The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense has markedly improved over the last four games with Russell Wilson starting at quarterback. Overall, new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith has the offense consistently moving the ball, scorching defenses in the second half of games all while creatively balancing the run and pass games.
However, the Steelers couldn’t find the end zone in their 18-16 win over the Baltimore Ravens Sunday, which was their second win of the season without scoring a touchdown (Week 1 in Atlanta was the first). Fortunately, Chris Boswell is a hero, and the Steelers were able to bottle up Lamar Jackson and the high-powered Ravens offense once again. But could their red-zone struggles be a potential problem down the road?
“It’s always week to week and circumstantial,” Smith told reporters Tuesday when asked about the Steelers’ red-zone issues, according to a team-provided transcript. “But obviously overall, every time you get there, you want a touchdown. In the Giants game it might be two [touchdowns] called back, whatever it was. So, not ideal. [Against] Washington, we were better, obviously the one we didn’t score, we fumbled on the 1 — not ideal. But this past week, yeah, give Baltimore credit. We’ve got to do a better job there. If you had the field goal instead of the turnover it would have been 21 points. However you slice it up, obviously we need to be cleaner there.
“We’ve got to do a better job in that mid-red zone, high/low red, or your 1st and 10 on the 10 yard-line or whatever it is and then we’re not getting to a 2nd and 1 or whatever it is. That’s kind of where we’ve stalled out and so there’s things we’ve got to do different, better, all the way around. The biggest thing that concerns me overall is we haven’t turned the ball over a lot, but that’s two weeks in a row in close games we turned the ball over in the red zone and come away with no points. That’s stuff you’ve got to fix because that can cost you.”
Russell Wilson’s interception on 3rd and goal with less than 10 minutes to play nearly cost the Steelers the win on Sunday. Throughout the game, Wilson was forced to throw passes away out the back of the end zone in red zone situations with receivers failing to get open near the goal line. Blame could be placed on a variety of players, but it starts with Smith needing to do a better job of scheming players open when the field gets tighter.
Early in the season, Smith could rely on Justin Fields legs in both designed runs and passes to bail out the offense. Fields ran for five touchdowns in his six starts, all inside the red zone. Russell Wilson, who turns 36 in less than two weeks, doesn’t have that ability. That means Smith has to design plays that create space for his backs and receivers, allowing Wilson to make quick decisions with the ball.
Here’s a play from Sunday’s game that highlights the Steelers’ red-zone issues.
Multiple pass catchers are clogged in the middle of the field, and Wilson has no choice but to throw the ball away in order to avoid a sack.
Arthur Smith didn’t provide any specific solutions for the red zone struggles in his brief presser, but it will clearly involve some new or different play designs. Whether he employs Justin Fields in some goal-to-go situations remains to be seen. But some changes have to be made in the red zone offense because Chris Boswell’s leg won’t be enough on its own to win playoff games.
