Tim Benz: The Steelers offensive still needs to improve in many areas even after surpassing 400 yards for the first time.
Fans and the media have been complaining about the Pittsburgh Steelers offense under interim coordinator Matt Canada for the last two years.
.They don’t make adequate use of the midfield.
• Pat Freiermuth, a tight end, isn’t used nearly enough when he is healthy.
• They don’t use play action frequently enough.
Thus, on Sunday in the Steelers’ first game without Canada as the offensive coordinator, quarterback Kenny Pickett used play action to hit receiver Josh Freiermuth down the middle of the field for 24 yards.
That might have been play-caller Mike Sullivan and new coordinator Eddie Faulkner’s public acknowledgement that many of the criticisms from previous years were valid.
Or perhaps they were hurling,
That’s not going to be enough to track down the Baltimore Ravens atop the AFC North or to pull off a win in the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
So let’s take a look at some of the areas the offense needs to address over the final six games of the season.
demonstrated a lot of quality, therefore what is their ceiling?
George Pickens has to be included more by Pickett and the new coordinators. You shouldn’t feel that three receptions for 58 yards is a lot. However, it does so only because he has only surpassed five catches once this season—against Baltimore on October 8—with six. Additionally, he didn’t surpass 60 yards since October 22 (107 against the Los Angeles Rams).
On Sunday, Freiermuth was the top target. He has nine catches for 120 yards, which is excellent. However, the Steelers were taking advantage of the Bengals’ two-high safety strategy on defense, which contributed to part of it. And it’s not sustainable to have that kind of performance from a tight end unless Freiermu decided to call himself Kelce.
