Steelers news: Commanders offer lessons Pittsburgh can learn from

Like everyone else, the Pittsburgh Steelers are stuck at home watching. Their draft evaluation period is still in its infancy. However, the four teams still vying for a spot in next month’s Super Bowl provide lessons for the Steelers that the team needs to take to heart ahead of a crucial offseason.

For one, mobile quarterbacks are en vogue. Jayden Daniels, Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes represent the end of the pocket quarterback era. And in a copycat league, it’s up to the Steelers front office to decide whether that means they should go all in on the Arthur Smith-Justin Fields pairing or invest in Jalen Milroe or another dual-threat passer in the second round. If there's any solace for Steelers fans, Fields was enough to outplay the Washington Commanders at their peaks.

Jayden Daniels joins Ben Roethlisberger in history books

Daniels’ ascension is a reminder of the halcyonic days of Steeler football. His win on Sunday made him the second rookie quarterback to win 14 games in the regular season and postseason. It’s a largely esoteric morsel, but it’s a small club the Steelers were once a part of.

In recent weeks, frustrated Steelers fans have crowed about how the team is in a worse position than ever because they can’t get in position to draft a franchise quarterback. Pittsbugh isn't in position to bottom out and find their franchise savior at the top of the draft. There are two tracks to building a Super Bowl contender, and right now the Steelers are fashioning themselves after the early Roethlisberger Steelers. 

Those teams were defined by their stifling defenses while Roethlisberger was still learning the ropes after making the leap from Miami of Ohio to Steel Country. Daniels is a different beast. He’s elevated himself into the upper echelon of quarterbacks by elevating a below-average defense. 

In 2004, the league’s top-scoring defense buoyed Roethlisberger’s 17-11 touchdown-interception ratio en route to a 13-0 record. Roethlisberger engineered six game-winning drives, but he ranked 19th in passing touchdowns league wide. It’s a risky strategy, however, as evidence has indicated that defense-first teams don’t stretch as far as they used to in this era. 

What‘s often overlooked amid the memories of Roethlisberger’s final drive against the Arizona Cardinals is that Tomlin's only championship team set the record for the lowest-ranked offense to win a Super Bowl. This season, Tomlin believed he could do it again. The NFL’s most expensive defense didn’t play like one of the league’s best when it mattered.  It’s not apparent if the ending to this season altered Tomlin’s stance and a change in direction is on its way.

Steelers need a more robust fourth-down protocol

The 2024 postseason has become a showcase for a new offensive paradigm on fourth and short. Teams are more daring than ever. The Lions, Commanders and Eagles are some of the league’s most aggressive teams. The Chiefs have more faith in Patrick Mahomes than any team in the league does in its quarterback, and for good reason. It’s not a coincidence that those four teams all have a conversion rate on fourth downs over 70 percent.  

En route to the conference title game, Washington has gone 6-for-9 on fourth-down attempts in the postseason. The Eagles have turned the Tush Push into a staple of their short-yardage scheme. Two years ago, they turned short-yardage situations into an art with the most feared formation in the league.

And then there's Pittsburgh, situated at the bottom with the league's second-lowest fourth-down conversion rate. Only the Cowboys' 35.7 percent rate after losing Dak Prescott for the season in Week 9 were worse at converting on do-or-die downs. For much of the season, Pittsburgh stalled in the red zone and on third or fourth and shorts because they lacked the play-calling fearlessness to put it all on the line (or understood they lacked the tools to convert at an efficient rate).

Select teams like the Ravens use a direct snap to their tight ends to much success and to protect their quarterbacks. However, throughout the regular season, Pittsburgh couldn’t figure out how to convert those crucial downs. Instead, they played it safe. There are a whole host of ways in which Pittsburgh has been left behind offensively, but the simplest one to address is their fourth-down aggressiveness. 

The Steelers never got a proper sample size of Justin Fields in jumbo sets, but there are still no indications he’ll be a part of the Steelers' 2025 operation. Meanwhile, Russell Wilson is too small to be a viable fourth-and-1 option if he returns next season and there’s no telling who will be their workhorse back next year. In addition to their lack of talent at skill positions, they’d be shrewd to adopt a more modern fourth-down strategy.