Center Mason Cole on Steelers offense: 'I don’t know what our identity is right now'
Through two of their own games and headed into the final two league games of Week 2, the Pittsburgh Steelers offense ranked 30th in the NFL in yards and tied for 21st in points, even with the benefit of the defense’s “pick six” and three extra possessions in overtime of Week 1.
They’re 28th in passing yards, 26th in rushing yards, 26th in yards per play, last in yards per rush and 24th in yards per pass attempt.
It isn’t a pretty statistical picture, and the Steelers’ veteran starting center spent part of Monday vowing that the offense will find a way to fix it.
“Part of our issue right now is I don’t know what our identity is exactly right now,” Mason Cole said from UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on what was a players’ day off following Sunday’s 17-14 home-opener loss to the New England Patriots.
“We need to find it as a group, whatever that is. I think it’s huge for us to try to find the identity, and we have to make it that. We have to find out identity. It’s not on the coach. It’s not on anyone else. It’s on us. And having that fight as a group to snap out of this.”
Steelers C Mason Cole on the offense looking for answers and on the leadership of Mitch Trubisky pic.twitter.com/Cfe3x7cHj5
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) September 19, 2022
The Steelers’ offensive struggles were most apparent during the fourth quarter Sunday, when each of their final two drives resulted in a quick punt after three plays. Each began with the Steelers trailing by three points.
For the season, the Steelers have more “three-and-outs” (eight) than drives that end in points (seven: two touchdowns and five field goals). Coach Mike Tomlin on Monday preached patience for an offense that has a new quarterback and two new starting linemen.
“Patience is part of it,” Cole said. “You’re not always gonna play your best game all the time. But it starts coming to the point where there has to be a sense of urgency to correct the wrongs.”
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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