Tim Benz: Steelers players say 'critical' offensive approach has 'totally changed from last year'

The plan for the Pittsburgh Steelers offense is clear in 2023: Be more explosive. Score more points.

That’s not hard to figure out. Coordinator Matt Canada’s group managed just 29 touchdowns in 2022. The only team with fewer was the Indianapolis Colts at 28. No team in the NFL had fewer passing TDs (12) than the Steelers. At 18.1 points per game, the Steelers were tied with the Los Angeles Rams for 26th in the league.

In terms of offensive plays over 20 yards, the Steelers made only 52 in 2022. That was tied for 26th with the New Orleans Saints (via Sharp Football).

But the team’s approach to becoming more explosive may not be through a conventional way of thinking.

The narrative this offseason has been that with quarterback Kenny Pickett in his second year, the playbook will expand, Canada will put more on his shoulders, and the Steelers will sling it around more often in search of chunk plays that were absent from the training-wheels offense we saw a year ago for the rookie signal caller.

Don’t bet on it.

Sure. The hope is to score more points. Score them earlier in games. Score them earlier in drives. And occasionally score them (or at least set them up) from a longer distance.

However, the platform isn’t going to be to “spread the field and air it ‘aht!”

Quite the contrary. The team told us that with its actions this offseason. Now the players are telling us so with their mouths.

If the Steelers wanted to become that kind of team this offseason, they would’ve drafted Ohio State pass catcher Jaxon Smith-Njigba, not Georgia offensive tackle Broderick Jones. They would’ve tried to acquire two more receivers in free agency. Not two guards in Isaac Seumalo and Nate Herbig.

They would’ve drafted a pass-catching tight end such as Michael Mayer or Luke Musgrave. Not a dominant run-blocking one like Darnell Washington.

No, this offense’s goal is going to be to win big on first down and set up potential explosiveness from the offense based on advantageous down-and-distance situations. The approach is going to be to beat up opposing defenses on first-and-10 and hit them big when they have to guess on second-and-2.

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Don’t just win on first down, dominate on first down.

Then pierce the opposing defense when they aren’t sure what to expect on second- or third-and-short. That’s not just a prediction based on assumption. It’s a mission statement from the players themselves.

“That’s the biggest thing,” receiver George Pickens said of the team’s first-down mentality. “From a gameplan standpoint from last year, it’s totally changed. First down is more critical this year. It sets up go balls, posts. … That’s one of the things we’ve been talking about in meetings too. The first, initial down is probably the most important down.”

On average, the Steelers gained just 4.7 yards per snap on first down, 30th in the NFL. A trend center Mason Cole says must change dramatically this year.

“If you get a second and manageable, it just keeps the defenses guessing what’s going on,” Cole said. “They don’t know if you are going to run the ball, pass the ball. They’re biting on play action because second-and-5 is still a very manageable run down. So it just keeps the defense on their toes. And that’s what we want.”

For his part, Pickett sees the additions of grit on offense to be a big plus.

“It’s huge,” Pickett said. “I think we have got a great group. I thought we had a great group last year, and I think we just added some great pieces that can help us with depth and bring some other things to the table.”

One area that Cole sees as a potential for improvement is run-after-the-catch yards. The Steelers were 26th last year in yards per reception and last in the NFL in yards after the catch per completion at 4.0 (29th total at 1463). The premise being, on second-and-3, when the defense has little clue as to where the ball is going and how deep the target will be, that may open up in the middle of the field for the likes of a Diontae Johnson to maneuver after the catch. Too often last year on third-and-long, he caught the ball short of the sticks against sagging defenses and ran into a wall of waiting defenders at the marker.

“It’s not necessarily 50-yard bombs every time,” Cole said of the team’s approach to finding explosion in the offense. “It’s schematically, how can we get to (Pickens) and (Johnson) with room to run. How can we be efficient on first downs, so we can take shots on second and third downs.”

The Steelers were sixth in time of possession (31:18), seventh in third-down percentage (44.9%) and ninth in total offensive plays (1,109). So they were converting third downs and staying on the field. The Steelers were 27th in yards per play last year (4.9) and 28th in points per play (0.287).

So Pittsburgh was controlling the clock, converting third downs and moving the chains. But that wasn’t manifesting into points while the offense was on the field.

“You’re always trying to find that missing piece that we didn’t have in our offense last year,” Cole said of trying to hit big plays. “It’s been a big emphasis for us, and I think how we ran the ball in the second half of last year — hopefully, we see how good we can be on first and second down and we carry that over.”

That’s where the mission statement needs to be put into action for 2023.