Can the Steelers repeat their offensive explosion against better defenses?
The Steelers put up their most yards and points in a game in six years on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. That’s nice, as far as it goes, anyway. The problem is, the Bengals’ defense is hot garbage. And the fact of the matter is, the Steelers’ offense was under scrutiny in recent weeks.
In that sense, we have to be cautious about viewing this past Sunday as a “get-right” game for the offense. While it wouldn’t be quite accurate to say the “did what they needed to do”, they still haven’t had to go toe-to-toe with another complete team. Or at least another team like the Steelers that has both a decent offense and defense.
Sure, the Steelers proved that they could win a shootout, but they did so against a bad defense. If the Steelers get themselves into a shootout in the playoffs, it’s going to be against a better team. And frankly any team is going to have a better defense than the Bengals.
Did you know that both the Bills and Chiefs have top-10 defenses? If the Steelers plan to play in the Super Bowl, they’re probably going to have to beat one of the two. If not, potentially, both of them. And both teams are capable of piling up the points. The Bills have a 131-point differential this year.
And if the Steelers are playing in the Super Bowl, they are probably playing the Lions or Eagles. The Eagles have a 102-point differential. The Lions’ point differential is something entirely different: 180.
At least on paper, the Steelers have the tools to put up points in volume. The key ingredient is the offensive line holding things down. Not only do the linemen need to keep Russell Wilson clean in the pocket, they need to give the running backs some space. But the offensive line has been up and down, to say the least. The Steelers have the eighth-highest sack rate in the league and are in the bottom 10 in yards per carry. Their running game actually ranks fifth worst in expected points added. So it all comes down to what kind of day at the office they have on any particular afternoon.
The Steelers’ 2024 season is underway, following another disappointing year ending in a first-round playoff loss. They have had a long offseason since the Buffalo Bills stamped them out of their misery back in January. There are positive signs, but things could jump off the rails any moment.
The biggest question hanging over the team is the quarterback question. Is Russell Wilson earning a lucrative new deal next year, and is Justin Fields still in consideration? How will the team continue to address the depth chart, which is surprisingly still in flux?
The regular season is here, following weeks of camp and preseason games. The Steelers made numerous moves through signings and trade—and release. More than usual, they seemed comfortable creating holes, confident they can fill them. Some they managed to fill, others not so much. Now that we have so many pieces of the puzzle, however, we merely have a new set of questions to ask.
