I’ve probably spent the past eight days writing more about Arthur Smith than I have the past four weeks. But when the Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off a lackluster performance in an upset loss to the Cleveland Browns, there’s going to be plenty of chances and time for review. A transparent Smith spoke with the media Thursday and opened up about the team’s core issues that led to just 19 points and getting out-classed by the Browns’ defense.
Frankly, it was a lot of ground we’ve covered throughout the week. As one of several issues, Smith admitted he was “chasing” the perfect play in key situations, citing the first failed fourth down of the game. A play where QB Justin Fields took the snap and tried to run right only to be swarmed by a host of Browns’ players waiting for him.
“The first one, we get a false start,” Smith told reporters via team-provided audio. “You always have regrets. You don’t want too many, ‘hey, need that one back.’ But sometimes when you chase a play, if you’ve got something schemed up or you get one shot…You may miss it. Different reasons. Third and one, we false started, we had the look we wanted. I call it kind of chasing that look again. And they did a good job the second time.”
It’s exactly what we wrote about earlier this week in our review of Smith’s scheme and plan. To summarize, on the Steelers opening possession, they brought Fields out for a 3rd and 1. They attempted to run a QB counter but TE Darnell Washington was flagged for a false start, pushing them back 5-yards and scrapping the play. Still, because the ball was snapped, Cleveland got a preview of it.
On the next drive, Pittsburgh found themselves in a 4th and 2. And Smith went back to the exact same play. Same formation, same design, same intent. The Browns knew what was coming and stopped it with ease.
That was my overall run game takeaway from my Smith review.
“And again, short week, only so many run schemes exist in the world. But you can run same concepts out of different looks and there just wasn’t enough variance in that against the Browns. In a nutshell, that’s my chief complaint. From formation to call, everything looked the same.”
Credit to Smith for owning it. What’s better is fixing it. A 10-day layoff to reset, re-evaluate, and have a normal work week will help. But a veteran coordinator/play-caller (he called the plays in Atlanta) like him shouldn’t fall into these trappings. Chasing plays. Unprepared on a short week. Which, by the way, Pittsburgh will have at least two more times this season when they go from a Sunday to Saturday game against the Baltimore Ravens and Saturday to Wednesday game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Both teams are on the same timetable but if the Browns game was any indication, the opposition will handle things better.
Pittsburgh has shown plenty of stress and strain on the road. More snapping issues, more communication problems, late subs and late snaps. If they can’t win the AFC North and play Wild Card weekend in a tough road environment, these seems problems will doom their season.
