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Sunday marked one of the better passing games by the Pittsburgh Steelers this season. And it still wasn’t great. This feels like a broken record but despite a few shots downfield, the Steelers were largely relegated to short passing again against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday night.
A fact that wasn’t missed on wide receiver Chase Claypool. After catching five passes for 41 yards, Claypool stayed after everyone left in the Steelers locker room and talked candidly about the problem with the passing offense.
“We need more go balls. Like, damn,” Claypool said. “Not enough go balls. We’ve got playmakers. I haven’t had a go ball all year. George needs more, Tae needs more. I’m not saying that’s on the play calling. I’m just saying we need to find a way to scheme it up.”
Yes. Scheme it up. No one is advocating nothing but go routes but with Claypool, Diontae Johnson and George Pickens on the team, there’s no reason to keep this passing game on such a short leash. All it does is allow safeties to play up, which in turn limits the passing game. None of this is new. It’s been happening to the Pittsburgh offense for years, going back to offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner.
Pittsburgh has one more game until the bye week and currently sits at 2-5. If Pittsburgh wants to salvage the season on any level, OC Matt Canada needs to heed the words of Claypool and do a better job scheming up all this talent.
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