2024 NFL Offenses Week 1: 3rd Down & Red Zone Conversions

The Pittsburgh Steelers offense was able to display their identity in the opener. Gritty, running the football, and time of possession some key components within that. A layer of the offense that I wanted to look at today is conversion rates, on third down and in the red zone:

At the bottom of the visual, we see Pittsburgh was one of only five teams that failed to convert in the red zone. On top of that, just two red zone trips (T-20th), relying on kicker Chris Boswell to connect on a whopping six field goals, paired with an also stellar day from the defense for the 18-10 victory.

That isn’t sustainable and particularly frustrating given their well above average 47.1 third down conversion rate that ranked ninth-best in the opener. It’s just one game, but that is rather encouraging to see from a team that ranked 22nd last season on a 36.6 third down conversion rate.

Of course, the ultimate goal is to score points, which the 2023 Steelers also struggled with at a 27th-ranked red zone conversion rate. As the offense opens up more than their conservative approach in Week One as expected, that will hopefully lead to the desired results on the scoreboard this season.

Optimistically, a similarly strong third down rate like Pittsburgh had in the 2024 season opener continue, but those sustained drives hopefully ending in the first touchdown celebration(s) of 2024.

Here’s to hoping that’s the case starting in Week Two against Denver.

Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments.