The Pittsburgh Steelers have a big problem on offense. Their red-zone woes are a direct threat to their hopes for postseason success in 2024. With QB Russell Wilson under center, the Steelers have scored eight touchdowns on 19 trips inside the red zone.
Do the problems fall strictly on Wilson’s shoulders? Is offensive coordinator Arthur Smith to blame? Is it a lack of execution? Or is it a lot of factors rolled together? Truthfully, it’s some mishmash of all those factors. But the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo thinks the Steelers should look at one of those factors to start cleaning up the issues.
“I think they have to cut down on the personnel packages,” Fittipaldo said Wednesday on the North Shore Drive Podcast. “I think there’s a lot of shuffling players in and out of the lineup. And maybe there’s not a lot of continuity with some of those packages. To me, especially when you get in goal-to-go situations, you just have one package. Have a heavy package. You don’t need MyCole Pruitt and Connor Heyward in there. Go heavy with a Spencer Anderson.”
The Steelers have certainly mixed up their personnel groupings inside the red zone this season. Smith has favored using between one and three tight ends the most when the offense gets inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.
And it makes sense to a certain degree. You want to use TE Pat Freiermuth as a receiving option in the red zone. And TE Darnell Washington is a darn good in-line blocker as well as a gigantic passing target.
However, bouncing among three different personnel groupings can cause issues for an offense. Fittipaldo contends that swapping players in and out of the lineup in the red zone could potentially be causing continuity problems. Sure, an offense doesn’t want to become too predictable. But you shouldn’t be shooting yourself in the foot by trying to do too much, either.
And perhaps the solution has been staring the Steelers and Arthur Smith in the face the entire time. Clayton Eckert took a look at how the Steelers’ offense fared up to the bye week by personnel groupings. And the Steelers were an above-average offense in every category (usage, pass EPA, and run EPA) in one grouping: 12 personnel. That’s one running back and two tight ends.
So maybe the Steelers need to focus on a heavy package with Spencer Anderson as an extra lineman alongside Freiermuth and Washington in the red zone. It’s been a successful grouping overall. Why not lean into that? As Bruce Lee once said, “I fear not the man who practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
Maybe 12 personnel should be Arthur Smith and the Steelers’ new roundhouse kick, especially in the red zone.
