The Pittsburgh Steelers escaped with a win in Week 1 thanks to some Aaron Rodgers heroics, and some poor defense from the New York Jets. Against the Seattle Seahawks, those opportunities weren’t as abundant for Arthur Smith’s offense. And Pittsburgh wound up walking off its home field in embarrassing fashion Sunday following a 31-17 loss to the Seahawks.
Pro Football Focus’ Dalton Wasserman thinks that’s a sign of things to come.
“It doesn’t look great,” Wasserman said Monday on the PFF NFL Show. “‘Cause I think last week it was much more about the Jets blowing coverages and things like that in their secondary. This is what happens when you have a competent defense in front of you. I don’t know that this Steelers offense is going to look a whole lot better. I don’t think there’s anything about this offense that scares me at all.”
Indeed a hefty chunk of the Steelers’ points against the Seahawks came off gifts from their own defense. A Jalen Ramsey interception in the first quarter put the Steelers in Seahawks’ territory. Later in the first half, Nick Herbig picked off a tipped pass and returned it all the way to the red zone. The Steelers scored 10 points off those two turnovers, and they only had one sustained drive all game, which ended in a Chris Boswell field goal.
Facing a tougher defense, the Steelers’ offense seemed to regress in Week 2. Against the Jets, they were aided by several coverage breakdowns, which led to open receivers down the field. Those windows weren’t open Sunday, and Rodgers tossed two interceptions as a result, with another potential interception being dropped.
“This is not an explosive offense at all,” Wasserman said. “It’s not a creative offense. And everyone said, ‘Okay, it will look like the Arthur Smith offense.’ It doesn’t look like the Arthur Smith offense at all.”
There’s no “almost” in the NFL, but the Steelers did have their chances against the Seahawks. They worked their way into the red zone in the third quarter, only for a miscommunication from Calvin Austin III to lead to an interception. If Pittsburgh had put seven points on the board there, the rest of the game could have played out differently.
However, the offensive performance in general is not going to cut it. Many thought the way they won against New York was unsustainable. The Steelers proved that to be true against Seattle. Rodgers was hit far too often. His receivers weren’t creating separation, and while they ran the ball a little better, the pass protection broke down too often as well.
If the Steelers are going to make a playoff run this year, these things need to be fixed quickly. Arthur Smith has a lot on his plate as hopes to do so. But it needs to happen fast before Pittsburgh hits a brutal back-half of it’s schedule.
