On Sunday, we watched QB Kenny Pickett go to WR George Pickens time and again down the field, connecting with Pickens on multiple passes along the sideline. As highlighted in a film room done earlier on Pickens, he and Pickett managed to connect on multiple back shoulder fades against tight coverage against CBs Marlon Humphrey and Brandon Stephens of the Baltimore Ravens.
Despite Pickens catching six passes for 130 yards, former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger expressed his concerns with Pittsburgh’s current state of the passing game, urging that the offense open things up past the throw along the sideline that the Steelers relied on against Baltimore to get back in the game.
“Like to me, the passing game feels very non-existent,” Roethlisberger said on Footbahlin which aired on his YouTube channel. “Because back shoulder fades, listen, they’re working. It’s getting 130 yards. Like, what are you talking about? To me, a back shoulder fade is… you’re, most of the time you’re trying to throw the fade over the top. But that’s how I would tell guys I expect the ball over the top, and then react to the back shoulder. You rarely ever say when a receiver runs a go route, you’re not calling like, ‘Okay, back shoulder fade.’”
That’s kinda what a back shoulder is. It’s an ad-lib type play, which is why I said it’d be hard to live in that world.”
Roethlisberger has a good point about the back shoulder fade not being the engine that you want your offense to run on consistently. While it’s a useful tool that they can use and Pickens is better at coming down with those types of combative catches than most receivers, it’s still a lower percentage throw that defenses can take away if they choose to bracket Pickens along the sideline. The Ravens chose to leave him in single coverage for most of the game, ultimately kicking themselves for it as Pickens got the better of whoever Baltimore had on him along the sideline.
As an offense, you must have a sense of flow and rhythm to the passing game, being able to attack opposing defenses at all levels of the field. Pittsburgh has struggled to attack the middle of the field through the air for years, dating back to when Ben was still quarterbacking this team. Sure, Pittsburgh was able to get away with the back shoulder fade against Baltimore who failed to adjust, but there have been instances during the season where Pickens has received more attention and Pittsburgh’s passing game basically did become non-existent because nothing else was there that Pickett was seeing.
As Roethlisberger mentioned, it’s hard to live in a world where all you have in the passing game is the back shoulder fade off of go routes. That’s where we’ve seen Pittsburgh’s passing game go thus far as it’s either been big plays from Pickens or a non-existent passing game outside of a deep shot down the middle to WR Calvin Austin III.
Pittsburgh does need to add more variety to their passing game and run routes that complement each other, getting receivers in advantageous matchups in coverage or the ball in space with room to run after the catch. We have seen glimpses of it this season and during the preseason as well, but more of that is needed for this passing game to truly open up and reach the next level. Getting WR Diontae Johnson and TE Pat Freiermuth back after the bye should help, but it’s up to OC Matt Canada to scheme up these concepts and for Pickett to execute better on throws underneath and toward the sideline for it to work.
