The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense has had its struggles in back-to-back losses, especially in the first half. But former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger thinks one issue is the team not utilizing the skill sets of the guys it does have.
“It was never more apparent than it was [Sunday] night that we need a number two receiver. And Van [Jefferson] is doing a great job and he’s making plays when he gets a chance. But you’re not taking advantage of the slipperiness of Calvin Austin [III] and George [Pickens] is not getting involved,” Roethlisberger said on the latest episode of his Footbahlin podcast. “It’s just frustrating sometimes when you’re not utilizing the guys. We know that Arthur Smith loves the tight end. Throw a tight-end slip screen. Slow down the rush.”
To be fair, it’s not as if all those guys have made plays when given the opportunity. Jefferson had a bad drop in Week 5, as did Pickens, although Roethlisberger is right that he should be involved more in the passing game. He did have seven targets against the Cowboys, though, and while his involvement should increase his execution needs to be better.
Pittsburgh has worked to get its tight ends more involved in the passing game, with Pat Freiermuth having two touchdowns and getting his looks and Darnell Washington getting involved in the passing game. Connor Heyward also had a touchdown in Week 5 and should’ve had a big gain if not for a dropped pass on a ball Roethlisberger called “perfect.”
It’s really a mix of execution and play calling. There’s no good reason the Steelers should be running on 3rd and 8 in Dallas territory like they did on their opening drive. In those moments they should try to figure out how to scheme something up. But when Pickens has a bad drop on 3rd and 4, it’s tough to say that the offensive struggles can be completely pinned on a lack of involvement.
But the offense has to be better, and it’ll be interesting to see how Arthur Smith adapts and tries to best use his personnel in Week 6. It’s easy to say that the Steelers are not taking advantage of Austin, but the team’s screen game hasn’t been a successful element of their offense for a while although they did have a 15-yard completion on a slip screen to RB Najee Harris last game. And even though Austin is speedy, he’s not the best in contested-catch situations and his lack of size hurts him in 1-on-1 scenarios. The Steelers really have to try to scheme ways to get him open to take advantage of that if they want to get him the ball more.
The bottom line is the offense has to play better. Hopefully, both the execution and play calling improve in Week 6.
