What a world, Steelers fans.
In our current reality, Tom Brady has been in four Super Bowls since Ben Roethlisberger won his last playoff game. The Steelers have more chances in the Super Bowl than the Cleveland Browns or the Miami Dolphins. And his former “retired” offensive coordinator totaled more playoff wins this postseason than his current coach in the past decade.
And you thought that 2020 was a strange year.
Now Steelers, a former model of an NFL franchise, should look to Tampa Bay Buccaneers – the team with the worst franchise win percentage in NFL history – for lessons on winning a Super Bowl.
You might think that the only lesson is: “Sign Tom Brady whenever he becomes a free agent and you have a salary cap and a need as a defender”.
If you want to make it that simple, fine. So, keep that in mind after 2021, when Brady hits the open market again, Roethlisberger retires and the limit may return to its normal level.
Between now and then, though, there are many other things the Steelers hopefully learned from watching the Bucs march to glory in the Super Bowl, as they languished in a fourth consecutive season without a playoff victory.
1. Control, alt, delete: The Bucs showed that NFL teams can make a successful rebuild quickly. From 7-9 and out of the playoffs last year to 11-5 and Super Bowl champions this year.
A big part of the winning equation is getting the right defender in a hurry, as the Steelers did when they recruited Roethlisberger in 2004. But they also need to be willing to make some other big swings along the way, like catching tight end Rob Gronkowski, wide receiver Antonio Brown and running back Leonard Fournette when they became available.
Of course, that means taking risks in pay and attitude. But if the organization is as reluctant to go into a complete reconstruction as it seems, once the maximum number (I hope) goes up again in 2022 and Roethlisberger and Maurkice Pouncey withdraw, the Steelers will have some space to support the list at the free agency for whoever the new defender is.
2. Honor your racing game: I’m not saying it goes back to Franco and Rocky days. I’m not even saying, “speed up the bus,” n’at.
I am saying that at least you have a current and capable racing game, instead of this absurd “short pass game replaces the race”.
Do you know who else learned this lesson? Bucs themselves. They were, in fact, one of the few teams that played the ball less often in the regular season (373) than the Steelers (369). And the average yardage per game (94.9) was not much better than Mike Tomlin’s team (84.4), who was the worst in the NFL.
In the playoffs, Tampa Bay jumped to 122.5 yards per game in his four postseason contests, including 145 Super Bowl yards in 33 races.
This allowed the team to control the clock, while taking less risk for missed turns, balances and passes. It also created gameplay that Brady – unlike Roethlisberger – welcomes and uses as a weapon.
Via NFL.com’s NextGen Stats, in the Super Bowl in action throws, Brady made 10 of 13 for 135 yards and three touchdowns. The action of the game slowed Kansas City’s fast pass by putting pressure on Brady in just three of 21 heats in the first half.
Thus, Tampa’s passing attack was – wait for it – diversified! What a concept.
Again according to NFL.com, on Sunday night the Buccaneers went 13 from 17 to 76 yards in shots of 10 yards or less in the air. They went 3 on 3 for 64 yards in pitches over 10 air yards.
3 – Right place, right time: The Buccaneers finished with 48 sacks this season, good for a fourth-place tie in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals. The Steelers led the NFL with 56. They also did it in 2019 with 54. They drew with the Kansas City brand in 52 in 2018 and had the league lead again with 56 in 2017. And they were ninth with 38 in 2016.
However, they managed to get only two bags from Brady as a New England Patriot when the team was eliminated in the AFC Championship Game in 2016. None at Blake Bortles when the Steelers lost at home to the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2017. And none again at Baker Mayfield. during his only playoff game this postseason.
Tomlin’s defense had only three sacks in total combined in his two crucial defeats at the end of the season for the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets in 2019. They missed out on the playoffs that year entirely. As they did in 2018, thanks in part to just two bags in Drew Brees’ 40 hits during the crucial December 23 defeat in New Orleans.
Meanwhile, Tampa had three bags from the Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl, following five against Aaron Rodgers of Green Bay in the NFC Championship Game. That same piece NexGen claims that Mahomes was harassed in 32% of the falls in the game. In 16 of 47 attempts against just a four-man rush, he was pressured leading to some rather surprising numbers of how Mahomes had to fight to buy time.
The Buccaneers rush pass forced Patrick Mahomes to jump out of his pocket and run across the field.
Mahomes traveled 497 yards before throwing the ball or being looted, the largest amount of scrambling yards in a game by any QB in the NGS Era (since 2016).#SBLV | #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/pHhXrYxadX
– Next generation statistics (@NextGenStats) February 8, 2021
It’s one thing to have a good quick pass. Another is to make it appear when it matters.
4. It takes more than one: Here is one I mentioned during “Madden-Benz: Unfiltered” this week.
While the Steelers defense continues to wander through its post-Ryan Shazier existence, it looked like Devin Bush was improving well in his second year before an ACL injury derailed him in Game 4 of the regular season.
But even before that setback, “the other Devin” of the 2019 draft on the internal linebacker – Devin White of Tampa Bay – was preparing for stardom. He was named a second team All-Pro in just his second season.
The team’s other starting linebacker – Lavonte David – is also a second team All-Pro. It brings a lot more versatility than just Vince Williams’ blitz and run-stop add-on for Bush.
These two players patrol the Tampa Bay defense midfield with devastating effectiveness and allow the four-player pass to happen. In the postseason, the two combined for 49 solo tackles, one sack, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and six defended passes.
For the Steelers, it’s not just about finding a guy hoping to replace Shazier. Fortunately, Bush can still be that player. But it’s about finding two guys who look like David and White.
Good luck with that.
5. Start rebuilding the offensive line: All Buccaneer players along the offensive line are still in their 20s.
That includes 26-year-old Aaron Stinnie, who has been the owner of point guard Alex Cappa for the last three postseason games.
As a whole, the Tampa line only allowed Brady to be fired at a rate of 3.54%, behind only the Steelers and Indianapolis Colts. All three teams relied heavily on their defenders’ quick throws to reach that number.
But the Bucs finished with 30.8 points per game and 289.1 passing yards per game, both in second place in the NFL. The Steelers had 26.0 points per game (12th) and 250.2 passing yards per game (15th).
Four of the five regular starters are Tampa Bay draft choices, starting with two tackles – a product of Penn State Donovan Smith and Iowa rookie Tristan Wirfs. In his first year, Wirfs was scored only with a sack in 799 attempts to block the pass according to Focus on professional football.
So, yes, a rookie in the first round can start in the position with some success if the Steelers decide to follow this path to replace Alejandro Villanueva. The Bucs signed a veteran center – Ryan Jensen – from Baltimore. Perhaps the Steelers can go that route again, as they did on the Super Bowl winning teams with Justin Hartwig and Jeff Hartings this year or next – depending on what happens to Pouncey. And they will already have a young, but polished, 25 year old sophomore guard at Kevin Dotson, as the Bucs have at Cappa.
The five parts along the offensive line are in a state of flux that we haven’t seen in Pittsburgh in a while, with more questions than answers. It’s time for the franchise to start addressing them.
And much more. Perhaps watching the Bucs’ success can help.
Tim Benz is an editor on the Tribune-Review team. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets can be posted again. All emails are subject to publication, unless otherwise specified.
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