The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense got off to a fast and explosive start with an 86-yard touchdown pass from QB Mason Rudolph to WR George Pickens during their 34-11 Week 16 win against the Cincinnati Bengals. It set the tone early for the Steelers, who dominated the Bengals from start to finish to pick up their most commanding win of the season. Talking to reporters today, center Mason Cole touched on how important starting fast is for the Steelers.
“Our third quarterback this year, he comes out on the second play of the game and you throw an 86-yard touchdown. If that doesn’t loosen you up, I don’t know what will loosen you up,” Cole said via 93.7 The Fan on Twitter. “We’ve had a good amount of slow starts this year, but I think we’ve seen if we can start fast, things can go well for us.”
Starting fast Sunday is going to be key for Pittsburgh against the Seattle Seahawks. Playing at Lumen Field isn’t easy, and if the Steelers can get off to a quick start and take the crowd out of the game a little bit, that’ll be a big help in their efforts to get a win and keep their playoff chances alive.
Starting games and getting out to an early lead has been a problem for the Steelers’ offense this season. It’s rare that the team can put together an opening-drive touchdown, and it has been doomed by slow starts too often this year, something Cole acknowledged. It’s obviously not intentional as every team wants to go down the field and score early. But with the Steelers’ offense struggling for most of the season, it becomes especially important to try and get an early lead and start quickly.
Not only does it give them confidence and potentially an early cushion, but it keeps defenses on their heels, allowing Pittsburgh to open the playbook up a little more when it already has some points on the board. We saw the Steelers break out a jet sweep in the red zone that led to a Calvin Austin III touchdown on a beautifully blocked play against the Bengals, and if the Steelers can get out to an early lead and feel comfortable about their ability to score, we can see more out of their playbook to keep the opposition guessing.
We’ll see if they can get out to a fast start in Seattle. It certainly won’t be easy, but if they do, it’ll go a long way toward making the flight back to Pittsburgh a happy one.
