The Steelers offense has had a fantastic season. Lackluster performances from every unit have contributed to the Steelers placing in the bottom five for points per game, passing yards per game, and total yards per game. It’s the kind of season that gets an offensive coordinator fired in the middle of the season. Since then, the starting quarterback has been injured, and the backup has been benched.
How do you tackle the bucket full of problems that comprise this offense? You have to start somewhere, and if it were up to me (which, thankfully it isn’t!), I would start with one concept. Practice this one concept to the point that every player knows his responsibility like the back of his hand, then apply it whenever the appropriate situation arises. That concept is the “rub route,” which includes the type of play the Steelers used to score a second-quarter touchdown that would give them a 13-0 lead against Indianapolis.
After Connor Heyward blocked a punt that set the Steelers up with a first-and-goal at the 1 and a Najee Harris run that lost 3 yards, Mitch Trubisky would connect with Diontae Johnson for an easy 4-yard touchdown. This is the most common rub route, where the outside receiver breaks inside while the inside receiver breaks outside. Defenses can end up confused or too congested when this happens.
You’ll note here that Allen Robinson (at the bottom of the screen) will slant inside while Johnson breaks outside behind him. Robinson’s route takes his defender into Johnson’s, and Trubisky lets it rip before Johnson looks for the ball. Johnson’s defender has to spin backward to get around Robinson and it’s an easy pitch-and-catch score.
The next clip is a zoomed-in view of the two routes. Robinson gets away with a shove that pushes his defender deeper, causing a bigger obstacle for the Colt coverage. When Johnson catches the ball, the closest person to him is the referee signaling touchdown.
Here’s an example of Kenny Pickett trying to take advantage of a rub route against the Titans in Week 9 using the same two receivers. This time, Johnson is the outside receiver breaking inside, while Robinson works to the outside shoulder of his defender who gets caught flat-footed and drags Robinson down earning a pass interference penalty.
Johnson has to alter his route from the 1 back to the 2 to get around the two players lying on the ground. Pickett puts the ball in a good spot, but Johnson’s detour has the play’s timing off and he doesn’t make the catch.
The pass interference penalty would give the Steelers a first-and-goal and they go right back to Robinson and Johnson causing Titans confusion with another rub play. This time, the inside receiver will eventually run an inside route while the outside receiver eventually breaks outside. Robinson will fake an out move at the goal line and cut inside. Johnson will start his route to the inside before breaking it outside. Johnson’s defender slides inside to protect against his initial movement and has no chance to catch up as Johnson crosses the goal line headed toward the sideline.
No. 24 for the Titans is also rubbed out of the play by Robinson’s route and, even with the throw a tad behind Johnson, is in no position to make a play. These plays can create enough separation that even an offense with all the flaws the Steelers have displayed thus can take advantage of to put some points on the board.
Next up is a similar play that we showed in the Steelers Film Room article from Week 13, where you end up with two receivers in tight enough spaces before their breaks that it causes defensive confusion.
On this play against the Arizona Cardinals, Calvin Austin will motion toward the top of the screen where George Pickens is lined up wide. It looks as though the other defender in the area is signaling to the Cardinal covering Pickens. Pickens breaks inside while Austin breaks out. The Cardinals botch their assignments and Austin is left wide open the entire play. Unfortunately, Kenny Pickett gives a glance in that direction before looking over the middle towards the covered tight ends. Even more unfortunate is that Pickett tries to run the ball into the end zone and injures his ankle in the process, knocking him out of that game and so far, two more.
