For all the talk all offseason about starting fast, not warming up to it, and being ready to go the moment the ball is kicked off — especially offensively — the Pittsburgh Steelers certainly lag behind in that area of the game.
That was the case again on Sunday in the 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans. The Steelers were slow out of the gate on both sides of the ball and quickly found themselves in a hole. The defensive struggles early were a surprise as the Steelers weren’t physical enough at the point of attack against the Texans, but it was the same song and dance for the offense.
Though head coach Mike Tomlin promised changes, none are truly occurring. However, Tomlin did state Tuesday during his weekly press conference that game planning is being looked at very thoroughly following yet another slow start, though he put more of the onus on the preparation standpoint throughout the week, rather than on the game plan itself.
“Sometimes the game plan being up to par, not being up to par, has nothing to do with the schematics, but our presentation of the schematics, the training, how we allocate physical reps in preparation, the amount of fluidity and understanding being displayed by the players early on in the game. all of that is coaching and coaching related decisions in terms of the things that, the positions that we put ’em in during the course of the week,” Tomlin said to reporters Tuesday, according to video via the Steelers’ YouTube page. “And so, yes, you do look at the game plan, but not just solely the concepts, how many times we rep the concepts, what looks we provide, the realistic component of it, the divisional labor within the concepts.
“There’s a lot to that. But obviously that’s something that’s being looked at and being looked at very hard given the trajectory of the starts, as you mentioned.”
Tomlin can point to the coaching staff maybe not preparing the players properly enough or to the players not executing. He can put together whatever words he wants.
Fact of the matter is, the game plan is a mess and the numbers in the first quarter back that up.
According to Pro Football Reference, the Steelers have run 42 first-quarter plays in the first four games of the season. They’ve gained just 163 yards, good for just 3.29 yards per play. On 17 rushing attempts the Steelers have generated 31 yards. Pittsburgh is also just 12-of-22 passing in the first quarter for 132 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Kenny Pickett has been sacked three times in the first quarter, and the Steelers have just four first downs and scored just one touchdown in the opening quarter this season.
Those numbers are drastically bad. It’s not about the players executing or not preparing enough physically week to week. It comes back to the game plan and how the Steelers aim to attack opposing defenses. Whatever the plan is, it’s not working.
Tomlin stated that everything is under a long, hard look. That look should include the game plan and the man putting it all together.
