The Pittsburgh Steelers definitely had an intended identity in mind when they entered the 2024 season. As Mike Tomlin said after the Steelers’ drafted three offensive linemen with their first five picks of the NFL draft, they “just wanna roll people.” While there have been glimpses of that plan being realized, the Steelers currently look like an offense without an identity after back-to-back losses. Even Justin Fields seems to be confused about what the identity actually is.
He was asked after the game if he feels like they have an identity on offense or if it is still forming.
“No, I think we have our identity,” Fields said in a video on the Steelers’ YouTube page.
He was then pressed on what exactly that identity is. Much like their identity, his answer was unclear.
“What are the identity options in football? I’ve never heard of a team having an identity. I think we have an identity. I just don’t know what it is. I never heard necessarily an option for an identity,” Fields said. “I think we ran the ball well today. Like I said, I think we just missed shots and shot ourselves in the foot again. So I don’t think we’re one of those teams looking for an identity. I think we know who we are. We’re a team that predicates on running the football and staying on schedule on first and second down and then executing on third down., but we just didn’t get the job done.
“So I don’t know the words to necessarily label the identity, but those are some intangibles and characteristics of who we are as an offense.”
He eventually came around to an answer, but I think that is more what they want to be rather than what they actually are. That is an important distinction. We all know the Steelers want to be a physical, run-first offense. They brought in Arthur Smith and two mobile quarterbacks. They also beefed up their offensive line. It has been pretty obvious all along what their intended identity is. But thinking you are one thing when you are something completely different is more of an identity crisis.
Last week, the Steelers got 19 yards on 13 carries from their top running back in Najee Harris. It was slightly better this week, but 14 carries for 42 yards still isn’t great for a team that wants to make that its identity. In fact, the rushing output overall was down from last week with 26 carries for 92 yards as a team. And this was against one of the worst rushing defenses in the league, and one that was missing Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, and other important pieces of the defense because of injuries.
Blame it on the offensive line injuries, or the injuries to the running back room, but the intended identity just isn’t getting the job done. It may have felt like the proverbial dam was breaking a couple weeks ago for the Steelers’ offense, but now it feels like the structural integrity of the dam is more intact than ever.
