Sometimes, you can see signs early in the season that things likely aren't going to go well for your favorite team over the course of the year. One statistic suggests this could be the case for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tennessee Titans.
We're just two weeks into the current NFL season, and each franchise has started with results that have instilled varying levels of confidence in its fan base. But just two of those franchises, the Steelers and the Titans, can lay claim to one unfortunate statisticthat surely will leave fans scratching their heads in disbelief: more punt yards than total offensive yards.
The Steelers and Titans are the only two teams in the NFL with more punt yards than yards gained on offense through two weeks of the season
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Steelers punter Cameron Johnston leads the NFL with 579 punting yards on a league-high 12 punts in two games, and Titans punter Tommy Townsend is third in the league with 529 punting yards on 11 punts through two contests. Meanwhile, the Steelers have tallied just 499 offensive yards (30th in the NFL), and the Titans have earned just 486 yards (31st in the NFL).
There's no way of getting around the elephant in the room. And that's the fact that if your punter is putting up more yardage than your offense is, you're never going to score enough to win consistently. So either that statistic has to change, or things likely won't end well this season for either team. And quite frankly, both teams could be in for a disastrous year if they keep looking so dismal offensively.
Mike McCarthy or Robert Saleh: Whose under more pressure to get their offense right?
Both franchises welcome new coaches this year, but they are in drastically different positions – Tennessee is coming off back-to-back three-win seasons, as well as four consecutive years with losing records, and hired Robert Saleh this offseason after firing Brian Callahan last year. Their current offensive coordinator, Brian Daboll, was fired as the Giants' head coach last year.
Meanwhile, the Steelers hired Mike McCarthy after 19-year veteran Mike Tomlin, who faced fans calling for his job despite never finishing with a losing record, voluntarily resigned this offseason. The Steelers are coming off three consecutive playoff appearances and five postseason appearances in the past six years, but have not won a playoff game in their last seven attempts.
It seems clear the Steelers will be under more pressure to get things corrected sooner, given how much higher the franchise's expectations seem. If three straight playoff trips aren't good enough, an offense that can't outdo its punter certainly won't be. The Steelers weren't seemingly ready to cut ties with Tomlin before he stepped down voluntarily, so McCarthy's job could be safe regardless, but Pittsburgh isn't a place where failure is an option for long.
With Saleh, he'll likely at least get one year to get things right before immense pressure from the fan base and the front office starts to pour in. It might be frustrating, given that Cam Ward is underperforming for a recent No. 1 overall draft selection, but no one was expecting a massive turnaround for the Titans this year.
This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: This concerning statistic could spell disaster for Steelers, Titans
