Pittsburgh Steelers fans were hoping that the offensive coordinator change was going to make a big difference in 2024. Unfortunately, the points just haven’t come yet. The team is averaging 15.5 points per game, 25th in the league.
But the Steelers are 2-0 heading into their home opener against the Los Angeles Chargers. The defense has been suffocating, only allowing 8 points per game, second-best in the league. Can the Steelers continue their winning ways following the method from the first two weeks? Can this style be successful for the Steelers throughout the season?
“It can,” said former Steelers QB Charlie Batch on the Between The Hashmarks Podcast with Matt Lombardo and Mike Tanier. “I just don’t think the fans have enough patience to have to go every 60 minutes to watch a football game to decide whether you win or not, right… You have the Steelers that are controlling the time of possession. You’re creating the turnovers, they’re plus-five right now, the turnover ratio. Now you just have to create and score touchdowns. If you’re able to do that, then that allows that separation to happen.”
The Steelers’ defense has been incredibly stifling to start the season. But Pittsburgh fans have been sweating the outcome through the first two weeks. In each game, the Steelers could not pull away and win comfortably. It’s concerning fans, and chances are, it’s frustrating the people in the building.
For context, the 2023 Steelers averaged 17.9 points per game, over 2 more points per game than this version of the Steelers. There are plenty of people who have cites that statistic to make various points about the failings of new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, or to say the team shouldn’t have gotten rid of QB Kenny Pickett.
But so much of football is about the process. The results can be absolutely crazy and unpredictable. That’s why we say any given Sunday, right? So what does the process say about the 2023 Steelers versus the 2024 Steelers?
Well, there are two major statistics that point to a marked offensive improvement. In 2023, the Steelers averaged 2:36 minutes per offensive drive. That ranked 23rd in the league. They also ran 5.46 plays on average. That was 30th in the league.
Now, we only have a small sample size for 2024, but it’s still worth looking at. The 2024 Steelers average over 30 more seconds per drive at 3:14. That’s seventh-best in the league. The Steelers have also averaged 6.29 plays per drive, almost another whole play. That’s 13th in the league. Yes, the 2024 Steelers are above average in both categories.
That’s part of what Batch is talking about. The Steelers have an improved offensive process. They’re holding the ball for longer and running more plays. That means more scoring opportunities as well as more rest for their defense.
But the Steelers need to start turning drives into touchdowns. They’re scoring on 42.9 percent of their drives, 13th-best in the league. But they’ve only scored one offensive touchdown. And Batch thinks part of that is the unexpected turn of events at quarterback. The team had announced QB Russell Wilson as the starter, but then a calf issue flared up. That led to Justin Fields starting without much preparation time.
Now Fields is in line for his third-straight start to open the season. Both starts were on the road, and now he gets to play in front of the home crowd for the first time with the Steelers.
“As he gets more comfortable, the offense is gonna open up,” Batch said. “I don’t have any problems as, issues as it relates to where I think this offense is going to go. It’s just a matter, I hope it happens sooner rather than later… Now it’s that time to see if they can get better week-to-week, and it’s not gonna be an easy task as they have the Chargers here this week.”
Now, statistically, Fields had a better game in the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons than against the Denver Broncos. Fields completed 17 of 23 passing attempts for 156 yards against the Falcons. That’s a completion percentage of 73.9 percent. He averaged 6.78 yards per attempt. Against the Broncos, Fields was 13 of 20 (65 percent completion percentage), one touchdown, and only 5.85 yards per attempt.
But like the Steelers offense’s underlying numbers paint a better picture, Fields’ underlying numbers paint a more aggressive and expansive picture. Against the Falcons, Fields averaged 5.3 intended air yards per attempt. Simply put, his throws were 5.3 yards down the field on average. Against the Broncos, that average jumped two full yards to 7.3. That meant Fields was pushing the ball down the field further on average.
Fields also had more first downs through the air against the Broncos than the Falcons. He converted seven first downs in Denver to six in Atlanta. He only attempted three fewer official passes against the Broncos, so he averaged a first-down completion on 31.8 percent of his dropbacks (including sacks). Against the Falcons, that number was 24 percent.
So there has definitely been a progression in terms of pushing the ball downfield from Week 1 to Week 2. The Steelers under Arthur Smith are trying to be more aggressive. The touchdowns haven’t come yet, but Smith is confident they will.
The most important thing is that the Steelers keep winning. And perhaps bigger than anything, Fields hasn’t turned the ball over through two games. There will be interceptions and fumbles. No one’s perfect at the quarterback position. Not even Patrick Mahomes.
But Fields is managing games well and is not hurting the Steelers. Hopefully, as the season progresses, he’ll be even more helpful than he already has been. If he does that, the Steelers offense will continue to grow and help the team win more games rather than not cost them games.
