Offensive balance: everyone talks about it, few seem to ever truly be able to accomplish it.
For Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, that offensive balance isn’t about a perfect 50-50 split between the run and the pass, like many seem to believe. Instead, he views offensive balance as being more about minimizing negativity, especially with the Steelers under second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett and third-year coordinator Matt Canada chasing more explosive plays this season to complement a stout defense.
Appearing on NFL Network’s “Welcome Back Weekend” with NFL.com reporter Judy Battista, Tomlin stated that with the Steelers searching for more explosion in 2023 for one of the league’s worst offenses a season ago, Pittsburgh still has to be mindful and take more calculated risks while minimizing negativity.
“It’s less of a balance in terms of the power running and more about minimizing negativity. As you search for splash plays, you open yourself up to more negativity. And we had a rookie quarterback a year ago; you gotta be mindful of getting him behind the chains and him absorbing, and the collective absorbing, too much negativity when they’re young,” Tomlin said to Battista, according to video via NFL.com. “He’s [Pickett] a little bit older now. We are a little bit older now, and it’s more just about more calculated risk taken in an effort to get a desired outcome. But that’s just a fact. As you search for chunk plays, the potential for negativity is probably more prevalent and we just weren’t interested in a whole bunch of negativity a year ago.”
When Tomlin talks about the offensive attack a year ago, it makes sense that the Steelers weren’t interested in really putting Pickett and a young offense overall in negative situations with higher propensity for turnovers and mistakes. Some could view that as a silly way of trying to learn on the job because adversity builds character, but confidence and avoiding mistakes goes a long way in sports.
Now, entering the 2023 season, the Steelers are a year older on the offensive side of the football and have real experience in the NFL. While Pittsburgh very clearly is leaning into that bully-ball mentality based on its offseason moves with the additions of Isaac Seumalo, Nate Herbig and rookie Broderick Jones in the trenches, along with rookie tight end Darnell Washington, it’s not going to be a ground-and-pound exclusive offense, even with bellcow back Najee Harris poised for a big year.
Balance is needed offensively. Pittsburgh can’t go through this season with one of the league’s worst offenses and one of the least explosive passing attacks in football. They’ll have to be mindful of when those risks are taken because their defense is so good and they are built to win low-scoring games.
While Canada and the rest of the coaching staff may want to take some pressure off Pickett with a strong running game, Pickett needs to be able to effectively lead the offense on scoring drives through the air, which will help open up the run game and everything else offensively. Last season, Pittsburgh’s passing game struggled mightily to establish any sort of consistency, finishing dead last in the NFL in TD passes while ranking 24th in passing yards and 25th in net yards gained per passing attempt.
That can’t be the case again. Finding that balance in Tomlin’s eyes is important, but all while minimizing negatively.
