Former Steelers QB Believes Arthur Smith Is "Just Scratching The Surface" Of What He Plans To Do On The Offensive Side Of The Ball

The Pittsburgh Steelers have gotten off to a fiery start to begin the 2024 season. They currently sit atop the AFC North with a 2-0 record, while the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens both remain winless. The wins for Pittsburgh have been somewhat ugly, however. The offense has barely done enough to get the victories, while the defense has looked dominant. New additions on defense have shown out, and Justin Fields at quarterback looks promising, as long as the Steelers start to open up the playbook. 

Fields has played well in Russell Wilson's absence, but he hasn't lit up the stat sheet. He has had relatively conservative, but efficient, numbers. The offense has yet to turn the ball over, and hasn't really put the defense in a bad spot - which is a big difference from the 2023 season. The hire of new Offensive Coordinator, Arthur Smith, came with a lot of high hopes and expectations, and so far, the offense hasn't met them. Former Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch spoke about Smith and the offense during the most recent episode of the Between The Hashmarks Podcast.

"It’s surprising, and I say surprising, in that they haven’t been able to score touchdowns."

Batch is correct, Pittsburgh has been able to put points on the board, but they just aren't coming from touchdowns. The offense has gotten into the end zone just once through two games, while Chris Boswell has gone a perfect eight for eight on field goals for a total of 24 points. The offense will certainly look to find the end zone more often, but the field goals have done enough so far in the 2024 season to get wins.

Batch then talked about the game plan he has seen from Smith so far. During Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons, Fields avoided the middle of the field when throwing the ball, but this was by design. Smith didn't want to give All-Pro safety Jessie Bates III an opportunity to wreck the game, which he did against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2. Batch spoke about the decision to avoid Bates, and what he has seen so far from the Pittsburgh offense.

"Especially when you’re talking about Bates having over 200 tackles over the past two years, 10 interceptions, so that element you’re looking at and saying, 'This guy is not going to disrupt the game.' So, you don’t use the middle of the field in that game, then you get to Denver, and they’re pushing the ball downfield using play-action, but it was negated by penalties. I think we’re just scratching the surface of what Arthur Smith’s offense truly looks like."

Steelers' Justin Fields Adds Another Layer To The Offense

The Steelers were going into the 2024 season planning for Wilson to be the starting quarterback, but he re-aggravated his calf injury that originated at the beginning of training camp. This has led to Fields starting the first two games, and being the assumed starter for Week 3 as well. Batch spoke about the unique ability Fields brings to the offense, which is something Wilson can't offer.

"Justin Fields has experience. When you talk about over 2,200 yards rushing and being able to add that element to the offense that wasn’t necessarily here in years past, I think Mike Tomlin was really looking for Russell [Wilson] to fill that leadership void for Justin Fields for whenever he would be called upon, we just didn’t know it was going to happen this soon."

Wilson has a lot more experience than Fields, and is considered one of the better pure leaders in the league at the quarterback position. This is an area Fields needs to work on as the starter, but he has sky-high potential on the field. He finished eighth in MVP voting for the 2022 season, mainly due to him picking up over 1,100 yards on the ground and eight touchdowns. This is something he can offer Pittsburgh and Smith that Wilson likely cannot at this stage of his career, and fans should expect to see more of it as the season moves along.

What do you think of the comments from Batch? Let us know below!

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