While the other 30 teams suit up to face off in Week 6, the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers have a much-needed bye week. Both teams have struggled on offense early in the season and should use the time off to address the biggest issues plaguing their stagnant passing and rushing attacks.
How the Packers, Steelers Can Fix Their Offenses Over the Bye Week
Stagnancy in Pittsburgh
For as much talent as the Pittsburgh Steelers offense possesses, the team is facing issues that must be resolved. Fixing the offensive woes starts with coordinator Matt Canada, and his ability to help this team create explosive plays and engineer a more balanced offensive attack.
Through five games, the Steelers have recorded only five offensive touchdowns, three of which came from a distance of 40+ yards. Part of the issue for Pittsburgh has been that the offense has looked one-dimensional, with their running backs struggling to generate yards on the ground. Even after bolstering the offensive line through the draft, Pittsburgh currently ranks as the third-worst rushing offense in the league.
Matching the Defense
Even so, the Steelers have largely been riding their defense and special teams, gutting out wins (two of their wins came at a combined 9 points, while their recent victory over Baltimore came as a 7-point win). This Pittsburgh squad has been inept when their offense gets shut down, like it did against Houston and San Francisco.
The Steelers can only hope that Cameron Heyward’s health will improve during the bye week, as he is a focal point to the defensive front. At the same time, they’re seeing positive signs out of their second-round pick, Keeanu Benton, who has recorded eight tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble through five games. Meanwhile, linebackers Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt have had to do most of the heavy lifting, combining for ten sacks and four forced fumbles. The talent on defense begs for there to be more consistency from a young, but potentially explosive, offense.
Pittsburgh’s upcoming bye will be an opportunity for the team to assess the offensive shortcomings by going through extensive film studies to figure out what was working against teams like Las Vegas, and, at times, Baltimore. Even for as clutch as the defense has been, having generated 11 turnovers (second best in the league) and converting two into defensive touchdowns while the special teams have added one safety, the Steelers are still giving up the third most yards in the league. Relying on turnovers from the defense is not a sustainable model for winning games, especially in a tough AFC North division. Toppling the Ravens in Week 5 was monumental, even though it came at the hands of an up-and-down performance from the offense.
What’s Ahead on the Schedule
With heavy passing attacks upcoming, first against the Rams and then against the Jaguars, the Steelers should at least find themselves in a position to generate more turnovers from their defense. Their Week 9 tilt with the Titans also poses an opportunity for the defense, though the matchup does not bode well for the current iteration of the Steelers offense, as Tennessee is especially formidable in stopping the run.
History favors the Steelers in being able to improve after the bye week, as over the last three years they have gone 22-10-1 following their bye weeks, including a 7-2 run last season to finish out the year.
How the Steelers handle their second and third legs of the season will largely depend upon how much they can improve the offense, and shore up what has been a porous, but opportunistic, defense.
Growing Pains for the Green Bay Packers
More than anything, the new-look Green Bay offense is lacking consistency when it comes to explosive plays and a reliable rushing attack.
The Packers currently rank fifth-worst in rushing yards per game, largely due to the ineffectiveness of A.J. Dillon and the lack of depth behind him. Aaron Jones, who has been nursing a hamstring injury he suffered in Week 1, would otherwise give this offense a threat not only as a slashing runner but also as a receiver out of the backfield on flat routes; his absence has been arguably the biggest reason for the ineptitude for the Packers’ rushing attack. An abysmal run game has prevented Green Bay from being able to effectively scheme open guys like Christian Watson on deep play-action shots.
Injuries Up Front Leading to Inconsistency
With multiple injuries across the offensive line, including to star tackle David Bakhtiari, Green Bay has been vulnerable up front, which has resulted in Jordan Love being rushed in the pocket and sometimes missing open receivers. Love’s ability to scramble has bailed them out on key downs, but the running backs on this team still need to step up. Dillon is averaging just 3.0 yards per carry, and each year he has steadily seen his yardage production decrease. Lacking an explosive element out of the backfield has certainly limited Green Bay’s offense, and they have generated the 7th-fewest first downs on the ground. In breaking in a new quarterback, not having a reliable rushing attack has rendered the success of this offense sporadic, at best.
The return of Jones is positioned to boost the production of this rushing attack, though the Packers could still do more to incorporate guys like Watson, Jayden Reed and Keisean Nixon on jet sweeps.
Offensive Struggles Impacting the Defense
On the other side of the ball, the Packers have been struggling to keep opposing rushers out of the end zone, and have surrendered six rushing scores through five games. Though Kenny Clark has been holding his own, the Packers need younger players like Devonte Wyatt to step up and help shore up the interior of the defensive line. They have also been without middle linebacker De’Vondre Campbell for two games, which has further impacted their ability to stop the run. Short series’ for the offense has largely spelled more time for the defense, leaving them gassed and unable to play to their full potential. Through five weeks, the defense has been on the field for 57 more plays than the offense.
Coming out of their upcoming bye, Green Bay has tilts against the Broncos, Vikings (who also just placed Justin Jefferson on IR), and the Rams, all of whom are struggling to prevent teams from scoring. Having a healthy Jones in the backfield, plus a little extra time to create ways to generate more explosive plays should give the Packers an edge as they enter the next leg of their season.
Main Photo: Dan Powers – USA Today Sports
