To begin the second half against the Carolina Panthers, the Pittsburgh Steelers ran a 21-play drive that ate almost 12 minutes of clock. That is officially the longest drive in the NFL this season, and it emphasized many of the reasons Pittsburgh won the game, and highlighted a key mistake for them too.
Mitch Trubisky (10) caps a 21-play drive with a QB sneak. | Karl Roser/Pittsburgh Steelers
A nice return by Steven Sims was wiped out by two penalties, with the blindside block on Miles Killebrew being accepted, which took the Steelers from the 30-yard line all the way back to inside the 9. After a connection between Mitch Trubisky and Diontae Johnson, a pair of struggling runs by Najee Harris gets them just enough for a first down. A pair of nothing-burgers sets up a pass to Johnson over the middle just in front of the sticks, where he makes a spin move on Jeremy Chinn to pick up a first down.
Jaylen Warren gets stuffed at the line, then Harris hits an inside hole to get another 3rd down, but just a yard short. Instead of the usual QB sneak, they run a jet sweep to Sims, who barely evades Shaq Thompson coming off the edge. He gets to the edge and takes it down into Carolina territory on a 22-yard run.
Another stuffed run later, Trubisky hits Johnson for 18 yards to get into the red zone. A stuffed run and a failed jet sweep later, Johnson makes another catch to make it first and goal, but then stands over a defender trying to get up and talks smack, which leads to a taunting penalty and sends them from the 7 to the 22.
Miles Boykin can’t get any yards on a catch, so Johnson takes a quick pass up to the 13 for yet another 3rd down, where Derek Watt plows through for the first. Harris then hits a hole up the gut to get to the 2, then powers through for first down. Two QB sneaks later and the Steelers finally cap off the drive with a touchdown.
What it means for the Steelers
Throughout the game, the Steelers converted on 12 3rd downs, with five of them on that drive. Four of Diontae Johnson’s 10 catches came during that time too. There was also a personal foul and a taunting penalty, which was the beginning of a problematic half that was full of big penalties, like Marcus Allen’s boneheaded taunt to start the 4th quarter.
Kenny Pickett has thrived on the QB sneak this season, and Trubisky handled it well on the handful of times he ran it, including going over the top for the touchdown on the drive. The drive itself was long and monotonous, just like most drives during the game, and boosted their lead over the league in drives of 10 plays or more. The drive as a whole put an exclamation point on some narratives of the game, and of the season.
Mike Tomlin discusses a taunting penalty with Diontae Johnson (18). | Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
It also showed some growth by the offense.
Last week, Trubisky threw all caution to the wind, and it cost the team bad, even if the first INT wasn’t his fault. This week, he made smarter throws while still being able to move the ball past the sticks. There were questions on Johnson’s catching and running abilities. He caught every pass that went his direction. He made some spin moves and stopped his feet a couple times to get the defender out of the way, but there was very little lateral movement.
NFL.com
All in all, it was a quality game all around, minus some of the 4th quarter. You could argue that it’s not sustainable, but at the very least, it’s something to build off of and it potentially makes opponents’ defenses in the future to put more focus into stopping the 3rd down offense and less focus on other details.
What are your thoughts on the drive or the game as a whole? Leave a comment and let us know.
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