In just a few hours, the Pittsburgh Steelers will kick off against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field for the preseason finale.
Though the Lions won’t be playing many starters, the Steelers, under head coach Mike Tomlin, will play quite a few starters in the final tuneup before the regular season, especially on the offensive side of the football.
The Steelers’ offense has been a mess in the first two preseason games, scoring just 15 points.
Veteran quarterback Russell Wilson played five series last week against Buffalo and couldn’t muster much due largely to offensive line woes in front of him. Fourth-year quarterback Justin Fields hasn’t been able to create much in two preseason games either, leading the Steelers to just three points total.
The performances in the preseason to date have been concerning for many, raising some questions about the offense as a whole under first-year coordinator Arthur Smith. Though many inside the Steelers’ organization aren’t panicking and understand it’s the preseason, the Steelers offense needs to have a good showing on the road against Detroit in the final opportunity heading into the regular season.
Pittsburgh has treated it as a mock game week, going through the daily routines of preparing for a game day, including some game planning.
Below are three things the Steelers’ offense needs to show in the preseason finale.
1. Controlling the line of scrimmage
This is very clearly a team that wants to be physically dominant in the trenches offensively. The Steelers invested quite a bit upfront in recent years, especially this past offseason in the 2024 NFL Draft. But so far, Pittsburgh has been anything but dominant up front.
Physicality and setting the tone in the preseason have been issues for the Steelers, which has led to the offensive line getting bullied in the first two games, none more than in Week Two against Buffalo. Much of the talk and concern surrounding the Steelers’ offense since that 9-3 loss to the Bills has centered on the offensive line this week.
Broderick Jones had the worst showing of his career at any level against the Bills, allowing two sacks and multiple pressures. He appeared overmatched physically. He downplayed the elbow injury this week and just said he needs to play with a more physical mindset.
That starts this week.
Same for the rest of the offensive line, too. The run game has not been good for the starting unit in the preseason, and it won’t get any easier this week against a tough Detroit team. Pittsburgh’s offensive line needs to answer the bell against Detroit physically and come out swinging, both in the run game and in pass protection.
Pass protection doesn’t need to be passive.
2. Get the tight ends involved
All offseason we have heard about just how good this offense under Arthur Smith will be for tight ends, especially in the passing game. So far through the first two preseason games, we haven’t exactly seen that.
Granted, the Steelers have kept things pretty limited under Smith, not wanting to show too much or get too creative in the preseason. But through the first two games, Steelers tight ends have seven receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown.
Pat Freiermuth has just two catches or 16 yards, while Connor Heyward has four catches for 24 yards and the touchdown. It hasn’t been all that lucrative. The middle of the field hasn’t been utilized by the tight ends in the passing game, and they’re not being asked to really stretch the field much like we expected.
That will likely come in the regular season when things open up fully under Smith, but the scheme needs to at least show that some against the Lions. The tight ends have been great under Smith as a playcaller in the past. There are high expectations for the Steelers’ tight ends this year.
Can we at least get a taste of it in Detroit?
3. The Matt Canada cliche: score more points
Again, it’s just the preseason, and it’s hard to really take anything away from the first two performances from a big-picture perspective. But against the Lions, the Steelers’ offense has to score more points.
Sorry to borrow a Matt Canada cliche staple, but the Steelers have to score more points in this one, period. 15 points through two preseason games is dreadful. Sure, the Steelers would have had more points against the Bills if they had executed better, with Chris Boswell missing a 52-yard field goal and the Steelers turning the ball over on downs twice in the red zone against Buffalo.
But woulda, coulda, shoulda doesn’t work in the NFL. The Steelers’ offense needs to score some points to have some momentum entering the regular season. Those points will preferably come with Russell Wilson or Justin Fields — maybe both — under center against Detroit.
12 of the 15 points through two games have been scored with Kyle Allen on the field. That’s not very comforting.
I’m not asking for an offensive explosion and 30 points on the board at Ford Field, but I would like to see the Steelers’ offense put together some scoring drives in an effort to at least alleviate some concerns entering the regular season.
Those two weeks between the end of the preseason finale and the regular season opener on Sept. 8 in Atlanta is a long time in the football world. Generate some momentum to carry over for those two weeks by putting some points on the board and get out of the preseason feeling relatively good.
