As we do every week to get you ready for the upcoming game, our X-Factor of the week. Sometimes, it’s a player, unit, concept, or scheme. Here’s our X-Factor for Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
X-FACTOR: QBs Coach/Playcaller Mike Sullivan
An obvious choice of the week. Pittsburgh’s moved on from Matt Canada, replacing him with a two-pronged approach of Eddie Faulkner, the interim OC, and Mike Sullivan, who will serve as playcaller. Sullivan was tabbed for that role because of his previous experience as an NFL coordinator/playcaller in Tampa Bay and with the New York Giants.
While I’ve made it clear over the last month, the execution of the Steelers’ passing game has been a larger problem than the playcalling and scheme, it’s not like Canada was calling a masterpiece either. His game against the Browns fell into similar issues. A disjointed set of screens, bland mirrored concepts that didn’t give his quarterback reads, and a poor gameplan built expecting man coverage. Instead, the Browns played a ton of zone.
Can Sullivan provide a spark? It’s happened around the league. The Buffalo Bills came out firing one game after firing OC Ken Dorsey, putting up 32 points in a blowout win over the New York Jets. And the Las Vegas Raiders turned things around after cleaning house, including dumping OC Mick Lombardi, despite an overmatched roster. Sullivan can’t make Pickett any more accurate but he can try to create a rhythm and have a better feel for the flow of the game. As the quarterbacks coach, the two spent more time together than Pickett and Canada did. That can’t hurt things.
Eddie Faulkner has a role in the game planning and organizing. It’s a dual effort, but Sullivan is the one calling the plays on Sunday. He’s the one executing that vision.
Running the ball will remain key. The good news is the Bengals have one of the NFL’s worst rushing attacks and Pittsburgh’s as red hot as ever, 166-plus yards in three-straight games. But their passing game has to do more than it is in order to win this game and compete down the stretch. Pickett could use some confidence and the offense could use some points. Sullivan doesn’t have to turn the ship completely around.
Just make strides, build this thing brick-by-brick, highlight the things we talked about, and make Pickett and this offense competent. Have a good opening script, a few strong situational play calls (third down, red zone, “gotta have it” type of stuff), and get the ball to playmakers. Do that and the Steelers will win and make for a happy Monday.
