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At this point, if you are a Pittsburgh Steelers fan you recognize the ineptitude of the offense and you fall on one side or the other of this great debate. Is the offense struggling because of poor coaching or is it the fault of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger? Keep in mind in this hypothetical discussion we acknowledge the offensive line is underperforming but impacts both sides of the debate equally, so we exclude it.
On one hand you have the coaches. Head coach Mike Tomlin, offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and quarterbacks coach Matt Canada are the architects of this offense. An offense that scored 26 points in 9 of its first 10 games, with 24 being the one outlier in this list. An offense that generated a 100-yard rusher in four of the team’s first five games.
Then you have Roethlisberger. Future Hall of Fame quarterback and one of the most productive players in NFL history. He is the guy who according to staff and teammates has full control over the offense on the field. Audible and checks are all under his control. Despite what play call comes in from the coaches, Big Ben has the option to change it as he sees fit.
So what is going wrong? I think there are two things in play here. First, I think Roethlisberger continues to be limited by his arm. Yes, he pulls off a few deep throws a game and some of them are even accurate but this doesn’t mean he has full confidence in his arm. The plays coming from the sideline might not all be underneath dink and dunk passes but this is the best Roethlisberger can give at this point.
But there is a second part to this. Audibles or not, the Steelers are not doing what they did early in the season to run the ball. And I don’t think this is a decision of the quarterback. Canada was supposed to bring innovation to the offense and in the first four or five games, we saw it. It worked. Guys like Ray-Ray McCloud and Chase Claypool being used in the run game and all the motion and shifts. It’s all gone.
My two cents is the coaching staff feels like they must placate Roethlisberger and in the meantime, Roethlisberger cannot do everything he wants but isn’t willing to own it and work with the coaches to find a way to create some sort of compromise with the offense.
But I want to pass the question off to you. What do you think is wrong with the offense? Let us know in the comments.
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