Last night, we hopefully got a taste of what the Pittsburgh Steelers offense can become in the 2023 season. We saw the first-team offense march down the field with QB Kenny Pickett performing almost flawless, capping the drive with a 33-yard TD strike to WR George Pickens. Other playmakers like RB Anthony McFarland Jr. and WR Calvin Austin III made big plays on Friday night, each scoring touchdowns to give the offense the fireworks it desperately needed.
Last season, there hardly any fireworks on offense as Pittsburgh was one of the least-inspiring passing offenses in football. Pickett and the Steelers quarterbacks experienced the ramifications of that, throwing the least number of touchdown passes in the league last season while struggling to establish drives through the air.
Speaking about the Steelers in a team preview, Steve Palazzolo and Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus talked about Pickett’s rookie year and how his lack of success can likely be tied to one specific variable.
“The offense is not creating the easy,” Palazzolo said on PFF’s YouTube channel. “It’s the opposite of the Kyle Shanahan system where you don’t have to perform at a high level to have gaudy stats. Steelers quarterbacks, it seems over these last couple of years, have to work really hard to have great stats. Usually, you look at the offensive coordinator or the playmakers, and I don’t think it’s the playmakers in Pittsburgh.”
PFF graded Pickett well in several categories from last season based on its charting, calling him clutch in under pressure situations as well as making plays outside of the pocket. Despite this and a notable improvement in passing grade, big-time throw percentage, and turnover-worthy play percentage over the course of the season, Pickett finished 2022 with 2,404 passing yards, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions.
While the Steelers didn’t have a functional slot receiver for the second half of 2022 after the Chase Claypool trade, they still had plenty of weapons for Pickett, including WRs Diontae Johnson and George Pickens, TE Pat Freiermuth, and RB Najee Harris. Ultimately, the offense couldn’t get going as OC Matt Canada struggled to make life easy on the rookie quarterback, being extremely predictable and boring to the point where opposing defenses were calling out the plays before they would happen.
As Brian Baldinger highlighted earlier this offseason, there are no more excuses for Canada in 2023. He has a plethora of weapons in the passing game. He has the beefed-up offensive line. He has the running backs and Pickett heading into his second season. It’s Canada’s job to utilize the pieces the front office has given him and make Pickett’s life, easier much like Shanahan and the 49ers do with their quarterbacks, finding creative ways to get receivers open or create YAC opportunities. Pickett got a good glimpse of what Canada’s offense can do this season last night, but it’s up to him to keep that momentum going into regular-season play.
