Following comments made by head coach Mike Tomlin and President Art Rooney II at their end-of-season media meetings, it appears that the Pittsburgh Steelers have chosen that Arthur Smith will be their new offensive coordinator. Now that Smith has joined the team, the Steelers undoubtedly want to see the same kind of offensive output that the former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons produced while serving as the offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans in 2019 and 2020.
Smith’s three offensively forgettable seasons with the Falcons in Atlanta are perhaps what first led to him being hired as the offensive coordinator by the Titans, given his success there.
During his two seasons combined as the offensive coordinator for the Titans, Smith managed a team that finished in the top five of the league in a number of advanced measures based on success rate percentages and projected points added. You can click this link to view these statistics for yourself.
Now, it goes without saying that Smith played quarterback for the Tennessee Titans with Ryan Tannehill, running back Derrick Henry, and wide receiver A.J. Brown. Tannehill had thrown 55 touchdown passes with just 13 interceptions and 6,561 yards in 28 regular season games over those two seasons, which were his first two in Tennessee. Regarding Henry, as you are all likely aware, throughout those two seasons he ran for 3,567 yards and 33 touchdowns. Whoa!
With an average total yards per game of 362.68 in 2019, the Titans were rated 12th in the NFL overall. With regard to that, Tennessee’s offense’s average yards per play (6.12) placed it fourth in the NFL. The team’s running game undoubtedly helped those numbers in 2019 as the offense averaged a third-best 138.9 yards per game on the ground and 5.00 yards per running play that same season.
Regarding the 2020 campaign, the Titans’ average total yards per game (396.4) tied them for second place in the NFL. With an average of 6.15 yards per play in 2020, the team was good for fourth place in the NFL. Of course, the Titans running game was a major factor in it as well. Henry and company averaged 168.1 yards per game and 5.16 yards per running play on the ground that season. This placed the offense in second place across the league in those two statistical categories.
The Titans’ passing attack did not have the same strength as it did in 2019. The offense finished sixth in terms of average yards per passing play (7.53) and 23rd overall in terms of average passing yards per game (228.3). Nonetheless, in 2020, the sack rate per pass attempt decreased to 5.15 percent, good for tenth place globally.
When it came to explosive throwing plays of 20 yards or more, the offense managed to rank 15th overall in the two combined seasons that Smith served as the offensive coordinator for the Titans. In those two seasons, the offense recorded 102 such successful passing plays.
The Titans performed admirably on big running plays of ten yards or more during those two seasons, as you would certainly expect. When combining 2019 and 2020, the total was 133, excellent for second overall in the NFL. Additionally, throughout those two combined seasons, the Titans ran for 34 yards or more, which tied them for second place in the NFL during that time.
Points are the most significant statistic of them all, so let’s not overlook them. The Titans finished the 2019 season with the tenth-best point average in the NFL (25.1 points per game). The Titans’ 4th-best point average in the NFL in 2020—30.7 points per game—made it even better. It’s not bad to see a 5.6 points per game rise from 25.1.
In order to avoid taking away from the exciting stuff that our very own Alex Kozora has in store for readers, let me just remind everyone that Smith’s rushing game schemes over the past five seasons have been primarily reliant on zone concepts. Furthermore, and as previously noted in other recent postings on the website, Smith has spent the last five seasons utilizing heavier personnel groupings on offense, which translates to a low utilization of 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, and 3 WR). That should continue in Pittsburgh, I believe, but preferably with Smith using a greater percentage of gap runs than he has ever used in a single season.
