Down the stretch in the 2022 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers had some solid success offensively in the midst of a 7-2 run to finish 9-8.
The running game became the No. 7 attack in football, and then-rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett put together some tremendous late-game heroics, leading the Steelers to significant wins.
Ask any football coach or player though, and they’ll give you the same cliched answer: last season was last season. This is a new season.
While that’s certainly true, there is something to glean from the 2022 season offensively for the Steelers. Pickett, who spoke to reporters Wednesday after arriving at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, stated that the Steelers can’t blow it up entirely from last year to this year offensively, but they can’t just count on that success carrying over. He did add though that having that year under their belts together and that understanding of body language, how teammates think in certain situations and overall timing can carry over, which gives the Steelers offense a good point to build off of entering 2023.
“No, I think you definitely have familiarity with players and guys that I have reps with, so there’s momentum in that sense of it. But you know, nothing that we did last year has any affect on this season or give us any kind of leg up on anybody,” Pickett said to reporters, according to video via Steelers.com. “But I think being able to play with guys for a year, being in the system for a year and having an understanding of how each guy plays, I think there’s some kind of momentum there…So I think that’s a good point to build off of.”
Last year, with a lot of new faces offensively on the roster and a number of moving parts, the early portion of training camp was a major feeling-out process under offensive coordinator Matt Canada, even after the work that was put in during OTAs and minicamp last summer.
Now though, entering training camp this summer, the offense can largely hit the ground running from a verbiage and overall feel standpoint. Guys are familiar with each other, know how to communicate with each other and are very comfortable in the system.
Knowing that, hopefully the offense is able to open up a bit more under Canada, allowing the Steelers to push the ball down the field more, search for those explosive plays in space with some of the weapons added, and improve a rushing attack that will be vital to the play style and success of the Steelers in 2023.
We’ll see how comfortable Pickett is in year two under Canada in the Steelers’ scheme. So far this offseason he’s taken charge and looks to have built off of the success he had last season down the stretch. But last season was last season for a reason. The time is now to build off of it and hit the ground running for a crucial 2023.
