Another day, another former NFL player calling out the Matt Canada-led Pittsburgh Steelers offense.
on The Athletic Football Show, former backup quarterback Chase Daniel spoke about the team’s sputtering unit.
“It looks like every other offense,” Daniel said. “It doesn’t look like it’s innovating. It just looks like they’re having trouble designing schemes to get people open.”
You don’t say. After suffering through the first four games of the season, it’s safe to say the team with the third-lowest yards per game, and fourth-lowest points most definitely is having trouble scheming players open. Calling the Pittsburgh offense like every other offense is praise based on what has been put on tape so far this season.
The predictability of the offensive play calling has been called out by several opponents, most recently former Steelers cornerback Steven Nelson. The defensive back talked to Texans.com’s Deepi Sidhu about what led to his interception last week.
“Watching what they do, what they were successful at,” Nelson said. “They hit the same player, same formation look like last week, they scored on the touchdown versus [Las] Vegas. And I was just ready for it.”
No nuance, no creativity, and no building from week to week. Just the same concepts.
Daniel’s co-host Robert Mays wonders if there are even pre-snap reads built into the offense that could force quarterback Kenny Pickett to miss certain targets.
“It feels like there’s no depth to why he is trying to look at the offense,” said Mays. “I don’t know if that’s how the offense is structured, I don’t know if that’s how the offense is being coached. It’s impossible to know but that’s what it feels like.”
Daniel doubled down on this take a few moments later, calling the offensive performance an “out route fest.” He point to Mitch Trubitsky entering the game after Pickett was injured and immediately throwing an out, just like Pickett throughout the game without any other read.
Despite this, both hosts agree that the team’s 2022 first-round pick is developing bad habits in the pocket, such as bailing early, and emphasized the need for him to play better.
Will it happen? It certainly does not look promising, especially with the 3-1 Baltimore Ravens coming to town, but maybe Canada has been saving his best for this game.
Still, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
