Steelers Great Ben Roethlisberger Dumbfounded By Play Calling; Detailed What He'd Do Differently

The Pittsburgh Steelers played the Arizona Cardinals during Week 13 at Acrisure Stadium. The offense looked more effective after the firing of Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada following the crushing loss to the Cleveland Browns during Week 11. In the wake of Canada's termination, Mike Sullivan and Eddie Faulkner have been promoted to cooperate in running the offense. Sullivan, the quarterbacks coach, is calling the plays, while Faulkner, the running backs coach, is handling the game plan. While the offense looked much better in Week 12, one former Steelers legend has some advice on how they could get even better. 

The first game without Canada was a 16-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. The Steelers' offense broke the 400-yard mark on offense for the first time in ages, amassing 421 yards of total offense. Then in the next game against the Cardinals, the Steelers came out once again looking sharp. They were running plays that hadn't been seen all season, despite not scoring more than a field goal and driving the ball. While there is continued improvement, former Steelers quarterback, and future Hall of Famer, Ben Roethlisberger still thinks there's room to grow. 

Roethlisberger now co-hosts a podcast with his friend Spencer T'eo called Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger. He frequently does a livestream show while watching the game and on his most recent episode, he had a lot of praise for the improvements that have been made on the team. He added that he would do things differently however, if he was the play-caller.  

"You know what I really like doing as a quarterback and as a coordinator when you're making calls? We talk about our top 10 and everything, I like to show different formations. I want to show an empty, all tight ends, two backs. I wanna show all kinds of things to see how they line up. They may line up in an empty and we could take advantage of it. I like to show different looks because you might end up getting a look and a formation and be like, 'Let's go back to this all day.'"

Roethlisberger added that he feels like they had been using the run effectively against Arizona. If something is working, then stick with it and use play-action to keep the opponent's defense off balance. 

That is why Roethlisberger likes the idea of the offense using a lot of different looks to see what the defense bites on. It allows the offensive coaches to make adjustments and changes based on how well the plays are going. 

"That's just something I really like to do as a quarterback. I always say let's show an empty early, let's show this, let's show this."

Of course, Roethlisberger is looking at all of this with the benefit of 18 seasons in the NFL under his belt. Currently, Steelers quarterback, Kenny Pickett is only in his second season and didn't even play all of the 2022 season. 

Steelers Offense Is Showing Steady Improvement

The Steelers' offense has shown small improvements so far this season, especially with the addition of Broderick Jones started at right tackle during their Week 9 game. They were ranked 29th overall among all offensive lines and 28th for run blocking. After Jones was slotted in, they have moved up to eighth and fifth, respectively. 

This better play by the line has allowed the Steelers' run game to make big improvements. Jones and his counterpart Dan Moore Jr. are ranked in the Top 5 of tackles in EPA per attempt (Jones is second among all right tackles with 0.14). The two tackles are in the top 10 in yards per attempt when the running back hits their block. 

Pittsburgh has been using a form of "running back by committee" since last season. Najee Harris, the former first round draft pick, is technically the RB1 and gets more carries than his teammate, Jaylen Warren. Warren, an undrafted free agent, has better stats. Both backs are powerful and have shown that they can break blocks and pick up yards. Harris has begun to pick up yards after contact by dragging defenders behind him. Warren leads broken/missed tackles for his rush attempts at 34%. Harris is eight overall at 20%.

Now with the injury to Pickett, it will be imperative for the Steelers to be able to run the ball effectively. Pittsburgh has a short week with an upcoming game on Thursday night against the New England Patriots. 

What do you think about Roethlisberger's comments on the offense? Do you think they are mixing up the play-calling enough? Click to comment below. 

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