The Pittsburgh Steelers scored just 16 points Sunday, staying consistent with their average points per game, but things just felt…different — in a good way — in Week 12 on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals in the first game post-Matt Canada.
As is well known at this point, the Steelers fired Canada, their much-maligned offensive coordinator, on Tuesday of last week, ending a two-and-a-half-year run that was very frustrating for a number of reasons. And then, on Sunday in Cincinnati, the Steelers’ offense looked — and felt — different.
Pittsburgh utilized the middle of the field in the passing game with tight end Pat Freiermuth and took shots down the field from quarterback Kenny Pickett to the likes of Freiermuth and wide receivers George Pickens and Diontae Johnson. The Steelers also ran the ball consistently as running back Najee Harris had a big day, and overall there was a rhythm to the Steelers’ offense from a play-calling perspective.
For NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger, there was one clear difference in the Steelers’ offense in Week 12. In his #BaldysBreakdowns on Twitter Monday morning, Baldinger highlighted the Steelers taking shots down the field against the Bengals and doing so consistently.
“There sure looked like there was a difference in the Steelers’ offense. It’s the way that they attacked vertically from the first play of the game. They hit Freiermuth right here, right down the seam for 24 yards. They came right back to it, like this one right here. Nine plays later, they came back to the same play, split the safeties right there, 29 yards,” Baldinger said of the Steelers’ passing game in his video on Twitter. “But like sometimes, like right here, you just gotta take your shots and they just kept taking the shots and they were winning on the shots. Diontae Johnson for 39 yards….Biggest play of the game right here. Spray fade right there for 43 yards to Pickens. He’s got room to work with right there.
“That was the biggest difference in the Steelers’ offense as they get to seven and four.”
The Steelers certainly were more aggressive vertically in the passing game. They took shots consistently over the middle of the field as Freiermuth stretched the seam with big catches of 29 and 24 yards in the first quarter, getting off to a fast start on his way to a career-high nine receptions for 120 yards.
Though Baldinger touched on the Johnson non-touchdown play, stating that the receiver had to squeeze the ball to the ground, he had praise for the Steelers seeing advantageous matchups and taking shots, like the 39-yard completion to Johnson down the right sideline on a beautiful ball from Pickett into a bucket.
Then there was the failed shot play to Freiermuth that saw him and a Bengals defender tangle legs and fall, leading to no flag, and then a missed shot to Pickens down the left sideline. The aggressiveness was good to see. What was even better to see was that Pickett and the offense didn’t shy away from the shots even when they didn’t connect.
A few plays after Pickett just missed Pickens deep, the second-year pair hooked up for a big 43-yard gain on the slot fade down the left sideline. The Steelers had an advantageous matchup with Pickens one-on-one in the slot, and Pickett threw a great ball and a double-explosive play happened.
During the Canada tenure, that aggressiveness just wasn’t there. That changed on Sunday as the Steelers were aggressive — but smart — with the football in the passing game. It led to Pickett’s best performance of the season, and arguably his career, and it gave the Steelers’ offense a real jolt in a big AFC North win.
