Last year, the Pittsburgh Steelers hoped Russell Wilson could provide the veteran experience needed to give the Steelers some long-awaited success in the playoffs. Things didn’t work out, to say the least. After the season, rumors started to float about a breakdown in the relationship between Wilson and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. According to Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo, making sure the same thing doesn’t happen again with Aaron Rodgers and Smith this time around is one of Mike Tomlin’s most important duties.
“Of course, there was that discord between Russell and the coaching staff, most notably Arthur Smith,” Fittipaldo said, speaking on the Armstrong Neighborhood Channel on Wednesday. “That’s why we’re in this position right now. We’ll see if the marriage between Arthur and Aaron could be better. If you’re Mike Tomlin, it has to be. Whatever happened last year, with Russell and Arthur, Mike has to put a stop to it this year, if he sees it going down that road. To me, that’s one of the more important things Mike Tomlin has to do.”
The Steelers’ season took a strange turn last year, to say the least. Pittsburgh started strong, and their offense was actually humming toward the middle of the year. That culminated in their 37-point showing in a 44-38 win against the Cincinnati Bengals. However, shortly after that, things went quiet. It seems to be around that time that Wilson and Smith had a disagreement in terms of changing plays at the line of scrimmage.
Obviously, having the quarterback and the offensive coordinator on the same page is paramount to any offensive success. That flat-out didn’t happen for the Steelers and Mike Tomlin in 2024. However, there is reason to believe things will be better this year between Rodgers and Smith.
Wilson is a great all-time quarterback in his own right. However, Rodgers will probably have more of a say in terms of checks at the line of scrimmage. He’s known as one of the smarter quarterbacks the game has ever seen, more than Wilson. If Rodgers wants to change things at the line of scrimmage, it would be silly of the Steelers to complain, at least at the beginning of the year. With that said, it seems like the two are off to a good start. Smith reportedly is fond of Rodgers. The two have also spoken highly of each other since Rodgers officially joined the team.
Smith himself has said that he’s constructing the offense around Rodgers and has been all offseason. All things considered, the offense as a whole should open up a bit more with Rodgers than it did last year. Rodgers sees the entirety of the field better. He can also attack the middle of the field more than Wilson was capable of last year.
Mike Tomlin is a coach who knows how to handle a locker room. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to mend the relationship between Smith and Wilson last year. If he can with Smith and Rodgers in 2025, the Steelers might be in better shape.
