Not that anyone needs to be sitting down to hear the news, but the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense is bad. Really bad. Usually the optimist, NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger took their unit to task during a Tuesday appearance on The Insiders, noting that this group can’t do much of anything right. He cited unit-wide issues, not problems that fall on one person’s shoulders.
“It’s more than just the quarterback,” Baldinger told the show. “It’s not just Matt Canada. They just don’t execute. They’ve scored 14 points in the first quarter in seven games this year. They never get the ball on a kickoff or first possession and drive it down the field. The defense did their job last week.”
It’s worth noting that seven of those 14 first quarter points came via a defensive touchdown on LB Alex Highsmith’s pick-six on the first defensive play of the game against the Cleveland Browns in Week Two. Pittsburgh’s only offensive score came on QB Kenny Pickett’s 72-yard strike to WR Calvin Austin III in Week Three, the team’s initial first down of the season in the first quarter.
As Baldinger also noted, Pittsburgh never comes out scoring early. They’ve produced zero points on any on their first drives across their first seven games. Only the New York Jets have laid such an egg. For the Steelers, it’s not a new issue. Since Matt Canada was promoted to OC in 2021, Pittsburgh has just 11 first-drive scoring outcomes, tied for 28th in the league. Only six of them have produced touchdowns, another bottom-of-the-barrel figure.
In the first quarter of the 2023 season, the Steelers are averaging a paltry 2.2 yards per play, the NFL’s lowest mark. Their first-down rate is 8.7 %, easily the worst in football. Pittsburgh continues to be the league’s slowest-starting team, requiring the Steelers to play catchup throughout the second half with the goal of winning in the final five minutes.
Baldinger discussed how deep-rooted and foundational the issues are.
“Just how dysfunctional this offense looks at times,” he said.
He noted the incompletion from Pickett to WR Diontae Johnson on the first play of the game that would’ve gone for a giant chunk of yards. And the end-zone miscommunication between the two that forced the Steelers to settle for a field goal.
Baldinger also discussed missed pickups in pass protections, allowing too much interior pressure that got Pickett and QB Mitch Trubisky crushed. In the morning, we’ll have a video breakdown on many of the team’s execution issues in their 20-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
