The Steelers are now back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, facing down a long regular season that looks a lot more promising given how things have gone leading up to it. Finishing just above .500 last year, they anticipate being able to compete with any team in the league this season with second-year QB Kenny Pickett leading the way.
They’ve done a great deal to address what they identified as their shortcomings during the offseason, which included addressing the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary and the inside linebacker room, which is nearly entirely different from last year. The results have been positive so far.
Even well into the regular season and beyond, there are going to be plenty of questions that need answered. When will the core rookies get to play, or even start? Is the depth sufficient where they upgraded? Can they stand toe-to-toe with the Bengals and the other top teams in the league? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout the season, as we have for many years.
Question: How much of the passing game’s issues is on the quarterback versus the scheme?
This will be an interesting question to ponder through the remainder of the season as the Steelers wind their way toward the end of the Matt Canada era at offensive coordinator. The former Steelers coach received widespread and frequent criticism for the failures of his approach leading to his dismissal, and the organization will have to figure out what comes next.
That won’t be easy, though. For one thing, there isn’t too much that you can really change schematically in-season. For another, their starting quarterback is going to likely miss the majority of the games they will have played without Canada. Kenny Pickett has already been ruled out for his second game, and he will likely miss another game or two.
So what we’re really getting a sense of is Mitch Trubisky running Eddie Faulkner’s iteration of the Canada offense with Mike Sullivan calling the plays. And I’m not sure how much we’re going to learn that will be useful toward the search for a new coordinator in 2024.
One thing I believe I can state with confidence is that the issues are manifold. While Canada’s firing was more than justified, there have been plenty of failings from the quarterback position on top of that. It was the combination of these two forces that led to things being as bad as they have been. A better scheme or better play from under center and we’re watching a more effective unit.
We sometimes have a tendency to view things as strictly binary, or as a zero-sum game. The obvious reality is that a bad scheme does not excuse poor quarterback play. Nor does poor quarterback play excuse a bad scheme. The Steelers have had plenty of both for the past couple years. We know the scheme will be different next season. The question is, if the quarterback needs changing too, how long will that take to happen?
