Pittsburgh Steelers Have a 3rd-Down Problem

October 30, 2015   ·   Andrea Hangst   ·   Jump to comments

An unpleasant development has been taking shape for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season: Third downs have been a struggle, both on offense and defense.
Through seven games, the Steelers are converting 36.05 percent of their third downs, which ranks 22nd in the NFL. That's down from a seventh-ranked 43.75 percent in 2014. And on defense, Pittsburgh's opponents are converting 41.24 percent of their third downs, with only six defenses faring worse this year.
The offensive struggles in this area are understandable, given the Week 3 knee injury that has kept quarterback Ben Roethlisberger sidelined until now. Relying on Mike Vick and Landry Jones at quarterback has clearly had a negative effect on the offense as a whole, with third-down conversions just one symptom of the problem.
Pittsburgh has completed only 62.3 percent of its third-down passes this year, the lowest completion percentage of any down, and that percentage dips to 57.1 percent on third downs with six or ...

Read Complete Article at Bleacher Report - NFL
Article is property of BleacherReport.com