Not only do the Pittsburgh Steelers spend time evaluating their opponent, they also evaluate themselves. Sometimes, that’s the more critical component. While that’s an ongoing process over the course of every season, having a bye week allows extra time to self-scout. During his weekly Tuesday presser, Mike Tomlin said that’s common for every team but a box the Steelers’ coaches checked during the downtime.
“Rest assured that every team in the National Football League delves into self-analysis during bye weeks, and they comb through it,” Tomlin told reporters via the team’s YouTube channel. “And they look critically at every component of what it is that they do, whether it’s strategy or schematics, the divisional labor or the development of individual players. We didn’t do anything cutting edge or unique in that regard. Just rest assured, we did our due diligence.”
For Pittsburgh, there’s plenty to scout. And most of it isn’t positive. Similar to the situation they found themselves in during the bye a year ago, the Steelers have one of the worst offenses in football. They’re averaging 15 points per game, 30th in the NFL, and a number even skewed by two defensive touchdowns and a safety thanks to a punt block. The Steelers are at or near the bottom in most offensive categories. Points per game (30th), yards per game (30th), rushing touchdowns (tied for last with zero), time of possession per drive (32nd), completion percentage (30th), the list goes on and on.
Figuring out even a starting point to improve the offense is a challenge. It’s always multi-layered, never one person or one unit, and players and coaches share the blame for their struggles. Though it’s obvious, Pittsburgh must be a better first quarter- and first down-type of team. The Steelers are 30th in average yards gained on first down at just 4.3, a category they’ve been in the basement in throughout OC Matt Canada’s tenure. Among drives that began in the first quarter, Pittsburgh is dead last with just one scoring drive, a long touchdown to WR Calvin Austin III in Week Three’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Compare that to the four turnovers they have under the same first-quarter circumstances.
An almost exasperated Tomlin acknowledged the offensive miscues have been a focus of the coaches and the media questions.
“I think we have talked about this a lot, haven’t we?” Tomlin said when asked about the offense’s problems. “We can get better in all areas and those are our intentions, whether it’s strategy or schematics…we realize that we’ve absorbed some negativity based on performance. We’re men enough to absorb that negativity and stay singularly focused on what’s required to change it, and that is work. We’re not interested in assigning blame or making excuses. We’re just singularly focused on getting better and we’re gonna continue to do that.”
They’ll go back to work out west Sunday afternoon against the Los Angeles Rams. They boast a defense that ranks just outside the top 10 in points allowed, giving up more than 23 points just once all season and holding the Arizona Cardinals to just nine in Sunday’s win against their NFC West rival. They’re led up front by the always-dangerous DT Aaron Donald, who has eight tackles for a loss, eight quarterback hits, and 2.5 sacks this season. He’ll pose a big problem for a shaky Steelers offensive line, especially with Mason Cole in the middle. Cole has struggled mightily this season and allowed three sacks through five games.
