Watching Steelers placekicker Chris Boswell work, sometimes you take him a little for granted.
But he's been and remains one of the NFL's best and most accurate kickers, not just currently but in league history.
Boswell nailed all six of his field goal attempts in the Steelers' season opening win against the Falcons, including making three attempts from beyond 50 yards.
In fact, five of Boswell's attempts against the Falcons came from 40 or more yards. That has happened just three times in NFL history.
In two of those instances, it has been Boswell who has done it.
Sunday's 6-for-6 effort raised Boswell's career made field goal percentage to 87.45 percent, which ranks sixth on the NFL's all-time list.
The amazing thing about Boswell's career is that he has spent all of it kicking in the elements of Western Pennsylvania.
But he's mastered the conditions at Acrisure Stadium. In home games in his career, he's made 89.4 percent of his kicks. In road venues, he's an 85.3 percent kicker.
He's the most accurate kicker in NFL history from beyond 50 yards among those who have attempted ast least 10 such kicks at 82.5 percent.
And unlike some of the players ahead of him on the all-time field goal percentage list, he hasn't done that much of his damage in indoor games.
Boswell has made 11 of his 12 field goal attempts in his career in domes, a percentage of 91.7. In retroof stadiums, he's made 17 of his 18 kicks, a percentage of 94.4.
So, overall in indoor games, Boswell has made 28 of his 30 field goal attempts, a 93.3 percentage.
Compare that to Atlanta's Younghoe Koo, one of the five kickers who rank ahead of Boswell on the all-time field goal percentage list, and you see the difference.
Koo, who is an excellent kicker and has made 88.6 percent of his career field goal attempts to rank fourth on the all-time list, has made 105 of 116 of his field goal attempts in indoor venues, a percentage of 90.5. But he's just 50 of 59 in his career in outdoor games, an 84.5 percentage.
The Raiders' Daniel Carlson, who ranks fifth on the all-time list, has had 101 career attempts at indoor venues, making 94, a success rate of 93.1 percent. In outdoor games, Carlson is 76 of 93, a percentage of just 81.7.
That's not to denigrate Koo or Carlson at all. Both are excellent. But there's no doubt they have benefitted from the teams on which they have played having played plenty of indoor games.
Baltimore's Justin Tucker, Kansas City's Harrison Butker and Carolina's Eddie Pineiro rank one through three on the all-time list.
Tucker and Butker get plenty of praise when it comes to talking about the best kickers in the NFL. Boswell is seldom mentioned in that same category.
But he clearly belongs there.
In six of his 10 seasons, he's made 90 percent or better of his field goal attempts. And he's seemingly gotten better with age, particularly on long attempts.
Over the past four seasons, Boswell is 24 of 28 on field goal attempts of 50 or more yards, a percentage of 83.3 percent.
To put that into perspective, that 83.3 percent success rate would rank third in Steelers' history behind Boswell and the man he replaced, Shaun Suisham, who made 87.9 percent of his career kicks, for players with at least 20 attempts.
That's special.
Also consider that Boswell's 33 successful field goal attempts from 50 yards and beyond are more than all of the other kickers in team history combined (27).
• With the new "dynamic kickoff rules, kickoff returns in Week 1 of the NFL increased to a rate of 33 percent, which is a five-year high in the league.
There were 172 total kickoffs in Week 1, 171 dynamic kicks and one successful onside try by the Commanders.
Of the league's kickoffs in Week 1, 25 percent were either caught or hit the ground within the 20-yard landing zone, forcing a return. Three kickoffs failed to reach the landing zone, resulting in a penalty.
The average starting point for all drives on kickoffs was the 29.4 yard line, while the average starting point for kicks that were returned was the 28.
That 28-yard starting point on kickoff returns does not include a 96-yard return for a touchdown by Houston's DeeJay Dallas since the offense didn't have to start a drive on that play. Last season, there were four kicks returned for touchdowns all season.
There also was one muffed kickoff by Chicago's Velus Jones on a short kick by the Titans that Tennessee recovered.
The new rule isn't perfect and perhaps will need to be continued to be tweaked at some point, but it did have the intended result, which is to have more kick returns and potential excitement rather than touchbacks.
• While the Steelers kicked six field goals in their 18-10 win over the Falcons last week, they scored points on six of their 10 possessions in the game.
Last season, the Steelers had just two games in which they scored points on at least six possessions, both coming in back-to-back games in December against Cincinnati and Seattle.
They also had just three games last season in which they produced offensive points on 50 percent or more of their possessions, those coming against Cincinnati, Seattle and Green Bay, which occurred on Nov. 11.
The Steelers also possessed the football for 35:36 of the game against the Falcons. The only two games in which they surpassed that total also came in the games against the Bengals (37:17) on Nov. 26 and Seattle (37:33) in that Dec. 31 meeting.
Finally, they only had one game last season in which they converted at least eight third downs into first downs, that also coming against the Bengals in that November matchup.
The Steelers also were 28th in 2023 in the percentage of their possessions that ended with a three-and-out at 30.4. Against the Falcons, they had two of 10 possessions that resulted in a three-and-out.
The Steelers ran 22 plays against the Falcons out of three- or four-tight end sets, which was the most for a team in one game over the past three NFL seasons. Will they do that every week? Maybe not. But if it helps them hold the football and control the game as they did last week against the Falcons, we just might continue to see that – especially with backup quarterback Justin Fields starting.
Fields' skill set lends itself to playing more of a power running, ball-possession game. We'll see if things change offensively when the Steelers get Russell Wilson back on the field.
• It's difficult to win games on the road in the NFL. And the schedule makers did the Steelers no favors in that regard to open the 2024 season with two-straight road games, the first time since 2001 the team will open with back-to-back games on the road.
With one road win in hand last weekend against the Falcons, the Steelers will try to get off to a 2-0 start in thost back-to-back road games. The 2001 team, which finished 13-3, lost its opener in Jacksonville before winning at Buffalo the following week.
• Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast
How tough is it to win on the road in the NFL?
Realize that in games involving AFC opponents, the Steelers are the only AFC team that has a winning record in their history on the road.
The Steelers are 163-156-2 all-time in road games against AFC opponents. That .511 winning percentage doesn't sound great until you consider the Patriots at 158-164 and a .491 winning percentage are second among AFC teams in wins and winning percentage against fellow AFC opponents.
Overall, the Steelers are second only to the Cowboys in road wins and winning percentage, regardless of opponent.
Dallas is 218-205, a winning percentage of .515, in road games. The Steelers are 215-205-2, a winning percentage of .512.
Since the start of free agency in 1993, the Steelers have been even better in road games, with a winning percentage of .550 (137-112-1). Only the Patriots at .592 (148-102) have been better.
• Is Blitzburgh now a thing of the past?
Maybe. Maybe not.
According to NFL NextGen stats, the Steelers blitzed on just 7.1 percent of their defensive snaps at Atlanta last week. That was the lowest rate in the NFL in Week 1. Pre Football Reference had them with a 10.1 percent blitz rate, which was third-lowest in the league.
Now, perhaps that changes in future games. After all, the Steelers per Pro Football Reference, blitzed at a 34.1 percent rate in 2023, which ranked sixth-most in the NFL. But if they can pressure a team with just four rushers, they don't have to bring more than that.
"The things that we do, they're always game-plan specific, and what we think is best for us and the things that we need to do to win the game that week," defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said. "So, some weeks there's going to be more blitz. In some weeks there's going to be less and it's going to be game-plan specific. So as we work into a week and we get to Sunday, we've got to figure out, 'Hey, this is what we feel is best,' and that's what we go with."
It has to be comforting, however, to know they have the ability to generate pressure with four when they so choose.
