The Pittsburgh Steelers had an abysmal offense in their Week 1 blowout against the San Francisco 49ers, and a lot of the offensive problems come from Kenny Pickett. During that blowout, they were still able to execute a 95-yard touchdown drive during the two-minute drill. That was a great drive, but they couldn't do the same thing at any other point in the game. They had 239 total offensive yards, but they only had 159 offensive yards outside of that drive. Pickett was asked about the difference between that drive and the rest of the game.
Matt Freed / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Steelers Pat Freiermuth celebrates with Kenny Pickett after he scored a touchdown against the New York Jets in 2022.
The full interview can be found below.
Kenny Pickett addresses the media following our game against the 49ers. pic.twitter.com/D6AhpOA916
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) September 10, 2023
Pickett brushed off the part about the two-minute drill being too different, but he still talked about what the offense needs to do to play better in the future. Maybe Matt Canada should take some hints.
"It's a two-minute drill, so it's a little bit different than normal-down football. Good to go down there and get points, but we needed to have more balance. It felt like were just kind of one-sided today, couldn't get anything going on the ground today. I wish we had more balance, but we need to improve in a lot of areas."
In the two-minute drive, the Steelers only ran the ball once, and it caught the 49ers off guard in that situation as Najee Harris ran for 24 yards on a 3rd-and-1, with an extra 15 yards added to the end of the play with a late hit penalty on the 49ers. The rest of the drive was passing, as one would expect from a two-minute offense.
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (JSKO_PHOTO Twitter)
The Steelers expect big things from their star running back Najee Harris in his third season in the league.
Steelers Offensive "Balance" In Week 1
Besides that one run, the Steelers only ran the ball nine times for 17 yards. The Steelers abandoned the run game the rest of the game, mainly because they were being blown out and needed to come back, but there was still nowhere for Harris or Jaylen Warren to run with the offensive line being overpowered, especially up the middle.
Nearly every pass was a short pass or check down until garbage time. No matter how bad a team is losing, an 84/16 passing split is asinine, even in the modern passing league. It doesn't help that seven of the run plays were between the tackles, with an eighth being a quarterback scramble up the middle. The interior offensive line could not get anything going, yet they refused to do any sort of outside run.
Why Would Pickett Brush Off His One Good Drive?
Pickett is 100% right about the lack of balance. You normally don't expect balance in a two-minute drill. He would not say what the difference was between the two-minute drill and every other drive, outside of just saying that it is different in general. Even though the unnecessary roughness penalty helped, that was still a very efficient drive, and it can possibly end up being their longest drive of the year.
Matt Freed / Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett is the centerpiece for their 2023 campaign
Maybe it was because the 49ers were playing prevent defense, which would given Pickett more time and space to make the passes. Pickett has also talked about how he embraces pressure, so having a set time limit to score could have helped him out. Even if it was just him calling plays without the help of Canada, the Steelers have to figure out what went right in that drive and find out if/how they can translate that to every other drive.
What do you think of Pickett's comments, as well as the play selection from their week one game? Are you worried about the offensive unit going forward? Let us know in the comments.
#SteelerNation.
