Last season, the bye week proved to be a very useful time for the Pittsburgh Steelers as the used it to turn a 2-6 start into a 9-8 finish. This season, the Steelers enter the bye week at 3-2 and sitting in second place in the AFC North. However, it is hard to feel good about the record in the context of how Pittsburgh has played. Despite the Steelers’ poor play to start the season, head coach Mike Tomlin believes the team can have similar post-bye week improvement this season and is already in a better spot than a year ago.
“I expect similar things from the group this year,” Tomlin said on The Mike Tomlin Show which was streamed on the Steelers YouTube page. “We’re in a better position than we were a year ago, but there’s still components of our game that we don’t like, things that need improvement. We’re not gonna run from those things, we’re gonna run to those things and all the while as they improve, we better do enough to win games.”
The Steelers improved a ton last season after the bye week, and it wasn’t just in the win department. The Steelers went 7-2 after they bye week and a big part of it was due to them taking care of the football and being able to successfully run the ball. Pre-bye week in 2022, Pittsburgh scored 10 touchdowns (six passing an four rushing) and turned the ball over 14 times (10 interceptions and four fumbles). Post-bye week, the Steelers took care of the football and it changed games. In the final nine weeks of the season, the Steelers scored 18 offensive touchdowns (six passing and 12 rushing) while only turning the ball over five times (four interceptions and one fumble).
Pittsburgh once again needs to take care of the football post-bye week as through five weeks this season they have five offensive turnovers (four interceptions and one fumble), and only five touchdowns (all passing). Having the same amount of touchdowns as turnovers is bad, but it is also notable that the Steelers have no rushing touchdowns. That is one more area that needs to improve, and if the Steelers can replicate their improvement from last year post-bye week, the run game should make a huge improvement.
As Tomlin said, the Steelers are in a better position this year than last year at the bye week. Pittsburgh has a winning record and does not have to claw out of the basement of the conference, 2-0 in the AFC North. QB Kenny Pickett has another year of experience and can lean on weathering last year’s storm.
The Steelers have shown they know how to turn seasons around and they were in a much worse spot last year than this year. A better rushing attack could be a catalyst for offensive improvement as it may be able to take some of the load off of Pickett and help control the game and keep the defense off the field. With the way the Steelers improved their offensive line this offseason, the run game should be playing better than they are. Maybe, like last year, they just need the bye week to sort it out.
Of course, the Steelers have to show they can improve though. Tomorrow they get their first chance to when they take on the Los Angeles Rams at 4:00 pm EST.
