Pittsburgh Steelers QB Russell Wilson has elevated the team’s play-action passing attack over the last two games, but former NFL GM Doug Whaley wants to see the Steelers try and spread teams out more. Whaley said it’s a “legitimate concern” that we haven’t seen the Steelers diversify their offense, because he isn’t sure the offensive line will be able to hold up when that happens.
“That’s a legitimate concern. Especially with the way Broderick Jones is really yo-yoing his performance, and mostly yo-yoing down instead of up. And then you also got Zach Frazier not in there,” Whaley said in response to a question from Adam Crowley about the offensive line holding up and the Steelers potentially needing to come from behind in games on The Fan Morning Show.
Whaley said up to this point, the offense has been repetitive, and because we haven’t seen more from it, it’s a concern until we see the offense execute in a come-from-behind situation.
“The offense has been, alright, run, play-action and take some shots there. Roll out, have the multi-level flooded where you got different level of receivers, that type of stuff. So yeah, can they go four wides and spread out and play catch-up football? That is a legitimate concern,” Whaley said. “Until you see it, you just don’t know.”
The Steelers haven’t really needed to play in a come-from-behind setting yet, where they’re spreading the field and are attacking vertically with the passing game. While they did trail against the New York Jets, it never got beyond a nine-point deficit, and Pittsburgh hasn’t had to play “catch-up football,” as Whaley put it, over the last two games.
For what it’s worth, the offensive line held up against the Indianapolis Colts when the Steelers faced an early 17-0 deficit and had to come back in the second half, and they almost pulled off the comeback. Of course, that was with Justin Fields under center, and his mobility did make things easier on the offensive line. However, it’s a point worth noting given that we have at least one game where we have seen it from the Steelers, albeit with different personnel.
I don’t know if I agree that Pittsburgh’s reliance on play-action is a concern, and because the team hasn’t trailed much in the past two weeks, we wouldn’t see them in obvious passing downs anyway, but I do think it’s fair to question whether the offensive line can hold up if the Steelers get to that point. While Frazier could return after the bye, Jones has been a major net negative, responsible for multiple sacks over the last two weeks and someone who just doesn’t seem to be getting better. But, he held up fine in Week 4 when the Steelers had to come back, even if it wasn’t a great game overall for him.
Either way, what Pittsburgh is doing right now with the emphasis on play-action is working, and it’s led to the Steelers moving the ball and not falling behind in games. They should stick with what works until they have to change things up, and try to keep things rolling with Wilson.
