There’s no question that the Pittsburgh Steelers offense needs to be much more productive in 2023 in order for the team to get back to the playoffs and return to being a contender. When Coach Mike Tomlin took to the podium Wednesday at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa., he was asked about the offense and specifically QB Kenny Pickett looking to take “calculated shots.”
“We want to be explosive,” Tomlin said. “We want to get chunks, and I guess that’s what he’s speaking to. But we also want to possess the ball and control the flow of the game. So we’ve got to do all things if we want to be a dominant group, and that’s a component of that. We weren’t explosive enough a year ago in terms of chunk plays. So there’s a focus there.”
The Steelers were one of the worst big-play teams on offense in 2022, finishing bottom-10 in both passing and rushing plays of 20-plus yards, the basic metric for explosive plays. In the passing game, Pittsburgh had 44 plays that covered at least 20 yards, a mark which was tied for ninth-least in the NFL. In the running game, they only had eight such plays, eighth-worst in the league.
When it comes to even bigger plays, the picture gets even bleaker for the Steelers. The offense had only three passing plays that covered 40+ yards, tied for third worst with the Arizona Cardinals and the Jacksonville Jaguars. They had no such plays in the run game, leaving them tied for dead last with the Washington Commanders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
So there’s no question that there is a lot of room for improvement for Pickett, offensive coordinator Matt Canada, and the weapons on offense to make splash plays. The offense was able to control the ball in 2022, finishing sixth in the league with an average time of possession of 31:18 per TeamRankings.com.
So how do the Steelers generate more big plays on offense? There should be improvement simply because Pickett will have the entire training camp and preseason as the unquestioned starter. The comfort level on offense and with his teammates should be a natural boon to the offense’s production. That may lead to Canada opening the playbook further in 2023, allowing for more quality shots down the field.
That was one major issue giving the offense fits in terms of attacking downfield. Steeler Depot’s Clayton Eckert did a dive into Pickett’s stats on throws covering 20+ yards, and Pickett had the lowest average depth of target on throws of 20+ air yards with 25.7 yards. What should encourage fans is that Pickett had the 15th-best adjusted completion percentage on throws 20+ yards at 42.6%.
In terms of improving explosive plays in the run game, general manager Omar Khan helped beef up the offensive line with offseason signings like guard Isaac Seumalo and 14th overall pick Broderick Jones in the 2023 NFL draft. That should help improve RB Najee Harris’ average of 1.7 yards before contact which could in turn boost his average yards after contact of 2.5 (stats courtesy of RotoWire.com.) Then factor in RB Jaylen Warren likely getting more snaps when he averaged 4.9 yards per carry in 2022, and there is potential for more explosive plays just by improving the line.
If the passing offense gels early and begins to pick up steam, the running game should open up for bigger plays, and vice versa. With stability at the quarterback position entering training camp and more experience, there should be an improvement in explosive plays for the Steelers offense.
