A lot was made of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ impotent offense under former offensive coordinator Matt Canada and the 58-game streak of futility where the team could not gain at least 400 yards of offense. Then in the first game after Canada’s dismissal, the offense gained 421 yards in a 16-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on the road. That caught a lot of people’s attention because the last time the offense gained 400-plus yards was the last game before Canada was hired as the coordinator.
It definitely caught the eye of the man who used to hold the same position Canada did. Todd Haley served as offensive coordinator for the Steelers from 2012-2017 before being replaced by Randy Fichtner. Even with the issues that seemed to exist between Haley and QB Ben Roethlisberger, the offense broke the 400-yard mark six times during the 2017 season, including going over 500 yards twice. The second time came in the 45-42 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the divisional round of the playoffs.
On Monday morning, Haley joined former Bengals and Steelers safety Solomon Wilcots on SiriusXM NFL’s The Opening Drive, so naturally the topic of the Steelers’ offense surfaced. Haley was impressed with how the offense responded, especially to new interim offensive coordinator Eddie Faulkner and QB coach/play caller Mike Sullivan.
“Just what the doctor ordered,” Haley said. “When you go that many games without going over the 400-yard mark and to do it in the first game with two guys doing two new jobs as far as Faulkner and Sullivan, I’ve been in that situation at Dallas with Tony Sparano. He was kind of in charge of the run, I was in charge of the pass game. It’s a complicated setup, but I believe in Mike Tomlin. If he felt like he could make it work and they could make it work, I believe him.”
In football, there’s a saying that if you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have any. There’s always a concern about having too many cooks in the kitchen, but Tomlin has his reasons for the unique structure. Sullivan has previous play-calling experience with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Giants. Then you add the fact that Sullivan has been working alongside QB Kenny Pickett as his position coach since Pickett entered the league. So it makes sense for Sullivan to call plays.
As for why Faulkner is the coordinator, it likely has to do with his attention to detail, which the offense reportedly lacked under Canada. The lack of execution had been repeatedly called out by players, coaches, and even the media. One way to combat that problem is by paying closer attention to the details of a play.
While it has only been one game with this arrangement, the offense looked better than it had in years Sunday. Pickett had his best game of the season, posting a 72.7% completion rate (the first time he completed at least 70% of his passes this season,) and a season-high 278 passing yards. He did all that without turning the ball over, extending his interception-free streak to seven games while also not fumbling for four straight games.
The run game also continued its recent string of success after eclipsing the 150-yard mark for the third-straight game, thanks in large part to RB Najee Harris’ stellar day. He carried the ball 15 times for 99 yards and a touchdown. He wasn’t the only player to have a big day on offense, though.
“The production in the run game was terrific,” Haley said. “Najee came back and ran hard… But overall, they got the tight end [Pat] Freiermuth involved a lot more, which I’ve been dying to see, him getting involved, them at least get a tight end involved in the pass game. I thought that was a big sign early, the first play of the game, getting it down the seam to Freiermuth.”
The return and reemergence of Freiermuth might be one of the biggest storylines from Sunday. He suffered a hamstring injury during the blowout loss in Week Four to the Houston Texans and did not return until Week 11 against the Cleveland Browns. However, he was not making the impact most people expected of him before the injury. Prior to the injury, Freiermuth was targeted 13 times and had eight catches for 53 yards and two touchdowns.
Against the Bengals, Freiermuth was targeted 11 times and had nine catches for 120 yards, including that aforementioned shot up the seam.
In all, there was a lot to be celebrated for the offense under Faulkner and Sullivan. As Haley noted, the running game continued to click and Freiermuth came up big. Plus Pickett had his best day of the season. There is still room for improvement as Haley noted, though.
“They needed a game like that offensively,” Haley said. “It wasn’t pretty, 400-plus yards should translate at least to 28 points. They only got 16, so obviously there’s some work to do.”
There’s no question that the Steelers would have liked more points on the board, and they should have had more if there hadn’t been a missed touchdown by WR Diontae Johnson in the first quarter. If Faulkner and Sullivan can keep the run game going while also keeping Pickett looking capable and Freiermuth involved, those points should come.
