The Pittsburgh Steelers received criticism most of the season for the lack of involvement tight end Pat Freiermuth had in the team’s offense. Anyone hoping that would change for Freiermuth in the postseason was greatly disappointment Monday night.
Against the Houston Texans in the AFC wild card round, the veteran tight end didn’t receive his first target until the fourth quarter. He finished the game with one catch for 18 yards on three targets, all of which came in the final 12 minutes.
The Steelers offense struggled the entire night against the elite Texans defense. But four other Pittsburgh pass-catchers had more targets than Freiermuth.
Head coach Mike Tomlin curiously blamed the team’s lack of third-down success on the reason Freiermuth didn’t see the ball more often.
“When you’re not converting on third down, you can pick anyone or any specific component of your offensive unit and talk about there not being enough exposure,” Tomlin told reporters. “When you’re not winning third downs, you’re not getting enough snaps to establish the things you desire to.
“Whether it’s the featuring of people or the running of the football and certainly points.”
Pat Freiermuth Finishes Texans Matchup With 1 Catch
It’s quite possible the Steelers head coach was just trying to avoid the question. But if that’s a serious answer about why Freiermuth didn’t see the more ball, it quite frankly doesn’t make sense.
Tomlin has it backwards. Offenses don’t need to convert third downs to get their playmakers involved. Instead, offense need to target their playmakers so they convert those third downs.
There’s also first and second down. Maybe if the Steelers had targeted Freiermuth on early downs, they wouldn’t have faced so many third-and-longs.
Because Tomlin’s offense fell behind the chains so often Monday night, the unit converted just 2 of 14 third downs.
Freiermuth is one of the best playmakers on the Steelers offense. Quite simply, the team underutilized him throughout the regular season.
In Week 17, fellow tight end Darnell Washington suffered a broken arm. Washington landed on injured reserve because of the injury.
With that loss, it seemed the Steelers were going to have to get Freiermuth more involved. That happened some in Week 18, as the tight end caught three passes for 51 yards versus the Baltimore Ravens.
But against the Texans, it seemed like Freiermuth wasn’t playing until the final quarter.
Fellow tight end Jonnu Smith had three targets before Freiermuth had any. Smith finished with two receptions for minus-1 yard and committed a false start penalty.
Steelers’ D.K. Metcalf Also Goes Two Quarters Without Target
Fresh off his two-game suspension, D.K. Metcalf was clearly ready to go Monday night. On the first two drives of the game, Metcalf had two catches for 42 yards. He also drew a pass interference penalty.
But with a little more than a minute remaining in the first quarter, he dropped a pass that could have been a big gain, putting the team at least in the red zone. The drop led to a punt.
After that, Metcalf didn’t get his next target until there was under 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
In addition to the question on Freiermuth’s few targets, Tomlin received a question on Metcalf’s lack of involvement.
“He had a drop on a significant play there,” Tomlin said of Metcalf. “Again, I’m not going to make excuses. This is not an excuse business.
“We didn’t make enough plays, and they certainly did.”
In Monday’s game, Metcalf and Freiermuth were clearly Pittsburgh’s best two downfield threats. With the Texans bottling up the run game and crashing hard on passes close to the line of scrimmage, it’s hard to believe both Metcalf and Freiermuth each went without a target in the second and third quarters.
Credit the Texans defense. They played extremely well. But it’s inexcusable that the Steelers didn’t even try to beat Houston with their best pass-catchers.
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