Through the first two weeks of the season, the Steelers offense didn’t really do anything right. Their passing game especially struggled against man coverage, picking up just 71 yards on 28 attempts (2.54 yards per attempt) according to Pro Football Focus.
So what do you do as a playcaller when your receivers can’t create separation on their own? Do you just hope that the defense won’t play any man coverage?
Of course not. Instead, you pull out your best man-beaters to help get your receivers open. And that’s exactly what Mike McCarthy did on Sunday against the Bengals.
Cincinnati clearly watched the film from Pittsburgh’s first two games and decided to try and smother their receivers with a ton of man coverage (over 50% according to PFF).
The Steelers were ready for it. Below was their first 3rd down of the game, a 3rd-and-5. That’s a high-probability man coverage situation.
So Pittsburgh came out in a 3x1 formation with a bunch to the left. The Bengals would end up playing the bunch with straight man coverage, meaning they weren’t playing the receivers’ releases and matching up post-snap. They were assigned to receivers and would follow them wherever they went:
Here was the route concept:
Michael Pittman Jr.’s route brought his defender inside with him: