The first five weeks of the season for the Pittsburgh Steelers offensively has been quite the slog.
The Steelers’ have scored just 79 points on the season with 14 of those points coming on a pick-six from Alex Highsmith, a fumble return for a touchdown from T.J. Watt and a punt block from Miles Killebrew that resulted in a safety. The Steelers have scored just five offensive touchdowns this season — all passes from quarterback Kenny Pickett — and have kicked 10 field goals.
It’s been hard to put up points.
But second-year wide receiver Calvin Austin III believes the offense is trending upwards after the Week Five come-from-behind win over the Baltimore Ravens, and that when key offensive pieces get back healthy, including wide receiver Diontae Johnson and tight end Pat Freiermuth, the Steelers will be even better offensively.
“It’s a long season. Injuries and stuff happen. When we get everybody back, we’re already — I feel like — trending up, when we get everybody back it’ll be a continuation of what we’ve been doing, and I think the execution will only get better,” Austin said to reporters Tuesday, according to video via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Chris Adamski on Twitter.
After losing Johnson in the third quarter of the Week One blowout loss to the San Francisco 49ers with a hamstring injury, the Steelers’ passing game has really struggled, especially on weighty downs. They don’t have that true, high-level route runner to create quick separation and win on quick throws, helping move the chains.
Not only that, the loss of Johnson has allowed defenses to rotate coverages towards wide receiver George Pickens, which has made it difficult for him to truly take over games consistently, even with him hitting on some splash plays in recent weeks.
Then, the Steelers lost Freiermuth to a hamstring injury in the loss to the Houston Texans in Week Four. Though he wasn’t placed on Injured Reserve like Johnson and hasn’t been much of a factor in the passing game, the loss of his presence in the middle of the field has rendered everything offensively for the Steelers in the passing game to the boundary. That makes things even more difficult.
The good news is that with the Week Seven bye, Johnson and potentially even Freiermuth could be back for the Week Seven road trip to take on the Los Angeles Rams, which will provide a big boost to Pittsburgh’s offense, as Austin stated. The return of key guys could give the Steelers a lift from an execution standpoint, too, which could help get things on track offensively.
