NFL analyst Nate Tice was recently a guest on Kevin Clark’s This Is Football podcast, and the two broke down offenses that excite them this year, with one of those being the Pittsburgh Steelers. Both Clark and Tice agree that Arthur Smith is a good offensive coordinator, and they both think he’s going to take Pittsburgh to another level with a strong run game. Tice is “really optimistic” that the run game will be fantastic, and while there’s some “hesitancy” on his part surrounding how Russell Wilson and/or Justin Fields will fit in the Steelers’ offense, Tice believes that the offense is going to be good.
“Overall, I see the baseline of this offense being very high with chances of catching fire some weeks when Russell and/or Justin pushes the ball and gets those explosive plays,” he said.
Ultimately, the success of Pittsburgh’s offense is going to come down to how well Smith and Wilson mesh, assuming Wilson is the starter. The two reportedly had a really good initial meeting and the Steelers players “absolutely love” Smith’s offense, according to Mark Kaboly, so the very early returns are positive. But we haven’t seen it on the field yet, and while the potential is there for this to be a good offense, we need to see it in action.
The one thing that everyone seemingly agrees on is that Pittsburgh’s running game is going to be solid. Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren were both really impressive in the second half last season, and with Smith’s propensity and success in the past with a strong run game, that should work in Pittsburgh’s favor. Working off the run game with play-action should help Wilson if he can adapt. That is the one thing that Tice is worried about, since staying in the pocket is something that neither Wilson nor Fields have done a lot of.
“Play-action, rip the ball over the middle, you have to stand there and deliver. That is the anthesis of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields,” Tice said. “Now, this to me is going to be a fun experiment because how does Arthur Smith mitigate that? ‘Cause he shows that he’ll gravitate the passing game to his quarterbacks.”
It will be interesting to see how Smith adapts to his own personnel. Given that he was able to get the best out of Ryan Tannehill during his time in Tennessee, he should be able to work with Wilson and/or Fields to play in a style that suits them and also works within the offense. Smith’s offense could be the biggest X-factor in how far this Steelers team goes, and the ceiling of the offense is higher than it’s been in years. Even with his struggles the last few seasons, Wilson is an upgrade over Kenny Pickett and the offense should benefit from that and much higher-level play calling than the Steelers had with Matt Canada.
It’s going to be exciting to watch the offense work throughout the offseason, and hopefully those players will able to put it all together and get off to a hot start and catch some fire as Tice believes they can. If the offense can catch fire, the Steelers should find themselves back in the playoffs despite a rough schedule.
