Through the first four games of the 2023 NFL season, the Pittsburgh Steelers offense has been largely putrid. The Steelers scored six points against the Houston Texans in a 30-6 blowout loss, seven points in the season opener, a 30-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, and the offense accounted for 12 of the team’s 26 points in the Week Two victory over the Cleveland Browns. The Steelers’ only halfway decent performance on offense came in Week Three against the Las Vegas Raiders, and the offense only scored two touchdowns compared to three long field goals, including a 57-yarder, with no points scored in the entire fourth quarter.
The preseason hype of the starting offense scoring five touchdowns in five drives is long gone. At one point, the Steelers were almost a lock for the postseason. Now the offense can’t seem to execute two plays in a row through the air or on the ground. When former NFL defensive end Chris Long joined the Rich Eisen Show on Monday, he didn’t have glowing things to say about QB Kenny Pickett, but he was squarely focused on the offensive scheme being the issue for Pittsburgh.
“The passing concepts are unsound,” Long said. “You play teams that are running zone, their spacing is terrible. They’ve got two guys out in the routes with a bunch of dudes back there in coverage. We talked about it early in the season, extended downs, not being able to find voids in zones. What are they being coached to do in the passing game? And because of that, the run game isn’t really a factor either… I think this team has to play really good complementary football and they’re not doing that. The offense is hanging the defense out to dry.”
When the Steelers beat Cleveland in Week Two on Monday night, there was one big play on offense, Pickett’s slant pass to WR George Pickens that he took the rest of the way for a 71-yard touchdown. A highlight for sure, but it was the defense that won the game with two touchdowns, a pick-six by Alex Highsmith and a fumble returned for a touchdown by T.J. Watt (caused by Highsmith.)
Heck, even in the game versus the Raiders, while the defense did no scoring of its own and let WR Davante Adams do largely what he wanted, the defense did get three interceptions and four sacks, giving the offense plenty of chances to create points. To the offense’s credit, it did not turn the ball over and scored enough points to win the game. However, for the level of dominance Pittsburgh showed throughout the vast majority of the game, the final score was much too close for comfort.
It all comes back to the offense, and it begins with the very first down of every drive. Alex Kozora took a dive into the numbers for the Steelers under offensive coordinator Matt Canada, and ugly doesn’t even begin to describe it. As he so eloquently put it, “The Steelers suck on first down.” Against Houston, the Steelers averaged a whopping 3.5 yards per play on first down. Not exactly confidence-inspiring to get a drive started or keep it going. There was no separation in the passing game and the biggest reception of the day belonged to RB Najee Harris, who took his lone reception 32 yards.
Yes, that 3.5 yards per play on first down is lower than the season average, which is an astronomical 4.4 yards per play, a mark that ranks 27th in the entire league. This is not an issue that just reared its ugly head on Sunday, it’s a season-long issue. Heck, it’s not even limitred to a season-long issue, it’s been an issue since Canada became the offensive coordinator in 2021. Since the start of that season, Canada’s offense averages 4.4 yards per play on first down, the worst in the league. This is not an issue that is tied exclusively to the on-field personnel. Steps have been taken by the front office to improve the roster. It’s a scheme issue, as Long says.
So where does Pittsburgh go from here? There can’t truly be wholesale changes to personnel and scheme four games into the season. Essentially, Canada (and by extension head coach Mike Tomlin due to him not firing Canada after the 2022 season) has hamstrung the offense. It’s not just play calling that’s the issue, it’s the fact that the playbook itself is apparently devoid of plays that are designed to beat zone coverage. So defenses are going to run more zone coverage and leave the Steelers’ passing game unable to generate any positive momentum outside of sheer athletic feats like Pickens’ 71-yard touchdown against Cleveland or WR Calvin Austin III’s 72-yard touchdown against the Raiders.
So even if Tomlin and Pittsburgh mercifully pull the plug on the Canada experiment during the 2023 season, it will still largely be the same plays being called. Fans simply have to hope that whoever is calling the plays can at least put them together in a more coherent plan to play better complementary football, as Long put it.
You can watch the conversation on the Steelers-Texans game between Eisen and Long below.
