The Pittsburgh Steelers have had some interesting offenses in recent years. For most of those years, that hasn’t been a good thing. And during the first three games of the 2025 season, that trend seemed to continue.
However, the unit made some progress in their overseas win just before the bye week. For once, the Steelers ran the ball well, which opened up the passing game as a result. That passing game has mostly been focused on short throws, as the Steelers hope to get the ball out of Aaron Rodgers’ hands as quickly as possible. That’s something that’s eerily familiar for Steelers insider Mike DeFabo.
“Right now, Aaron Rodgers is getting the ball out of his hands faster than any quarterback in the NFL,” DeFabo said Tuesday on 93.7 The Fan. “The Steelers have the fewest air yards per attempt. This very much has shades of the 2020 Steelers’ offense, with Ben Roethlisberger. And if you remember, that offense collapsed upon itself when teams realized they couldn’t throw the ball deep.”
That 2020 season certainly got off to a hot start. It was the last time Pittsburgh won the division, helped by a wild 11-0 start to the season. Then, as DeFabo mentions, everything started to fall apart. Ben Roethlisberger was a shell of his former self, and his arm and mobility were virtually nonexistent.
The Steelers lost four of their last five regular-season games. Then they lost to the Cleveland Browns in the Wild Card round. In a way, that started a trend. It sounds eerily familiar to 2024, when Pittsburgh started 10-3, only to have a one-dimensional offense shut down as they lost their last five.
This year, though, DeFabo thinks things could be different.
“The reason I think this is more sustainable is because you have a lot of guys who can create yards after the catch, and the Steelers are first in yards after the catch,” DeFabo said. “I think you’ve got to give Arthur Smith and Rodgers credit, because they’ve found ways to work around those limitations.”
Like 2020, the Steelers do want to get rid of the ball quickly this year. There’s no denying that. But DeFabo is right that there’s much more sustainability here.
For one, Pittsburgh has playmakers who can actually break things open with the ball in their hands. Jonnu Smith, Jaylen Warren, and Calvin Austin III have notably been able to pick up yards after the catch. And their biggest threat is DK Metcalf, who can take even the smallest passes to the house, like he did against the Vikings.
Another key difference is the arm talent. Aaron Rodgers is getting it out of his hands quickly. But it’s not the same as Ben Roethlisberger, who simply couldn’t throw deep anymore. Rodgers absolutely still has the deep ball in his bag and can pull it out when necessary. This play didn’t count, but just look at this absolutely insane throw from Rodgers back in Week 2.
There’s a lot of football still ahead. And there’s plenty of time for the Steelers to screw things up. But while there are serious similarities between 2020 and 2025, these two differences offer hope that a collapse isn’t impending for the Steelers’ offense.
