Major Changes Steelers Must Make After 6-4 Start to 2023 NFL Season
The Pittsburgh Steelers are 6-4 to start the season, but it certainly doesn't feel like they have a winning record.
The Steelers are one of the few teams in the league with a winning record that also sport a negative point differential. Pittsburgh has been outscored 195-166 through 10 games. Offensively, the Steelers are just 28th in the league in scoring.
The Steelers already made a massive change on Tuesday, firing offensive coordinator Matt Canada in the middle of his fourth season. Under Canada's watch, the Steelers offense had not finished higher than 23rd in yardage and ranked lower in scoring offense every subsequent season since he was hired in 2021.
So what can the Steelers do to remain in the playoff hunt and work to get better? It starts with a few offensive adjustments.
Let's take a look.
Increased Play-Action Passing
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We've now seen Kenny Pickett play in 23 NFL games. In that sample, he has completed 61.9 percent of his passes, thrown 13 touchdowns to 13 interceptions while averaging 7.0 air yards per attempt in 2023, per Pro Football Reference.
It's safe to say he's been limited as a passer.
That doesn't mean that he can't develop into an NFL quarterback. His numbers are middling, not terrible, but he has to get some help from his offensive play-calling and system. Pickett is fourth in the league in completion percentage on play-action passes, per PlayerProfiler.
Yet, Pickett is 25th in the league in play-action pass attempts with just 35 on the season.
Play-action is an effective way to simplify the offense for a quarterback because it narrows the area of the field that he has to read and forces the defense to honor the run fake.
It's a useful tool to get a quarterback like Pickett back in a rhythm and feel confident in his ability to get to the right read and deliver the ball.
Under Canada, the Steelers mostly asked Pickett to drop straight back and make wider area reads behind an offensive line that is giving up pressure. It was a recipe for disaster. The Steelers have to marry their run concepts with the passing game and help out Pickett.
Play Calvin Austin III More
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Canada's firing shouldn't only impact the play calling, it should bring into question how the Steelers are using their talent. That includes Calvin Austin III, who probably should be seeing the field more.
The Steelers started the season playing Austin more. The electric return man averaged five targets in the first four games of the season. Since then, he's seen just five targets in the last six games that he's played in.
He's become a complete afterthought, but his production is right in line with Allen Robinson's. The veteran has hauled in 22 receptions for 174 yards on 34 targets while Austin has 165 yards and 15 receptions on 26 targets.
This is a Steelers team that has struggled to put generate explosive plays on offense. Yet, Austin, who is a burner with the longest catch of the season (72 yards) has seen a diminished role.
Robinson isn't likely to be in the picture next season. Austin is still on a rookie contract. It's time to see what he can do.
Even More Aggression on Defense
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Right now, the Steelers rank fifth in the league in blitz percentage at 36 percent of the time. That's even higher than they were last year when Brian Flores was on staff and they were blitzing 31.5 percent of the time.
To be more specific, the Steelers are bringing five rushers at the third-highest rate in the league. When they do that, they are fourth in the league in EPA. In other words, they are one of the best defenses in the league.
When they only bring four, they are 23rd.
When you look at their personnel it makes sense. TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith are two of the best players on the unit while the cornerback room has struggled. Injuries have decimated the linebacker position and safety outside of Minkah Fitzpatrick is a liability.
Even with Canada gone, the Steelers offense has a long road to navigate for improvement. To get the most out of this season, the Steelers have to make plays on defense and the best way to do that is to get pressure.
The Steelers have to turn it up even higher down the final stretch of 2023.
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