PITTSBURGH Chase Claypool As he considered the question, he paused.
Do the following three games in the 2022 season? Pittsburgh Steelers Have an offensive identity?
“Um, we’ve got playmakers, but, uh, I don’t know if we have an identity,” Claypool said Monday afternoon. “I think we’re still figuring that out.”
After two consecutive losses to the, I am now sitting at 1-2 New England Patriots Cleveland Browns, the Steelers’ offense hasn’t found cohesion or an identity. Both the run and pass game rank in the bottom half of the league, and they’ve scored just four offensive touchdowns in three games.
Claypool stated Monday that it was too soon to get frustrated with the offense but there were signs of discontent in the locker room at Cleveland on Thursday night.
“I couldn’t really tell you,” Diontae Johnson When asked about the problems that prevented the offense from coming together, he replied: “It could be anything when it comes to them. The coaches are what I am referring to. Not throwing them under the bus or whatever, but, you know, we can only do what they tell us to do and make plays, and that’s about it.”
Still, the Steelers feel like they’re close to putting it all together.
“The frustration is just knowing how good you can be,” guard Kevin Dotson said. “And potential is one of those things, it’s a good thing and it can drag you down. … We just know how amazing we can be, I feel. And that’s the thing that’s frustrating us, that we are not clicking how we could be.”
Progress signs
No-huddle scoring drives
The Steelers were successful in their tempo offense for the second straight game. On four of seven plays in the Steelers’ first scoring drive against the Browns, the team used no huddle and moved the ball 75 yards in three minutes. The Steelers used no-huddle for only three of the 10 plays on the second scoring drive. However, two of those plays were successful in securing first downs.
“We did pretty good with the tempo,” Claypool said. “We might be able to go back to that if, uh, our offense is stalling a little bit, maybe we add some tempo to switch up the momentum or the flow of the game.”
The Steelers were plagued by the same issue last year. The Ben Roethlisberger led offense seemed to find a better rhythm when they mixed in tempo — but Roethlisberger indicated early in the season his once-large selection of tempo plays had shrunk to just a handful. In 2021, the Steelers primarily used the change-of-pace offense in the second half, so it’s somewhat encouraging that offensive coordinator Matt Canada deployed it earlier against the Browns in Week 3. However, in the second quarter, the Steelers used the change-of-pace offense only five times before their final drive. It was then used four more times on seven plays, en route for a field goal.
“I think tempo is always good,” center Mason Cole said. “I’ve played in some different offenses where tempo can be a serious weapon. It’s all about timing when you use it. I think we used it well in the first half of this past game, but for whatever reason in the second half we didn’t use it as much.”
First-half deep balls
Against the Patriots & Bengals Mitch Trubisky Trubisky averaged just 5.1 yards per pass attempt against the Browns. However, he averaged 6.5 yards per attempt. His average was even higher in the second half (8.4).
Steelers had their longest pass play in the first half of the season when Trubisky was rookie George Pickens You can gain 36 yards.
Trubisky stated that the key to getting downfield passing going was calling concepts to get receivers to the ball, then when coverage dictates, giving them the ball. Both of these events occurred in the first half and show that the offense is capable to get the ball down the field.
“We can be a really fun offense,” Claypool said after the game. “We got a lot of young playmakers, so as long as we keep being put in positions to make plays, and it might be trending toward that, then we’ll be alright.”
In the second half, though, Trubisky regressed to the mark of the previous two games and averaged 5.2 yards per attempt — and in some cases, receivers couldn’t secure the ball on Trubisky’s deep attempts.
“It was good but I think we didn’t connect on the ones that we needed to,” Trubisky said of downfield passing. “We took some shots downfield, and we just needed to come down with it. I can throw a better ball, they made some great catches and we can make some more.”
Ground game
The Steelers’ ground game isn’t totally there yet, but Jaylen Warren As a complement to existing pieces, it continues to be a popular choice. Najee Harris. Steelers held a 88-79 advantage in rushing yards against Browns and averaged 5.5 yards per play in the first half.
“Definitely in the last game, I’ll say run-blocking,” Dotson said of the area where the offensive line has improved the most.
But there’s still even more room for growth. Warren fumbled in the first half, and Harris still hasn’t broken 100 rushing yards in a game. Even so, the ground game’s steady improvement is a silver lining in a bumpy offensive start.
Things that can be improved
Focusing on the middle of your field
Trubisky launched the ball farther down the field with more success than he had the first two weeks, but there’s still a noticeable absence of passes targeting the middle of the field. Between the Browns’ hashes, Trubisky only made two passes. Trubisky was finally successful on his last drive of the game. Pat Freiermuth — who wasn’t targeted until the fourth quarter — over the middle for two intermediate completions. The Steelers were now down by two points.
“That’s where me and Pat are, so we would love to target the middle of the field more,” Claypool said Monday. “I think there’s been an emphasis on that and we know what we need to do with our weaknesses and that’s one of ’em. So hopefully we keep working on that.”
Time of possession and third down
The Steelers converted just one of nine third-down opportunities against the Browns. Three weeks in, the offense has converted just 33.3% on attempts — good enough for 24th place in the league. The Steelers recorded four consecutive three-and-outs on Thursday.
With the poor conversion rate, the Steelers offense isn’t staying on the field very long, putting even more pressure on the defense. The Browns held the advantage in time of possession, 36:09 to 23:51. For the season, the Steelers were last in the league with a 24:15 average time of possession — five more than their year-ago average.
“We’ve gotta help our defense out,” Cole said. “Consecutive three-and-outs for us are not good and it kills our defense. “They had a 10-play drive, and we went out and got three-and- out and the defense got right back on the field. That’s
brutal. …
This is not possible for our defense. Many will argue that our defense should play better on the run, but we must help our defense. It is crucial that we possess the ball, and that possessions are won.