards back last year to play prevent. At ILB we have been trying to solve that issue ever since Lebeau left. They keep throwing bodies at it failing to realize it is more of a philosophical issue than it is a player issue. We offer no protection up front for the ILB’s. We draft or sign ILB’s who are built for coverage (so they are smallish) and yet we ask them to take on and shed blockers constantly. Why not get bigger DT’s and ask them to maintain multiple blockers and play multiple gaps and play laterally instead of getting smaller DT’s and ask them to gap penetrate and thus leaving the ILB’s completely exposed?

I am really hoping we can get Kenneth Grant because he could fill the need of protecting the ILB’s and yet he is athletic enough to gap penetrate like Tomlin loves. I personally would prefer a guy to collapse the pocket by pushing the interior of the offensive line back so the QB has nowhere to step up. That would benefit the Edge players more as well.

 

I agree and honestly the recipe for success in the NFL is a top ten defense and a top ten offense with a franchise QB that can win the big game or the needed drive. Thats primary been the formula for most of the SB teams. The issue for the Steelers now is our defense schematically can not build a top ten defense without really high pedigree players. So we have to spend to much of our salary cap on defense to the detriment of developing the offense.

 

Great points. Our overspending on defense is necessary to compensate for the coaching and scheme issues. Our defense makes splash plays in the beginning of the season, but worn down by the end, due to having an ineffective offense.

I don't think we spend very wisely on defense either. They need to spend and stockpile talent on the interior line. They keep building outside in instead of inside out. The playoff game was disheartening and troubling.

It comes down to the Head Coach. He is not good enough.

 

We started with analytics....

 

?

 

And what did you do when you got to the next letter of the alphabet

 

Analytics then not analytics.

 

Your confusing the heck out of me.

 

who is fitzgerald?

 

I recommend beer to help with that

Any idea why your reply’s are doubles or is that intentional

 

Edmund Fitzgerald

RIP November 10, 1975

 

Every time I was going to respond an add popped up. When I clicked off the add it was doubling up my reply for some reason.

 

Here is a way to make the ads go away

https://thesteelersfans.com/forums/pages/donate/

 

Learn something new every day. Thanks.

 

In the big lake they call Gitche Gumee.

 

Re-read the OP. Analytics of yards per game correlated to points per game. Offense and defense.


Then opinions and rankings which is not analytics.


Analytics then not analytics.

 

I should have said Analytics and Opinions, your right.

 

Your title is 'interesting analytics'. I would truly love reading a thread on that. But instead yet another thread just to bash on everything Steelers. You don't like the coaches, you don't like the FO, you don't like ownership, the players are overpaid and schemes are outdated. EVERY THREAD YOU START.

 

B I T C H

 

COMPLAIN

 

DAMMIT

 

I actually like the FO. You are correct I am not a fan of Tomlin any longer and I do not care for Art Jr. . I used to defend Tomlin all the time. But his unwillingness to change and his unwillingness to get really good coordinators is very perplexing. I think Tomlin is a great human being and Rooney appears so as well by all accounts. I think Tomlin would be a great coach if he had good coordinators underneath him and he let them have power. But there in lies the issue I have with both Tomlin and Rooney. Tomlin is unwilling to get good Coordinators. I don’t know if it is ego, fear based or what it is. Rooney allows this to continue to happen with no accountability towards the HC. So that is my issue.

I just get tired of seeing the same product on the field year after year after year with the same results. You haven’t reached that point so your defensive. I get it.