Film Room: Big Ben Leads NFL in Go Route Attempts

The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback still has the arm strength many doubt.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger currently leads the NFL with 17 passing attempts on "Go/Fly" routes. If you've watched this offense closely over the past couple of seasons, you've recognized just how frequently that these plays occur. Those deep balls down the sideline have been a big topic of conversation for a while now. And are the reason for this article.

Here's a look at some numbers on these plays from Ben Roethlisberger through his first eight games of the season, via Sports Info Solutions:

17 attempts (1st in NFL)
11 catchable throws (1st)
9 on-target throws (tied-1st)
6 completions (3rd)
2 touchdowns (tied-6th)
1 interception (tied-3rd)

It's almost a bit surprising how well the 39-year-old Roethlisberger's numbers stack up on these throws compared to his peers. However, the efficiency has been somewhat lacking, with just six completions in 17 pass attempts. What's even more frustrating is that when you look at the film, it's more than just one singular, fixable problem for this unit. There's a myriad of different components to a successful deep passing game and addressing each of them separately is important to really understand what's holding them back from being more efficient. 

Here is a look at all 17 of those attempts to date:

QB Accuracy

Roethlisberger underwent extensive surgery on his throwing elbow in 2019, and upon return, his throwing motion was reworked, and his lower body mechanics have declined. While he doesn't have the rocket arm that he possessed coming out of Miami (OH), he still has enough juice to push the ball down the field. 

He's had more issues with overthrows than anything else. The one that immediately sticks out is the pass to James Washington in the Bengals game in Week 3. It's unrealistic to expect every deep pass down the sideline to be pinpoint, but there have been a couple of other instances where he could have made the receivers job a bit easier, like the first deep throw to Chase Claypool against the Raiders in Week 2, which was just a bit outside but still catchable.

Ben's made some really high-level throws, too. Some of his best throws this season have come on go routes: both of the long touchdowns to Diontae Johnson were dimes and his throw to Johnson in week two against the Raiders is one of his best plays of the season, a pinpoint pass with his left tackle getting pushed back into his lap in the process.

Receiver Skill Sets

Here's how the numbers break down for the Steelers receivers on go routes heading into week 9, which excludes the Mason Rudolph start against Detroit:

Johnson: 40 routes ran, 7 targets, 5 catchable passes, 3 catches, 136 yards and 2 TDs

Claypool: 31 routes ran, 7 targets, 4 catchable passes, 3 catches, 107 yards and 0 TDs

Washington: 26 routes ran, 2 targets, 1 catchable pass, 0 catches

JuJu Smith-Schuster: 2 routes ran, 1 target, 0 catchable passes

Johnson's ability to separate all over the field has been this team's most consistent asset. While he was indeed drafted to be the route runner of the group as the team's X receiver, he's also been their most productive deep threat. 

Herein lies the problem, Chase Claypool has been unable to consistently beat boundary corners with speed. A lot of his targets end up being contested, which forces him to win 50/50 balls which aren't high win probably plays. 

James Washington was drafted as a field stretcher but has struggled in this department due to his lack of athleticism. Both Claypool and Washington are also works in progress against press coverage, something that doesn't really bother the quick, diminutive Johnson.

While Claypool ran a 4.42, but he doesn't necessarily play to that speed on tape and might actually have a home inside as a "big slot" receiver starting next season if Smith-Schuster signs elsewhere in free agency. 

If the Steelers are going to improve their deep passing game, which includes almost exclusively fly routes, they'll need to acquire a field-stretching wide receiver prior to 2022. Someone that can take the top off and make defenses pay for single covering them without safety help.

Offensive Line Play

Roethlisberger has been pressured on five of his 17 passing attempts on go routes this season. The only quarterback who's been pressured more is Cleveland's Baker Mayfield with seven. 

Everyone knew coming into the season that the Steelers offensive line was very much a work in progress and would struggle at times, particularly early in the season. Pressure was a factor on several of these throws, even leading to the lone interception against the Bengals that never made it very far down the field as Roethlisberger was hit as he threw.

Big Ben has sometimes looked as if he doesn't fully trust the offensive line to hold up in pass protection. On most of these deep throws, the ball is out fairly quick, sometimes as quick as 2.5 seconds. If the Steelers want to push the ball down the field more, the offensive line will need to continue growing in the pass protection department.

Finally, I'm not sure that the scheme really plays much of a part in the set of plays above. After all, go routes are fairly simple in structure and play action is more to influence the linebackers more than the players in the defensive backfield. However, there is some validity here in regards to how bland the Steelers' deep passing game truly is. 

Only 17 of Roethlisberger's passing attempts have come on post, dig or corner routes. That ranks 29th in the NFL. These deep sideline shots are not high percentage plays across the NFL. So it begs the question, does Matt Canada not trust Roethlisberger to make those throws down the field? Is Roethlisberger not comfortable attempting those any longer? Realistically, it's probably a combination of a multitude of factors.

While there have been encouraging signs of increased rushing success and increased motion in the offense, Canada's passing scheme has been largely unimpressive, especially in regards to scheming guys open down the field. He will likely have a new signal-caller next season to work with and it will be interesting to see if that allows him to open things up a bit more. The long ball has never been his calling card in college and there's a chance that this just may be a weakness of his offense moving forward, though.

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