A little more than a decade ago, Drew Brees set the NFL record for most consecutive 300-yard passing games with nine. It was smack dab in the middle of the league’s most prolific passing era, and the Steelers were among the league’s elite offenses putting up monster numbers. Ben Roethlisberger had 10 300-yard passing games in 2014, including a 435-yard performance against the Saints and a 522-yard outing against the Colts. The game being played in 2024 is barely recognizable compared to the glory days of pass-happy football. There have only been five 300-yard passing games through the first two weeks of the NFL season. Last season, there were 15 300-yard passing games through the first two weeks and an average of seven throughout the 2023 season. Go back five years, and there were an average of 8.25 300-yard passing games per week in the NFL. The 300-yard passers are being replaced by 100-yard rushers. Rushing attempts are up across the league. There have been 14 different 100-yard rushers in the first two weeks of the 2024 season. By contrast, last season, there was an average of 4.5 per week.
Also, many teams have morphed from vertical passing teams to horizontal passing games for several reasons. Some of the game’s all-time great quarterbacks have retired in recent years, and they are being replaced by young quarterbacks who didn’t play in pro-style offenses in college. There has also been a shift in how defensive coordinators defend.
“In my opinion, I think what you’re seeing is a trend,” Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said Thursday. “In the 2010s era, there was some really good and better quarterback play. Everyone saw it here with Ben. You had both Mannings. Those guys eventually retired, but you saw a lot better quarterbacks.
“You’d also see a lot of single-high [safety]. Now you’re getting so much shell coverage. People are putting an umbrella over it. And you have a lot of young quarterbacks. And they have to play earlier, and they’re used to the horizontal game. So there’s a lot going on there.”
Look no further than the two teams playing at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Justin Fields enters the game averaging 136.5 passing yards per game and has one touchdown pass. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is averaging 137 passing yards per game and has thrown three touchdown passes.
New Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh has brought a different brand of football to Los Angeles. Under former Chargers coach Brandon Staley, Herbert was one of the NFL’s top passers. He has 24 300-yard passing games since entering the league in 2020, but his passing high this season was last week when he had 144 yards in a victory against Carolina.
“I just think it’s the ebbs and flows of NFL football,” Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. “There are going to be times when passing is down and rushing is up, and there will be times when passing is up and rushing is down. It will adjust itself and even out. I don’t think there is a grand scheme of us doing something really good or offenses doing something that’s really bad that’s causing it.”
For teams like the Steelers, it’s simply a case of building a game plan around a young quarterback who is still learning the NFL ropes. Fields started 38 games in Chicago during his first three seasons in the league, but he’s still only 25 years old after declaring early and leaving Ohio State with college eligibility remaining.
With Fields, the Steelers aren’t looking for 300-yard passing games. The most important statistic for Fields through two games is his turnovers: zero. He’s been asked to manage the offense and take shots down the field Turn to when coverage dictates. He’s also extended drives with his legs and has been a running threat with 84 rushing yards in the first two weeks of the season. He is the team’s second-leading rusher after Najee Harris.
“He’s playing very smart football,” Smith said. “He’s understanding the plan and understanding the attack and what we’re trying to accomplish. What’s been encouraging to me is his pocket presence. He’s been standing in there when the pocket has gotten dirty, when they’ve brought heat. I think he’s made some big-time throws down the field. Some of those have been called back. Even on some of those [defensive pass interference penalties], I thought the deep-ball accuracy was pretty damn good. I’m very encouraged. He’s a young player in this league. He’s barely older than some of these rookies that are playing now. You need those reps.”
Fields isn’t concerned with his passing stats. He’s quarterbacking a team that’s 2-0 and is atop its division. Game plans change from week to week, but Fields knows how this team is built.
“At the end of the day, we have two great running backs and a great O-line,” Fields said. “I know with play-action pass and misdirection pass, if you can get the run game going, that’s what opens it up. All of our games start in the trenches with the bug guys up front. Nothing gets going without those guys up front.”