The Pittsburgh Steelers pushed their winning streak to five games with a hard-fought 18-16 victory over the Baltimore Ravens. In the win, the Steelers offense was not able to find the end zone; it was Chris Boswell’s six field goals that got them over the finish line. Pittsburgh will always be happy to secure a win over Baltimore, but it was clear during the game that the Steelers offense is not good enough to compete for a Super Bowl.
Steelers Offense Not Good Enough to Compete for Super Bowl
Offensive Line Struggles Have Returned
Unfortunately, injuries have prevented the Steelers from having a solid offensive line this year. They are without right guard James Daniels and right tackle Troy Fautanu for rest of the season. Rookie Mason McCormick has done a nice job filling in for Daniels, but second-year tackle Broderick Jones has been dreadful starting in place of Fautanu.
In Week 10, Jones played his best game of the season by far against the Washington Commanders. Unfortunately, he followed it up with a total letdown against Baltimore.
Russell Wilson was sacked four times against the Ravens, and hit/pressured several more times. The offensive line isn’t totally to blame (more to come on that), but they didn’t exactly hold up their end of the deal. In the running game, Pittsburgh averaged just 3.6 yards per carry (3.3 without Justin Fields’ two runs). The Steelers offense simply couldn’t get anything going, and a large part of the blame falls on the offensive line for consistently losing in the trenches.
Passing Offense Loaded With Problems
Since Wilson took over as the starting quarterback, he has played well, and the entire passing offense seemed to be trending upwards. That all went out the window against the Ravens. Wilson played his worst game as a Steeler by a wide margin. While he didn’t get any help from his offensive line, Wilson didn’t help them out, either.
His pocket presence was nowhere to be found as he walked himself into several sacks/pressures. Wilson’s inexplicable interception in the end zone almost cost the Steelers the game. Pittsburgh simply won’t be perceived as a serious contender when Wilson plays to the level he showed against Baltimore.
There’s a third group needing blame assigned for the offensive struggles, and that’s the Steelers wide receivers. As per usual, George Pickens was the only receiver who could get anything going against the Ravens. Some of the sacks Wilson took were coverage sacks.
Yes, he needs to get better at throwing the ball away, but his job would be much easier if the Steelers had even one wide receiver who could consistently create separation. Remember, the Ravens secondary has been terrible all season. But the Steelers offense found a way to make it look like the Ravens defenses of the 2000s were on the field.
Short Yardage and Red Zone Struggles
The Steelers offense was especially bad in key situations, notably third or fourth and short, and in the red zone. They converted just four of 17 attempts on third or fourth down, including two-for-six when they needed just three yards or less to convert. Astonishingly, their red zone numbers were even worse.
Pittsburgh reached the red zone four times, finishing those four drives with three field goals and an interception in the end zone. Needless to say, this level of performance in high leverage situations will not cut it against the likes of the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions.
Just about everyone deserves blame for this poor performance. The offensive line needs to generate much more of a push in short yardage situations. Wilson needs to make better decisions – a deep ball to Calvin Austin III when just one yard is needed for a first down probably isn’t the right play. But most of the blame lies at the feet of Arthur Smith, and for one specific reason.
These situations represent the perfect time to put Justin Fields in the game. He was on the field for two offensive snaps on Sunday. Both times, he kept the ball on a read option, and gained 17 total yards in the process.
Early in the game, Pittsburgh ran a quarterback sneak with Wilson, who came up way short of the line to gain. That is the exact time when Fields should be under center. Down near the goal line is another perfect time to use Fields. Make teams defend the pass and the threat of a quarterback run. Arthur Smith simply has to use Justin Fields more moving forward if the Steelers offense wants to find more success.
Main Photo Courtesy of Barry Reeger – Imagn Images
