Through the first two weeks of the NFL season, you could use a number of different words to describe the Pittsburgh Steelers offense. None of them would be kind and some might not be appropriate for use around small children. The blame for that has largely been directed at offensive coordinator Matt Canada by large sections of the fan base and analysts in the media.
However, there’s plenty of blame to go around for an offense that has scored two touchdowns, the same amount as the Steelers defense in the Monday night win over the Cleveland Browns. When former Pittsburgh RB Merril Hoge joined Randy Bauman and the DVE Morning Show Wednesday morning, he directed some of that blame on the receivers.
“You got people jogging on your routes and they’re late, okay?” Hoge said. “So that has an effect on your quarterback. I’m telling you, I see nobody with a sense of urgency on the perimeter. When they go run routes, I’m like oh my gosh, this is terrible. This is not pro football. These are not pro players when they run routes like that.”
Hoge did not provide any specific examples of what he was referring to. But the Steelers’ offense clearly has issues across the board, scoring just two touchdowns over their first two games. It hurts they’re missing their top route runner in WR Diontae Johnson, who suffered a hamstring injury early in the second half of Week One’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers. He is one of the league’s top route runners who shows consistent effort, burst, and is seemingly always open. That’s friendly to a quarterback, especially a young one like Kenny Pickett.
“You’ve got guys drifting into routes,” Hoge said. “I’ve never seen a drifter. Where a guy is going to hitch at 10 yards and he starts backpedaling at five and drifting to ten. I’m like, ‘what is that?'”
For Hoge to level this kind of criticism, as an analyst and scout working for the team, means what he’s seeing on tape is alarming. That tracks with the rest of the group. A run game that remains invisible. An offensive line making a bunch of errors. A scheme that isn’t elevating anyone to new heights. Combine all that and you get one of the league’s worst offenses through the first two weeks, near the bottom of the league in nearly every metric.
However, one wide receiver whose route running stood out as a positive on Monday night was George Pickens. He finished the night 127 yards and a touchdown on four receptions while being targeted 10 times. Josh Carney did a full film room on Pickens’ night, and even on the incompletions, Pickens showed off his improved route-running skills.
In fact, in the second clip that Carney selected, an incompletion, Pickens showed off that urgency Hoge talked about by snapping off the top of his route and getting into the slant early. That was due to seeing the cornerback backpedaling hard and giving Pickens a big cushion. However, Pickett missed Pickens low and out front on what could have been at minimum a solid gain.
When an offense is struggling as badly as the Steelers are right now, there is plenty of blame to spread around. The struggles affect players, and that certainly could show up in the ways Hoge is talking. Thankfully, Pickens’ hard work on his route-running ability is showing up on tape and is starting to pay dividends.
