The Pittsburgh Steelers are feeling refreshed and riding high coming out of the Week Six bye week ahead of their road trip to take on the Los Angeles Rams Sunday afternoon at SoFi Stadium.
The last time the Steelers hit the field, they had a big, emotional come-from-behind win in AFC North play to vault to the top of the division standings for the time being. In the bye week they were able to get healthy, with the return of wide receiver Diontae Johnson, right guard James Daniels and backup running back Anthony McFarland Jr., while tight end Pat Freiermuth gets closer to his return as well.
Sitting at 3-2, the Steelers are looking to stack wins coming out of the bye and go on a bit of a run in the second half of the season, especially as they get key pieces back. But for Good Morning Football co-host Jason McCourty, Sunday’s matchup against the Rams at 4:05 p.m. means more than just a potential win for the Steelers.
It’s an opportunity for Pittsburgh to show that it is able to get the offense figured out, giving its defense a complementary piece for the second half of the season to make this a difficult team to deal with moving forward.
“When I look at this Steelers team, you say alright they get a win, what does that mean? I just want to see the offense play better. You just mentioned that they had a week off with Matt Canada to game plan … the bye week is a self-scout week, so for coaches you’re not going to another country, flying all over the place, this is an opportunity to figure out what the heck you’ve been doing for the first six weeks,” McCourty said regarding the Steelers’ offense on GMFB, according to video via the show’s Twitter page. “So for them, you mentioned Diontae Johnson coming back, George Pickens that last drive against the Ravens, how do we get more of that?
“… What is it that we’re missing on the offensive side of the ball to figure out to help our defense, which is making plays, creating turnovers, scoring at moments, to really go out and compete. …For the Steelers, a win would be nice to stack some wins, blah, blah, blah. But for them to get to where they want to get, they have to figure things out on this offense.”
That seems like a bit of an understatement from McCourty, considering the Steelers’ struggles offensively to this point. That’s the big question that’s hung around Pittsburgh’s offense for the last three seasons: How do we get more of the good?
Getting Johnson back from injury will be a big help. He’ll draw a lot of attention from opposing defenses, which will free up more looks for George Pickens, Calvin Austin III and may even help lighten the box for running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren.
Coming out of the bye, the Steelers have talked about learning from their mistakes, aiming to correct things offensively in practice and then implementing them into the game.
Sunday’s matchup against the Rams will be the first test of that. Pittsburgh has shown some positive things offensively at times. Harris has ripped off five explosive runs on the season behind an offensive line that has, to put it nicely, struggled. Warren is a big-play threat in the passing game, and Pickens has really taken a step forward as a complete receiver.
More play-action, which Pickett thrives on, would be nice, too. The talent is there. Hopefully the Steelers’ coaching staff utilized the bye correctly, did serious self-scouting, and has changed some things around to help get the offense going in the second half of the season.
Even a modest improvement in the second half of the season from the dreadful offense, which sits 27th or worse in all key offensive metrics, including points per game (15.8, 30th), yards per game (286.2, 30th), passing yards per game (187.8, 27th), and rushing yards per game (80.4, 30th), would be a welcome development for the Black and Gold.
