The Pittsburgh Steelers under Bill Cowher played hard nosed defense, ran the ball and were not afraid to be creative offensively to generate big plays. Early in Ben Roethlisberger’s career, the Steelers made use of Hines Ward and Antwaan Randle El’s talents as college quarterbacks to generate chunk plays and touchdowns. Cowher did not run one of these plays every game, it just seemed like it.
In Super Bowl XL with his coaching legacy on the line, he unleashed Randle El and he, not Roethlisberger, threw a decisive touchdown pass to Ward. Matt Canada’s offense in 2022 should be a little more wide open with RPO’s and jet sweeps, but Mike Tomlin might be wise to call his predecessor and see if he can borrow his playbook.
Tomlin has occasionally gambled with trick plays, but he seems partial to faking punts and kickoffs. He arguably cost the Steelers the win and the playoffs against the New Orleans Saints in December 2018 with an ill-advised fake punt in their own territory late in the game. Punting to Drew Brees may have ultimately yielded the same result, but most Steelers fans probably wanted to see him try to drive the length of the field, instead of starting the drive just 40 yards from the go ahead touchdown. Roethlisberger did his best to bail him out, but JuJu Smith-Schuster's fumble as the Steelers entered field goal range, sealed their fate. Last year against the Cleveland Browns, Tomlin called a fake field goal against the Browns and the result of the play was Chris Boswell getting knocked out of the game. Roethlisberger and Pat Freiermuth ultimately bailed him out and the Steelers won the game.
It is not a knock on Tomlin per say, if either of those fakes work, he is a genius gambler. It is easy to criticize the calls after the fact. Fake kicks and punts are very risky business, and they often win or lose games. The Steelers have been on the short end of the stick in the kicking game trickery, so maybe it is time to try gambling a little more on offense instead. The Steelers have a versatile wide receiver group, a bell cow back who doesn’t fumble and two young mobile quarterbacks. Maybe the time is right to run a couple of chaos plays in 2022. Respectfully to the offensive coaching staff and Coach Tomlin, I know you cannot run these types of plays every game, but here are some fun ideas to consider:
Play Both Quarterbacks at The Same Time
Abigail Dean / Pittsburgh Steelers
Mitch Trubisky has proven at the NFL level he is a capable runner when he wants to pull the ball down. Now that Mason Cole is taking over at center for the Steelers line, Trubisky and Kenny Pickett up in the shotgun next to each other, snap the ball to one of them and let the fireworks ensue. A jet sweep when they are both in the backfield to Calvin Austin III would be an exciting variation off this formation, especially if they set it up early in the season by passing from a two-quarterback set.
Najee Harris Wildcat
Pittsburgh Steelers running back, Najee Harris (#22), during a regular season game between against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Oct. 10, 2021 in Pittsburgh, PA at Heinz Field. The Steelers beat the Broncos 27-19. | Caitlyn Epes / Pittsburgh Steelers
If the offensive line has in fact improved, this could be a viable option if the passing game is struggling. Harris is excellent at ball handling and based on his 74 receptions last season, he is comfortable catching the ball. Pairing the bruising Harris with either Mataeo Durant or Anthony McFarland as his RPO partner could be a nightmare for opposing defenses. Lining Chase Claypool up next to Harris in the wildcat could be a really exciting twist as well. A cool variation off the formation would be if you mix in a pass by Harris or Claypool off of the set after lulling the defense to sleep with multiple runs.
Jet Sweep Reverse
NFL.com
The jet sweep is already prevalent in Canada’s offense. The wide receivers ran the ball 24 times during the 2021 season almost 1.5 times per game. Assuming they run a jet sweep 10 more times during the season to average 2 per game, a jet sweep to Austin, Gunner Olszewski or Claypool paired with the occasional flip back to Diontae Johnson or George Pickens going the other way could be a huge play. A fun variation would be as the defense reverses field, they flip it to Trubisky or Pickett as they run by for a wild looking flea flicker.
It is doubtful that NFL level coaches are reading opinion articles to augment their playbooks, but it sure would be a blast to hear Bill Hillgrove describe a few of them during the season. The Steelers offense is very young, and no one really knows what to expect. Steeler fans are optimistic, and the national media is expecting us to go back to scoring 10 to 14 points per game. One or two trick plays during the season might just slow a defense down enough in December when a receiver goes in motion, that it wins a key game down the stretch.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? What kind of trick plays would you like to see during the 2022 season, or would you prefer we just run the basic offense? Please comment below or on my Twitter @thebubbasq.
