The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves in an even more uncomfortable situation than what they were faced with just a month ago. After a 35-13 loss on Sunday versus the Philadelphia Eagles, the Steelers now sit with a record of 2-6, currently last in the AFC North, with a top-five NFL Draft pick in next year's draft. This is new territory for an organization that has not had a losing season since when they went 6-10 in 2003 and has six Super Bowl trophies to their name.
A culture change may have had a lot to do with the recent failures of this team's production. Obviously, the biggest change was at quarterback where we now see rookie Kenny Pickett taking snaps under center, replacing future hall-of-fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger gave it one last crack last season under new offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s system and did so without much success.
At the time, most felt responsible to blame the lack of production on the 39-year-old quarterback, just simply due to his age but we are now starting to see that might not have been the reasoning.
Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett (8) drops back for a pass in Sundays loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. / Photo Credit: Abigail Dean /Steelers.com
Roethlisberger's experience is something all of SteelerNation can appreciate now more than ever, as we saw the 18 year veteran lead an offense with Canada’s lack of an offensive game plan, and bring this team to the playoffs just one year ago. Even with the flaws that we still see in his calls on gameday, Roethlisberger was able to get the best out of his playmakers and do his best to make a great play out of a bad call. Diontae Johnson and Najee Harris both had 1,000 yard seasons in their respective categories, and many expected them to be the driving forces of this offense once the season started.
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris (22) leaps over Eagles defender in Sundays 35-13 loss. / Photo Credit: Taylor Ollason/Steelers.com
Much to our surprise, this year’s play calling hasn’t been much different. In eight total games this season, the Steelers offense has scored a total of 120 points, which is good for 28th in the league. Their offensive rushing attack, led by a Pro Bowl running back in Harris, averages 94.9 (25th in the NFL) yards a game and their passing attack which has Pro Bowl talent all down the depth chart averages 203.9 yards a contest (24th in the NFL).
The play calling by Canada has been simplistic and predictable, it's clear there is frustration on both the coaches and players sides, and the Steelers as a team weren't shy to share their thoughts after this Sunday's embarrassing loss.
“We just gotta play better. You obviously know what's wrong. We just out there playing, trying to win. That's all I can say at the end of the day," Diontae Johnson said.
“I don’t want to get into specific details on that. I just do what the coaches tell us to do, go out there and try to execute the plays to the best of our ability.”
Whether it will happen or not, we don’t know, but to me what's obvious is that a change in the offensive game plan has to be made. Sunday's loss means this team has lost six of their last seven games, with the offense much to blame. Johnson wasn't the only Steeler to voice his frustrations post game, as we heard Pickett even say that this offense needs to “study more” and it seemed like his comments were a direct shot at his coordinator. I understand this is unfamiliar territory for the Steelers organization, but it's almost becoming obvious at this point what's holding this offense back and hindering the development of their young quarterback.
Do you think the issues on offense falls more on Matt Canada or the players?
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