The Pittsburgh Steelers did not utilize quarterback sneaks when Todd Haley was the offensive coordinator, and nothing has really changed under Randy Fichtner.
The Steelers had short-yardage situations against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday but declined to use the QB sneak even though it has a higher success rate in those situations than any other play call. So why don’t they use it?
Fichtner doesn’t like it because he says there is a lot of stuff going on in piles. Worse, he says if they can’t pick up the first down with a running back, they don’t deserve to win the down.
Steelers OC Randy Fichtner isn’t a big fan of calling a QB sneak in short yardage situations, like the handful the Steelers faced Monday.
“Just the truth be known, if we can’t hand it to one of our backs and we can’t block ‘em, we didn’t deserve to win that down.”
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— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) October 3, 2019
Last year, Ben Roethlisberger said he wasn’t even allowed to change to a QB sneak.
Here’s the thing, Fichtner, the reason why it’s easier to convert with a quarterback in short-yardage situations is because they start a yard behind the line, not several yards behind like a running back would, where much more can go wrong.
Tom Brady has been one of the most successful quarterbacks at executing sneaks and the guy is playing at like age 50. Obviously doing sneaks can’t be too bad for a QB’s health if he’s been doing it for nearly two decades. Maybe it’s time for Pittsburgh to incorporate that into their repertoire.
