The state of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense through the first five weeks of the 2023 season has been a hot topic for the fan base as well as the national media, and for good reason, The high-flying, prolific offense we saw during the first three weeks of the preseason has come crashing back down to earth during regular-season play.
The same first-team offense that scored on every possession during preseason play has looked lethargic, lost, and overmatched in a majority of Pittsburgh’s games thus far. The running game has yet to see the end zone in the passing game, QB Kenny Pickett is missing open throws and scrambling from clean pockets early. There have been some bright spots on offense, including some explosive pass plays to WRs George Pickens and Calvin Austin III, but in large part, the unit has vastly underwhelmed relative to expectations coming into the season.
When asked if the team has made any notable changes to the offensive side of the football during the bye during his weekly press conference, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said everything has been talked about and is expected to be better going forward.
“Man, I think that we have talked about this a lot, haven’t we?” Tomlin said to the media via video from the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “We can get better in all areas, and those are our intentions. Whether it’s strategy or schematics, whether it’s how we divide the labor up our technique relative to our positions, and that’s been our agenda. We realize that we’ve absorbed some negativity based on performance. We’re man 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 going to continue to do that, and this Sunday is an opportunity to show progress in that regard.”
Given all the “Fire Canada” chants happening across the United States, it’s clear that Steeler Nation, as well as the NFL as a whole, is displeased with the state of Pittsburgh’s offense. That ultimately falls back on Tomlin to have his team properly prepared as well as the coaches to maximize the personnel at their disposal and game plan against opposing defenses.
Frankly, both the coaches and the players haven’t done well enough for this team to be successful for the length of the season. Remarkably, Pittsburgh is 3-2 with wins in the division over the Browns and Ravens despite having an offense near the bottom of the league and a point differential of -31. Canada and OL Coach Pat Meyer must do a better job scheming up successful plays in both the passing game as well as on the ground, giving the offense more of an identity outside of throwing back-shoulder fades to Pickens along the sideline.
The players must start executing better as well. Pickett needs to play better and with more poise in the pocket while the offensive line has to do a better job protecting him as well as creating holes in the running game. Tomlin mentioned a few weeks ago that there were going to be changes after Pittsburgh got humiliated in Houston, losing 30-6 to the Texans. However, we haven’t seen many notable changes to date, rather the players and coaches acknowledging that they need to play better that what we’ve seen to start the 2023 season.
You can respect Tomlin pointing to the whole dynamic on offense needing to improve, because it really does. However, he as the head coach isn’t employed to make statements; he’s employed to get results. If he truly wants to change the narrative circling around the league that his offense is a dumpster fire, all that work being done behind the scenes better come to fruition. That starts this upcoming weekend on the road against the Los Angeles Rams.
