Things can change quickly in the NFL. Or maybe slowly and painfully.
Five years ago, during the 2018 season, the Steelers gained 400 yards or more in eight of their 16 games. Nine months later, Ben Roethlisberger suffered a major elbow injury, and the offense hasn’t been the same since.
From Mason Rudolph to Duck Hodges, back to Roethlisberger post-injury, and then to Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett, the Steelers offense has descended from one of the NFL’s best offenses to one of its worst. The struggles are now approaching historical proportions.
The graphic from CBS Sports during the broadcast of the Steelers’ 20-10 loss to the Jaguars said it all: 55.
That’s how many consecutive regular season games the Steelers have now gone without the offense gaining 400 yards. Matt Canada has been the offensive coordinator for 41 of those games, and his unit isn’t showing many signs of improvement midway through his third season as the play-caller.
Against the Jaguars, the Steelers gained just 261 yards and scored one touchdown, making it five times in the first seven games the offense has scored one touchdown or fewer.
It was a surreal short week on the South Side, which featured head coach Mike Tomlin lamenting his defense’s inability to force “advantageous” turnovers seemingly because run-of-the-mill turnovers on the other side of the field predictably won’t be converted into points by his offense.
How else to interpret his comments?
Tomlin’s strange but apt observation perfectly encapsulates where the Steelers offense is right now.
The frustration began to boil over Sunday afternoon following some missed opportunities against the Jaguars. Kenny Pickett had Diontae Johnson wide open twice in the first half, but on both occasions big plays went by the wayside.
On the first play of the game, Johnson ran free through the middle of the field, but Pickett’s pass glanced off his fingertips. Call it an overthrow or a drop. It doesn’t matter. The pass fell incomplete.
Later in the second quarter, Pickett had Johnson open in the end zone, but the pair yet again failed to connect.
“The safety was shaded over Diontae’s side, so I wanted to move him with my eyes,” Pickett said. “I thought Diontae was going to sit. He saw it like he was going to run through it. It was a miscommunication. It can’t happen.”
Instead of seven points, the Steelers had to settle for a field goal and trailed 9-3 at halftime. Johnson waved his arms in frustration just as George Pickens did earlier in the game after Pickett missed him on another pass that would have moved the sticks.
“Until we start performing at the level we believe we’re capable of, then we’re going to be frustrated,” Canada said. “We can’t go out and not execute and not make the plays we want to make early in games, late in the game, at any point in the game. Everyone is human. Everyone wants to play well. Everyone has a burning desire to be good. We have to be better than we’ve been.”
There were signs the Steelers might be close to getting some traction as an offense after scoring three second-half touchdowns against the Rams a week earlier, but any momentum gained in that victory disappeared against the Jaguars.
Now the Steelers are searching for answers before playing host to the Titans on Thursday night. They enter the game last in the NFL in total offense (272 yards per game) and 30th in scoring (16.1 points per game).
“We’re trying to stay positive, but everyone has to have their own mental toughness through that,” Canada said. “It’s probably easier said than done. We have to find a way to get back to playing the way we think we’re capable of playing. I know the players are working hard to do that.”
The Steelers have especially struggled early in games. They started the Jaguars game with four consecutive three-and-outs.
In their previous four games, the Steelers have been outscored 44-9 in first halves. They haven’t scored a first-half touchdown since Week 3 in Las Vegas.
“It’s not about scripting,” Pickett said. “It’s about us playing and doing better than we’re doing now. It has to get better.”
Getting second-year receiver George Pickens more involved would help. Pickens did not have a catch in the first half against the Jaguars and only had five targets in the game. He finished with one catch for 22 yards and a touchdown.
Pickens is now viewed as the Steelers’ No. 1 receiver by opposing defenses. The Jaguars double-teamed him for most of the game, which allowed Johnson to have eight catches for 85 yards. The issue for the Steelers is the lack of production from the other receivers and tight ends.
Allen Robinson, Calvin Austin and tight end Connor Heyward were non-factors in the passing game when it counted. Robinson was held without a catch for the first time in his career. Austin and Heyward combined for seven catches, but most of them came on the game’s final drive when the Jaguars were playing a prevent defense.
In order for the offense to start ticking, the Steelers need more from the pass-catchers beyond Johnson and Pickens.
“I think George was double-teamed except for those times he was targeted,” Canada said. “We had a couple of shots we didn’t quite get, one where maybe we didn’t see it, and then the one where he scored a touchdown.
“If they want to put two people on him, then obviously other parts of our passing game have to elevate, and they should. If we’ve got two people designated for George, then we have enough good players and talent, and I have great faith in our quarterbacks to put the ball where they’re more vulnerable.”
Ray Fittipaldo: rfittipaldo@post-gazette.com and Twitter @rayfitt1.
First Published: November 2, 2023, 9:30 a.m.
