Two times already this season, the Pittsburgh Steelers offense has scored in single digits. It just so happens that their opponents in those games more than quadrupled their score, making matters even worse. And they haven’t done much better scoring in the games in between, either.
Recency bias may play a factor, but many seem inclined to point to Sunday’s performance as the worst of the season for the offense, at least in the passing game. It certainly wasn’t good, though former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger didn’t totally trash the efforts. “It wasn’t awful”, he offered Monday night on his Footbahlin podcast, throwing offensive coordinator Matt Canada a lifeline.
“I thought Canada did a good job of trying to do different things”, he said. “They tried to get [QB Kenny Pickett] on the run. They tried to throw screens. They tried to do some different things. That’s what you want to do. You’re not gonna get caught in that look of doing just ‘this’. They tried to do some different things. It just didn’t work for whatever reason”.
Part of the reason is execution, as is always the case. Part of the reason is just not having a good plan, or a plan that isn’t so evidently easily predictable. Going back to last season, it certainly seems as though many around the league as well as analysts feel Canada’s offense is not varied enough.
The Steelers did start getting Pickett on the move more often the week before, and they had more success doing it then. The play-action game was also working better, though there was still much left to be desired on the whole. And Roethlisberger wasn’t letting everyone off the hook.
“Now you start asking, do you need new play designs, or do you need new guys in there?”, he said, in talking about the poor results the Steelers have gotten. They have only scored four touchdowns on offense in four games, and just a handful of field goals. They are one of the lowest-scoring teams in the league, averaging 12 points per game without the defensive touchdowns.
Still, we have to be honest about things. Not everything falls on Canada. The offensive line, for example, still isn’t doing enough. There was significant improvement in the run-blocking department, but even much of that was absent in the first half.
And Pickett’s pocket presence is severely lacking, the second-year man frequently vacating at the first sign of pressure even if at other times he shows he can stand tall and deliver a big throw as he takes a hit. Canada is not putting his players in ideal opportunities to succeed, but neither are his players running his plays at the level to which they should reasonably be expected.
With an offense next week likely to be lacking Pickett, WR Diontae Johnson, TE Pat Freiermuth, and T Dan Moore Jr. all due to injury, it’s hard to be optimistic about an immediate turnaround. As with last year, we can only hope for a post-bye miracle.
