Sunday’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars marked yet another game where the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense failed to show up to start the game…and frankly for most of the contest.
After all the talk in the locker room this week about the momentum the offense had in the fourth quarter last week against the Los Angeles Rams and it to translating to this week’s matchup against Jacksonville, The Steelers fell flat on their face again offensively, punting on four straight possessions to start the game and only mustering 261 total yards on 64 offensive plays.
RB Jaylen Warren was asked after the 20-10 loss about the offense’s tendency to get off to slow starts this season and the frustration he may have when they do get going but falling short of putting the ball in the end zone.
“Honestly, I don’t even have an answer for that,” Warren said to the media in the locker room on video from Steelers.com. “So yeah, I don’t know what to say about it. Yeah, it sucks. Like, at times, we’re moving the ball and all that, but you know, it’s unfortunate that sometimes we don’t come out with the seven points we need.”
Warren appeared at a loss for words when trying to come up with a reasonable explanation why this team gets off to such slow starts, even dating back to last season. Many have pointed at OC Matt Canada and his system as a main culprit. The Steelers have one of the worst opening scripts of plays in football, according to various metrics as they can’t establish anything on the ground or through the air in the first quarter of play.
However, it’s more than just the play calling holding back this team from starting fast on offense. Execution from the players also must be better as we saw when Pittsburgh got into the red zone. Their was a miscommunication between QB Kenny Pickett and WR Diontae Johnson, missing on a potential touchdown, Pittsburgh having to settle for a field goal.
Johnson talked about the importance of coming off the bus ready with the right mindset to play leading up to this game. He helped add more insult to injury as the offense failed to get off the bus altogether to start the game, Johnson having a rocky start himself with two missed opportunities early in the game. With Pickett getting injured in this game and Pittsburgh on a short week with the Tennessee Titans coming to town Thursday night, the offense will have little time to process this loss and move on with a new opportunity awaiting the Steelers to get that fast start offensively to the game that’s eluded them so far in 2023.
