Much of the talk this week has been about the New York Jets defense and rightfully so. The unit has helped lead the team to road victories over the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots, two of the most prolific offenses in recent history. It has been a run through the AFC that few predicted and the Jets have to be thrilled.
Conventional wisdom says that the Jets are going to be able to shut down a Steelers offense that hasn’t set in all-time records in recent years and doesn’t feature a poster boy at quarterback. But conventional wisdom is wrong.
While the Steelers offense isn’t as sexy and has never had its own section on ESPN’s bottom line, the unit has been more effective in the playoffs than both the Colts and Patriots for a long time. Don’t believe me? Jump it for the proof.
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The postseason collapses of Indianapolis and New England got me thinking. While the offenses have been stellar in every regular season for as long as I can remember, they have came up short more than once come playoff time recently. Peyton Manning has struggled often in the playoffs and even Tom Brady has had problems putting points on the board the past several postseasons.
Here’s a look at each teams points per games in playoff games since 2004:
It’s not a huge margin, but this group Steelers have produced more points per game than both the Patriots and Colts during playoff time. These numbers come from a large number of games too. The Patriots and Colts have played in 13 playoff games since 2004 and the Steelers 11. (If you add in the Steelers two games played prior to 2004 to even it out, the gap becomes even bigger.
Why is that the case? Well, certainly some of the margin is because the Steelers defense and special teams have helped score some big touchdowns in recent playoff runs. But the same can be said for New England as well. I think the biggest factor comes down to balance. The Steelers have always been more comfortable running the ball and are capable of scoring in a bunch of different ways. Roethlisberger is able to put a ton of points on the board in a shootout. The Steelers can grind it out on the ground. And nothing fits the Steelers like a cold weather, low-scoring contest.
The same can’t be said for the Patriots and Colts, who have developed more finesse and timing oriented offenses in recent seasons. The Jets were able to disrupt that rhythm during both their wins this season, but does anybody think Ben Roethlisberger will be uncomfortable in a playground style game where he is running all over the place? I don’t think so. History shows that the Steelers offense will be able to put up some points regardless of the situation.
