The 2022 Pittsburgh Steelers offense was hard to watch. They averaged only 18.1 points per game and drives would never get off the ground or continuously stall once the team reached field goal range. However, there is some optimism that the offense will be better this season as quarterback Kenny Pickett now has a full year under his belt, an improved offensive line, and talented weapons at the skill positions.
The questions after an offseason marked by change is how much better can the Steelers’ offense really be? Well, Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report believes the Steelers have the NFL’s 21st-best offense heading into the 2023 season.
“It’s easy to like what the Steelers did on offense this offseason,” Ballentine wrote.
Ballentine specifically mentioned the addition of Isaac Seumalo who will certainly be an upgrade over Kevin Dotson left guard, and the drafting of Broderick Jones, who has a super high ceiling at left tackle. Ballentine also said he thinks the trade for Allen Robinson II was smart to help fill out a receiving corps that, behind Diontae Johnson and George Pickens, has a lot of questions.
“All of these moves are good, but it’s important to remember that Pickett is still a second-year quarterback, Jones could have some growing pains as a rookie left tackle, and Robinson could simply not be the player he used to be,” Ballentine wrote. “There’s reason for optimism, but there’s also reason for it to be cautious optimism.”
The Steelers are built to run the ball and control time of possession. It would be unfair to expect them to put up gaudy numbers. That doesn’t mean they can’t improve and be good. The big question is whether offensive coordinator Matt Canada varies up his playbook and find ways to be successful in the red zone.
As the 2022 season progressed the Steelers would move the ball down the field, but once they got in the red zone area they stalled out. Part of that is due to having a rookie quarterback but there is still a lot of blame that lays at Canada’s feet. The Steelers scored a touchdown in the red zone only 51.92% of the time, 22nd-best in the NFL. That simply has to be better.
Pittsburgh’s offense has a ton of talent. Based on talent alone the Steelers are arguably a top-15 offense. The problem is they are young and the offensive play calling has not been good. A 21st ranking right now feels accurate.
