PFF: Steelers’ Red-Zone Offense Against Bengals’ Red-Zone Defense Could Define Game

Entering Sunday’s Week 13 matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium, much of the attention centers on the Black and Gold coming off a disastrous loss to the Cleveland Browns on the road in Week 12 on Thursday Night Football.

Within that loss, the Steelers’ red-zone offense again drew some negative attention. Pittsburgh failed to finish in one of its two trips into the red zone, leading to plenty of questions and criticism regarding the Steelers’ plan of attack inside the 20-yard line.

Currently, the Steelers have the NFL’s 30th-best red zone offense in the NFL, ahead of only the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants. Yikes.

The Steelers have been a mess down there, utilizing far too many personnel packages to try and find answers, taking some bad penalties that throw them off schedule, and simply failing to make plays or finding ways to scheme up plays for playmakers.

Fortunately for the Steelers, they have a great opportunity to have a bounce-back game in the red zone on Sunday against the Bengals, which could help them iron out some kinks and get on track moving forward. The Bengals have the NFL’s 31st-ranked red zone defense, ahead of only the Cowboys.

For Pro Football Focus’s Bradley Locker, the Steelers’ red zone offense against the Bengals’ red zone defense is a key matchup that could define the game on Sunday.

“Even in its dismal road showing at Cleveland last Thursday, Pittsburgh moved the ball into enemy territory fairly well. Issues arose in the red zone, though — a common refrain for much of this year. The Steelers rank 26th in red-zone EPA per play, converting only 44.7% of drives entering the opposing 20-yard line into touchdowns — the fourth-worst rate in football. Dovetailing with that is bad red-zone play from Russell Wilson, whose 53.8 PFF passing grade ranks 25th out of 35 qualified quarterbacks,” Locker writes. “Meanwhile, the Bengals’ defense hasn’t done well to limit opposing offenses deep in their territory. Cincinnati ranks 31st in red-zone EPA per play allowed, permitting touchdowns on a whopping 75% of red-zone possessions — the worst figure in the NFL.”

Since Russell Wilson stepped into the Steelers’ starting lineup, he’s struggled in the red zone. That has led to the Steelers as a whole struggling in the red zone, something that wasn’t exactly occurring when Justin Fields was under center.

That’s not to say the issues are solely based on Wilson because they’re not. However, it’s been rather noticeable that once Wilson came into the picture, the offense struggled to finish drives with touchdowns. The Steelers have no problem moving the football, but once they get into the red zone, things tend to stall out and they settle for field goals.

Of course, points are points and field goals are certainly nothing to look down upon, especially when you have the NFL’s best kicker in Chris Boswell. But the Steelers want to end drives with extra points from Boswell, not field goals.

Too often lately, they’ve settled for field goals instead of punching the ball in for touchdowns. In Week 12 that cost them against the Browns, not to mention the defense failing to get key stops in big situations.

Over the mini-bye week, the Steelers say they did quite a bit of self-scouting and focused primarily on the red zone. That was good to hear. Now, they have to show they’ve taken steps to correct the problem, starting Sunday in Cincinnati.

The Bengals have one of the league’s worst defenses, especially inside the 20-yard line. There is no real excuse for the Steelers struggling once again in the red zone.