With the Offense Showing Out in Seven Shots, Mike Tomlin is Not Against Going For Two More

PITTSBURGH — Only a few seasons ago in 2018, the Steelers were the number one rated red zone offense in the NFL. In 2019, they fell off a cliff after the injury to Ben Roethlisberger. While they were fine in that area last year, there was a lot of room for improvement in that area. In many ways, it curtailed Mike Tomlin from being more aggressive, and the Steelers still lacked the consistency to score in the redzone.

However, in training camp thus far, the Steelers offense has won seven shots on back-to-back days. With some promising signs of what the offense is doing on the field, Tomlin was asked if it would cause him to become more aggressive in the redzone, specifically on two-point conversions.

“You know I’m always open to that,” Tomlin said. “I like to be thoughtfully aggressive. So, certainly.”

The Steelers converted 37.5% of their two-point conversion attempts in 2020. As for what the Steelers have done that has allowed them to gain some advantages in that area, they have shown adaptability to move around in formations like never before. For example, one of the offense’s victories on Thursday was Chase Claypool being motion from a 2×2 formation to a 3×1 formation. Claypool ran up the seam, and Roethlisberger hit Claypool in the end zone.

Matt Canada’s new offense is just getting underway in Steelers camp. However, there is trade motion, jet motion, and more that is being shown in the redzone. Those are wrinkles that were flashed at times in 2020, but they were truly few and far between in consistency as the season waned on. As it stands, the Steelers are looking better in the red zone in a short sample. That is a good thing, and a more aggressive Tomlin is not a bad thing either.