For the second week in a row, the Pittsburgh Steelers had just three points at halftime, and their slow offensive starts are becoming a major problem as they’ve now dropped back-to-back games after losing 20-17 to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 5.
“Wish I could tell you,” TE Pat Freiermuth said via audio provided by the team’s media relations department when asked why the offense is starting slow. “We gotta figure it out, quickly. We’re getting into October, November, late, big games and stuff like that. So we gotta figure it out.
“We were moving the ball that first drive. But we gotta stop doing stupid things. I think the next drive we had offsides, two of them or something like that, and in certainly manageable situations where we could’ve gotten the first down and kept the drive going. So we gotta stop kicking our own ass before we can continue.”
Pittsburgh didn’t have any penalties on its second drive, but QB Justin Fields fumbled after Linval Joseph ran through OG Isaac Seumalo for a sack that put the Steelers in a 3rd-and-24 situation.
It was Pittsburgh’s third drive where the team was flagged for two false starts, and that just simply can’t happen, especially at home. The mistakes and penalties are compounding Pittsburgh’s other issues offensively and making it really hard for the offense to get into a rhythm
There are just too many mistakes offensively early in games, and the Steelers also haven’t been aggressive with play calling early. On their opening drive, they seemed content to play for the field goal, running on 2nd and 10 from the Dallas 30 and then again on 3rd and 8 the very next play. The conservative play calling winds up hurting the Steelers later in the game when they need points, and if had they played for the touchdown instead of the field goal, the end result might have been different.
The Steelers don’t have talented playmakers all over the field on offense that would make it easy for them to catch up and make up for their slow starts. Their best receiver is George Pickens, who had a very quiet day with three receptions for 26 yards just one reception on two first-half targets. He also played just 34 of 57 snaps against the Cowboys.
The Steelers need to look to get Pickens more involved early, but he also has to come through when given the opportunity, as he had a crucial third-down drop on a ball he should’ve caught.
Needless to say, Freiermuth is right when he says the slow starts are an issue the Steelers need to quickly address. If they don’t, things could continue to spiral as Pittsburgh tries to stay in contention in the AFC.
