Steelers' Ramon Foster Frustrated The Offensive Unit Is Acting Like Spoiled Kids At Christmas

The Pittsburgh Steelers offense has certainly been a letdown through the first two games of the 2023 season. After riding a wave of success that carried them out of the 2022 season, the Steelers were highly motivated going into the offseason. They won all three preseason games and looked like they had finally figured out some of their offensive struggles. Unfortunately, they seemed to take a major step backward once the meaningful games began. While everyone is pointing their finger at Offensive Coordinator, Matt Canada, one former player said there is enough blame to go around. 

Canada took over an evolving Steelers offense in 2021. Future Hall of Fame quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger was on the way out the door. In 2022, Pittsburgh brought in both veteran, Mitch Trubisky and drafted rookie, Kenny Pickett. After allowing Trubisky to start the season, Pickett took over under center during the Week 4 game. 

While Pickett struggled to start, he as well as the whole offense definitely improved as the season went on. Even the much-maligned offensive line seemed to gel. While most fans still felt that Canada should be fired, they grudgingly admitted that the group did evolve. But now that a regression seems to be happening, everyone is debating who to blame.

The Steelers Offensive Woes Are Not On One Single Person

Former Steelers offensive guard, Ramon Foster is uniquely qualified to weigh in on what he sees going right and wrong in Pittsburgh early in 2023. Foster now co-hosts a podcast on DK Pittsburgh Sports with reporter Dejan Kovacevic called The Ramon Foster Show. On a recent episode of the show, Foster and Kovacevic discussed the anemic offense. 

The offense is ranked second to last in total offensive yards with 494, only the Cincinnati Bengals, who are 0-2 so far, are worse with 424. They have only 398 passing yards and 96 rushing yards. They are 31.03% for 3rd down conversions which is 29th in the league. 

Foster has been laying a lot of the responsibility on the offensive line. He feels that they need to be challenged. The other players need to hold them responsible for their part in the decline. 

"Y'all can't get whooped and beat like this. You dudes are getting turned sideways right now. I know everybody gets got but we've gone through two games and this team has 96 [rushing] yards over two games with no rushing touchdowns. You dudes are built this way and compensated for a reason because you're supposed to move bodies and create lanes. If you're not good enough, say that."

The time for excuses is over according to Foster. The line needs to "put their boots to the ground" and get to work on improving. Kovacevic pointed out that the statistic that the Steelers are averaging 18.6 yards per possession is the most frightening. He joked that players could just fall forward and pick up that many yards.  

Unfortunately, there is a lot going wrong on the offense. You can't just blame it on the linemen, the offensive coordinator or the quarterback. Kovacevic pointed out that issues of execution from Pickett and the line are not the fault of Canada, but that does not mean that the play-caller does not have culpability. 

A viewer asked Foster what the offensive identity is and Kovacevic said they do not have one and it isn't even clear what they want it to be. He added that when Pickett was asked that during the press conference, he said he didn't know. But Foster said he knows what their identity is. 

"It's a kid that comes from a really nice household, that gets 50 presents at Christmas. What do you actually appreciate? Like they have no idea what direction, what system, what toy, what bike they want to ride. That's essentially what it is. The hard decisions can be made on how you're either going to challenge guys or put the ball in certain guy's hands."

This Steelers offense is kind of spoiled; they have all the high-end toys - a new quarterback, first-round running back, elite receivers and tight ends, even a hybrid full-back, and yet they cannot seem to get any kind of synchronicity. Foster added that while they try to figure out who they are, the season is ticking away and fans are left twiddling their thumbs wondering who's to blame. 

What do you think about Foster's assessment? Do you think the offense is so spoiled that they just aren't even sure who they are or what they should do? Who do you think is primarily to blame for the struggles or do you think the blame should be shared equally? What do you think needs to happen for things to start moving in the right direction? Click to comment below. 

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