In the aftermath of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ loss to the Arizona Cardinals, The DVE Morning Show had Ben Roethlisberger on to discuss the loss and the state of the team. He was asked about the Steelers’ conservative approach on offense since he retired.
“What happened early in my career, and when I had some of the best defenses, the ’08 group around that time and early on, as a quarterback you should be able to play more free,” Roethlisberger said. “And I did because I took the mentality of if I turn it over or if something happens, this defense is gonna go three-and-out or they’re gonna get us the ball back. So if they have as good of a defense as we all think, and they do, I think they have to take shots, take the chances.”
The Steelers have lacked that killer instinct on offense really dating back to 2021, Roethlisberger’s final season. He had a very similarly low adjusted net yards per passing attempt (ANY/A) to Pickett in 2023 and the team didn’t have much success with deep passing or utilizing the middle of the field. Roethlisberger’s ANY/A that season was 5.43, which is just a hair better than Pickett’s 5.29 this season. It is also very similar to Mitch Trubisky’s 5.44 ANY/A from the beginning of 2022 when he started five total games.
The defense has most of the high salaries on the team, so the strategy has been to play conservative and allow the defense to do most of the heavy lifting. What Roethlisberger is saying is that might be the wrong way to look at it. If you look at the 2008 team that he referenced, they did let the defense do a lot of the heavy lifting, but Roethlisberger had 17 touchdowns to 15 interceptions. That indicates they were a little more explosive and willing to take risks on offense. Interestingly, his ANY/A that season was 5.21. He had 35 explosive passing plays of at least 20 yards that season. Pickett currently has 25, so they are roughly on the same pace, though Pickett won’t realize that pace due to the ankle injury he sustained in the loss to the Cardinals.
Regardless, the conservative approach has now spanned three different quarterbacks and three different offensive coordinators in three seasons. The common thread there is head coach Mike Tomlin.
“I think there’s someone [who] is being very cautious,” Roethlisberger continued. “Don’t turn the ball over. Be careful.”
With Pickett reportedly out for 2-4 weeks, Trubisky is a guy who has been less cautious throwing the football. He has seven interceptions in eight appearances for the Steelers and tends to let it rip downfield more. Perhaps Roethlisberger’s philosophy will be put to the test. Though it is worth noting that the defense is nowhere near full strength at this point and might not be able to hold up its end of the bargain in Roethlisberger’s ideal play style for this team.
