No team has made more playoff appearances since the merger than the Pittsburgh Steelers. But that statistic has a hollow ring to it as of late.
A year ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers were the last team in the NFL to lose a game. Mike Tomlin’s club opened 11-0 but dropped four of its final five regular-season contests. The Black and Gold laid a 48-37 egg in the wild card round, falling at home to the Browns.
This season, there was a Week 1 upset of the Bills at Buffalo. The Steelers dropped their next three games. There were some ugly losses along the way and with two weeks to play, the Steelers were 7-7-1 and still breathing in terms of the playoffs. Tomlin’s squad defeated Browns and Ravens (in OT) and got some help, grabbing a wild card berth.
A week later, the 42-21 loss at Kansas City was the latest ugly chapter in the recent postseason for this franchise. There are many changes ahead but how much can be accomplished in one offseason. The following suggestions may be a good start.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers need a major change in offensive philosophy
In 2021, the Pittsburgh Steelers jettisoned offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and promoted quarterbacks coach Matt Canada (who joined the team in 2020) to take his spot. And after finishing tied for 24th in the league in total yards and dead last in the NFL in rushing, Mike Tomlin’s team “improved” to 23rd in total offense while only three clubs gained more yards on the ground.
Pittsburgh’s offensive unit managed a disappointing 33 touchdowns in 17 regular-season games. In those contests, the club managed a miserable combined 37 points in the first quarter. And while it’s not official quite yet, the Steelers will take the field in 2022 without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger being a member of the organization.
There’s a lot of pressure on Tomlin and Canada and you can sense the impatience from a lot of different directions. Power football should be the emphasis for this team going forward.
2. Pittsburgh Steelers must fix what ails the NFL’s worst run defense
Paraphrasing from former ESPN analyst and Green Bay Packers wide receiver Sterling Sharpe. If you don’t practice running, you don’t get a chance to practice against the run.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have lacked commitment to the ground game for far too long. Even in 2021 with Najee Harris in the backfield, the club was roughly 37 percent running and 63 passing in terms of plays.
Now combine issues on defense at inside linebacker and the absence of defensive linemen Stephon Tuitt and Tyson Alualu. Mike Tomlin’s club was dead last in the NFL in rushing defense and that has to change dramatically in 2020.
“We need to get back to stopping the run, first and foremost,” explained 2021 NFL sack leader T.J. Watt after the playoff loss to the Chiefs (via Matthew Marczi of Steelers Depot). “And then, it all comes down to getting off the field, containing the quarterback, all the basic principles of being a great defense. We’ve just got to get back to it.”
Watt and defensive end Cameron Heyward were the club’s top performers on the front seven. It will be interesting to see how the front office addresses the front seven this offseason. And that includes former first-round linebacker Devin Bush.
1. Continue to upgrade the offensive line
The franchise used the 24th overall pick on University of Alabama running back Najee Harris last April. The hard-charging performer ran 307 times for 1,200 yards and seven touchdowns. He finished second on the team with 74 catches, good for 467 yards, and three more scores.
That’s a total of 381 touches with scrimmage and Harris did not fumble. Of course, the latter changed when he coughed up the ball in Sunday’s wild-card loss to the Chiefs.
Despite Harris’ efforts, the Steelers wound up with the fourth-fewest rushing yards in the league. They averaged just 93.1 yards per game on the ground. The biggest problem was a revamped offensive front that had plenty of new faces but lacked efficiency. Rookie tackle Dan Moore stood out among the various changes but this was far from a fearsome unit. And this team has finished in the bottom fourth of the NFL in rushing yards each of these last four straight years.
Harris has already proven to be a physical runner and certainly capable of bigger things. But he was stymied too many times thanks mainly to that aforementioned offensive front that couldn’t get the job done. Like the defensive front, the work on the offensive line must continue as well. It’s a high priority this offseason.