Despite having a wealth of talent, the Pittsburgh Steelers have struggled to get their offense clicking for the majority of the 2023 season.
The offensive output finally appeared to be improving after the team made history by firing Matt Canada during the season, but one mediocre performance in Week 12 hardly qualifies as a regular NFL team. According to Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the 2023 Steelers are not only difficult to watch, but they are also unable to field a successful NFL offense.
The 2023 campaign has hardly lived up to Mike Tomlin’s expectations, which are high for a head coach who says things like ‘the standard is the standard’. In Pittsburgh during the Tomlin era, the perception has been that, although things appeared chaotic from the outside, things were actually running smoothly inside the locker room. The more of this 2023 squad that the world witnesses, the more difficult it is to believe.
Fittipaldo was heard discussing two plays in the fourth quarter that the Steelers ran against the Patriots and how ineffective they were on a foundational level on The Cook & Joe Show on 93.7
The Fan on Friday. Fittipaldo wasn’t just talking about how bad the play was that Pittsburgh fans had to watch against the New England Patriots in Week 14, he was talking about how bad it was that the Steelers were playing; these are fundamental issues.
Fittipaldo was speaking of the play that the Steelers made on a 3rd and 2 with 2:05 remaining in the game, even though they had one of the league’s most dependable kickers, Chris Boswell, waiting on the sidelines. Pittsburgh’s play calling was puzzling.
The fact that you were only three points down in a game you had to win should have told most NFL teams to at least try to convert a first down. Instead, George Pickens and Diontae Johnson both missed long passes that Mitch Trubisky attempted to throw.
