The Pittsburgh Steelers and their fans are finally able to be excited about the offensive side of the ball going into the 2024 season. Over the last three years under Matt Canada, it was difficult to find optimism for the offense. Now, with Arthur Smith and an upgraded quarterback room, the expectations have risen for Pittsburgh. Smith brought a few of his players with him to the Steel City from his time as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, including wide receiver Scotty Miller.
Steelers.com
Steelers OC Arthur Smith speaks to the media.
Smith was the head coach and offensive play-caller in Atlanta for three seasons. His teams were consistent, but saw no success as they went 7-10 in each year under Smith. Prior to Atlanta, Smith was one of the league's best coordinators while he was with the Tennessee Titans. He led Tennessee to being a top 10 scoring offense in both the 2019 and 2020 seasons, and they were second in total yards in 2020.
Smith's offense was nowhere near as good with Atlanta. This should be concerning for Steelers fans, especially after Miller spoke about similarities between Pittsburgh's offense and the offense for the Falcons in 2023 following Day 3 of OTAs.
"It's been great to get up here with him [Smith], get back to work. It's weird seeing him in a different color, being the OC now, but it's been fun so far. A lot of the verbiage is very similar. A lot of what he does, I think he caters to what personnel he has very well. We ran a lot of bigger personnels because we had a lot of good tight ends in Atlanta. Here we have a lot of different type of guys, good running backs, stuff like that. I think he does a good job putting guys in position to make plays."
Over Smith's three seasons with Atlanta, his offenses were 22nd in the league in points scored and 23rd in total yards on average. Including being 26th in points scored during the 2023 season, which is just barely above where Pittsburgh finished at 28th. This is a severe drop off from the production that was seen from his offenses in Tennessee, which is what Steelers fans are hoping to see in 2024.
AP
Steelers' Russell Wilson talking with Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith.
It's concerning to hear Miller talking about potential similarities to the 2023 Falcons. He notes the differences in personnel, but Pittsburgh also has good tight ends, just like the Falcons. Atlanta also had more than one good running back in 2023 with Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier. Allgeier was a 1,000-yard rusher in 2022 and Robinson was a top 10 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
The names and faces are different from what Smith had in Atlanta, but overall, the talent of the various offensive position groups are not all that different. The one difference comes at quarterback. Smith had an aging Matt Ryan during the 2021 season, Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder in 2022, and a mixture of Ridder and Taylor Heinicke in 2023.
Russell Wilson is a sure upgrade at quarterback over anyone Smith was working with in Atlanta. He is coming off of a season where he threw 26 touchdowns in 15 games with the Denver Broncos, amidst a bunch of controversy. Hopefully Smith can use Wilson to get back to being the offensive mastermind that he was with the Titans.
Kyle Terada / USA Today Sports
Steelers' Russell Wilson during his time with the Denver Broncos.
Steelers' Arthur Smith Should Excel In Isolated Role
With the Falcons, Smith took on all the responsibilities of being a head coach, while still managing and calling the offense. There is a history in the NFL of top-level coordinators taking head coaching jobs, and struggling. This includes a part of Steelers royalty in Dick LeBeau. LeBeau was the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals for three seasons from 2000 through 2002, but was ultimately fired. This was prior to his storied, 11-year stretch as one of the best defensive coordinators in the league with Pittsburgh.
Smith may be similar to LeBeau, in that he might not have what it takes to be a head coach, but is an extremely talented coordinator. Only time will tell to see if Smith gets the same production out of his offense in Pittsburgh that he did in Tennessee.
Are you worried about Smith coming in as the Steelers' new offensive coordinator? Let us know in the comments!
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