Third downs are obviously a crucial element of successful offenses. On the flipside, three-and-out drives can spoil a team’s plan to victory. On all third downs, the Pittsburgh Steelers rank 26th in conversion rate at 36 percent. It is no doubt a problem that needs a remedy. Today, I wanted to zoom in on three-and-out drives, which have occurred far too often.
The first visual I want to share is play counts on three-and-outs, giving us a sense of the frequency that offenses have been in the undesirable situation.
Right away, we see that Pittsburgh’s offense ranks 29th in three-and-outs with 150, fourth most through Week 10 (lower totals are best).