You remember being told as a kid, “Practice makes perfect?”
That’s what the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive players have been constantly telling themselves since the start of last season, when they went through some major growing pains with a revamped offensive line and rookie quarterback to begin the season. While they were able to turn things around in the win column, the offense still lacked that splash and efficiency to strike fear in opposing defenses.
It looks like things are going to be different this year.
The offense looked impressive in the Steelers’ preseason opener against the Buccaneers and picked up where it left off after Week One, scoring on back-to-back drives to open the game. RB Jaylen Warren ripped off a 62-yard TD run to get Pittsburgh on the board against the visiting Buffalo Bills and QB Kenny Pickett found TE Pat Freiermuth for a 25-yard TD strike to give the Steelers a 14-0 lead later in the first quarter. Pickett spoke to the media following the Steelers’ 27-15 win as was asked about the efficiency and rhythm the group has displayed in their first two preseason games.
“Yeah, it’s good to see all the hard work kind of coming into the games,” Pickett said via video from the team’s YouTube channel. “Obviously, it’s preseason, but we put a lot of time in together, so you wanna come out here and, and put points up and that’s what we’re doing. So, we need to continue that, continue to push for perfection.”
Everyone has talked about how Pickett needs to make the leap in his second season in order for this offense to take the necessary steps forward to make Pittsburgh a legit playoff contender. While it may be preseason action, Pickett and the rest of the offense are showing just that through two games, being crisp and effective both running the football and through the air. The offense has flashed for most of training camp as it has been pitted against Pittsburgh’s stout defense, naturally forcing them to get better and rise to the level of their competition.
Be it training camp, OTAs, mandatory minicamp, or private throwing sessions, Pickett and the offensive players have been putting in the time and effort to become what they are capable of this season. Those reps have been invaluable for Pickett as he goes through the maturation process of entering his second NFL season, getting a good chemistry with all the weapons at his disposal to make Pittsburgh a potent passing attack.
It’s important to not overexaggerate, but this offense is a much better offense than the one that took the field a year ago. However, Pickett isn’t resting on his laurels and thinking that the offense has finally arrived. Rather, he wants to continue to keep pushing for perfection, or at least the closest point to that. The way things are looking, we may be ready to see an offensive explosion from Pittsburgh in 2023.
