Another Painful Statistic From The Steelers' Offense In 2022

The Pittsburgh Steelers offense last season was far from ideal, and had everyone ready to pull their hair out during various portions of 2022. Now there are several factors that all seemingly worked together towards a very ineffective offense for a majority of the season, including poor quarterback play, an undisciplined offensive line, and play-calling. 

Who's More To Blame For The Steelers' Offensive Woes?

Now we all know the quarterback issues last season. The team acquired Mitch Trubisky in free agency a year ago, and even after drafting Kenny Pickett in the first round of last year's draft, it was Trubisky’s job to lose from the jump. And lost the job he did, after three very underwhelming starts, and a very ugly first half in Week 4 against the New York Jets, Pickett took the reins and was the starter for the remainder of the season when healthy. 

As for the offensive line, we did see a decent improvement from a very poor 2021 campaign, especially in the run game, where according to Pro Football Focus, they ranked 16th in run blocking efficiency. Still far from where they want to be I'm sure, and the front office has definitely taken notice of this issue. The Steelers went to work right when free agency kicked off signing two guards; Isaac Seumalo (3-Years, $24 million) and Nate Herbig (2-Years, $8 million). But the team isn’t done there; many are anticipating Pittsburgh to focus on the front line early in this month’s draft as well. Regardless, the offensive line is expected to be a much more complete unit for the 2023 season and beyond. 

Now onto the absolutely enormous elephant in the room, the play-calling, run by our very own offensive coordinator who still has a job, Matt Canada. NFL analyst Warren Sharp recently published a complete breakdown of the Steelers’ roster, 2022 offensive and defensive rankings, as well as positional needs leading up to the draft on his website, SharpFootballAnalysis.com. In those 2022 offensive rankings was a stat in which the team ranked DEAD LAST, and is one that absolutely needs to improve next season, and that all begins with Canada. 

In a full 17-game season, having only SEVEN touchdown plays of 10 yards or more is just flat out embarrassing, especially seeing that the Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, and Philadelphia Eagles had around four times that amount. Something just has to give. One could argue that Pickett saved Canada’s job, going 6-1 to end last season, including conducting back-to-back game winning drives against the Las Vegas Raiders and Baltimore Ravens. But even still, in those two victories, the offense only could muster a total of 13 and 16 points respectively. This team can’t consistently win games putting up totals like that. Canada and Pickett both need to find a way to improve and create more explosive plays on offense, open up the middle of the field, and get some more points on the board. 

"Where Pickett has to improve is working the ball down the field. On throws 10 yards or further downfield, Pickett completed just 38.3% of his passes (31st), ahead of only Carson Wentz and Zach Wilson. He was 31st in EPA per drop back on those attempts (0.11) and ahead of only Zach Wilson in success rate (37.2%) on those throws," per Sharp.

Pittsburgh also ranked 26th in points per game (18.1), and 27th in yards per play (4.9). These numbers by themselves are tough to look at, but what makes things even worse is when you remember the level of competition that the team will face in the AFC for the foreseeable future. We have Patrick Mahomes and the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, Justin Herbert and the Las Angeles Chargers, and Trevor Lawrence and the emerging Jacksonville Jaguars. Should I continue? 18 points per game will make it impossible to compete with these high powered offenses. 

So I’ll repeat, something just has to give, and it better give sooner rather than later. Now with all of this being said, I’m just a guy sitting at home, watching this team and writing articles on the side. I’m not in the team meetings, or listening in on conversations between the front office and the coaching staff. At the end of the day we have to just trust the decisions that the team is making, and right now, that decision is to stick with Matt Canada, and allow him and Pickett both to grow together for 2023. I just pray that it was the right decision, because Steeler Nation will have a field day if we don’t see some kind of improvement once the calendar hits September. 

How are we feeling about the Pickett and Canada combination heading into year two? Be sure to drop a comment and let me know!

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