Steelers' Mike McCarthy Gets Brilliant Endorsement After Answering Major Offensive Concern

The Pittsburgh Steelers entered Week 3 with an uncomfortable offensive question hanging over everything they were trying to build. A week earlier, the operation had looked overloaded, disjointed and incapable of consistently producing easy answers for its quarterback. Simplifying things sounded reasonable enough in a Monday meeting. The real test was whether Pittsburgh could make simpler football more dangerous once an AFC North defense actually lined up across from it.

Sam Monson believes Head Coach Mike McCarthy did considerably more than simplify the offense against Cincinnati. He credited McCarthy with repeatedly scheming Steelers receivers into remarkably clean opportunities, highlighting a first-quarter touchdown to Ben Skowronek as one of the best examples of Pittsburgh creating an easy answer through design rather than asking somebody to win a difficult individual matchup.

During a recent breakdown, Monson explained how McCarthy manipulated Cincinnati's defense on the 23-yard score.

“They were absolutely roasting them for wide-open plays. The Skowronek touchdown was a great example of, like, really clever play call. They sort of fake… insert block from Skowronek, and he just goes… all the way through the defense and he’s wide open at the back end,” Monson said.

The play looked almost unfair once the design developed. Skowronek went in motion and initially presented Cincinnati with the appearance that he was becoming part of the blocking structure. Instead, he slipped through the formation and released into open space, leaving Aaron Rodgers with exactly the type of throw Pittsburgh had struggled to manufacture during its first two games.

Rodgers still had to make it. Skowronek still had to finish the catch. The important part was that neither player was being asked to perform a magic trick before the play had a chance to succeed.

That was a significant change from what Pittsburgh looked like in New England.

McCarthy had already admitted that he may have leaned too heavily on Rodgers' enormous football knowledge and allowed the offense to carry more volume than the entire unit could consistently execute. The Steelers' offensive overload produced only three points against the Patriots. Cincinnati saw a version that looked much more interested in creating clear pictures and letting the players attack them. The results were difficult to miss.

Pittsburgh finished with 411 total yards and 30 points after entering Sunday with only 499 yards across its first two games combined. Rodgers threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns while completing passes to nine different players, and the Steelers converted seven of their 12 third downs. Their first two touchdown drives covered 73 and 86 yards.

Not every successful play came from McCarthy drawing somebody wide open. Roman Wilson beat his defender for a 38-yard touchdown on the opening drive, while Jaylen Warren repeatedly created additional yardage after contact. Good offense still requires players to win.

The difference is that McCarthy gave them more opportunities to win without first asking them to solve a calculus problem.

Skowronek's touchdown captured that perfectly. His reputation already makes him useful to the deception. He is a physical receiver whose blocking and special-teams work have made dirty work part of his NFL identity. When he begins moving toward the formation, a defender has legitimate reason to expect him to insert himself into the blocking picture. McCarthy used that expectation against Cincinnati.

That is where clever design becomes more valuable than simply calling a trick play.

Pittsburgh can return to similar motion later without running the same route. Skowronek can actually block. He can leak into the flat. A tight end can release behind him. The offense can hand the ball off while a defender hesitates for half a second because the touchdown is sitting somewhere in the back of his mind.

The Steelers finally created uncertainty for the defense instead of constantly playing through their own.

That is especially useful with Rodgers. Pittsburgh hired McCarthy in part because of the possibilities created by reuniting him with a quarterback capable of handling an enormous amount at the line of scrimmage. The first two weeks demonstrated the danger of confusing Rodgers' capacity with everyone else's.

Sunday showed the other side of it. Give Rodgers a cleaner structure, create leverage before the snap and allow his experience to punish whatever answer the defense chooses.

Steelers Finally Made McCarthy's Scheme Help The Players

One productive afternoon does not mean Pittsburgh has solved its offense. Cincinnati will study every motion, formation and tendency the Steelers put on film. Future opponents will be considerably more suspicious when Skowronek starts traveling toward the formation, and Pittsburgh will eventually need counters for the counters.

That is exactly why Monson's praise should be encouraging.

The Steelers were not relying on one gimmick. His larger point was that Pittsburgh repeatedly generated open players through its design. The Skowronek touchdown merely supplied the easiest clip to circle because Cincinnati reacted to one responsibility while McCarthy sent the receiver somewhere completely different. That is what this offense was supposed to provide.

Rodgers should not need to make five impossible throws every week. Metcalf should not have to physically overwhelm a corner for every completion. Warren should not have to break two tackles before an otherwise ordinary play becomes productive. Scheme is supposed to remove some of that difficulty before talent takes over. Against Cincinnati, Pittsburgh finally made football look easier.

The Steelers still needed 30 points to survive, and plenty remains to clean up after a three-point victory. But after two weeks of wondering whether McCarthy's offense had become too complicated for its own good, Sunday provided a much more appealing possibility.

Pittsburgh simplified the operation without making it simple to defend.

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