The Pittsburgh Steelers Will Have the AFC North's Best Offense in 2012

All four teams in the AFC North are set to have much-improved offenses in 2012, but the Pittsburgh Steelers will remain the best on that side of the ball. In both the passing and running games, the Steelers will look a bit different, but that will only serve to make one of the league's strongest offenses that much stronger.

The Steelers finished the 2011 season 10th overall in average passing yards per game and 14th overall in rushing yards. The latter number was a bit of a disappointment for a team that has historically been known for its running attack. However, their successes in the passing department mitigated that downturn well enough to help the team have yet another playoff year.

The one area in which the Steelers were even more disappointing last year was in points per game. The Steelers averaged 20.3 points per game—good for 21st in the league—while both the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens outscored them by one and two points per game, respectively.

The Steelers relied a bit more heavily on their top-notch defense to keep opponents' scores low, rather than making a splash in the end zone of their own. Pittsburgh clearly struggled in the red zone last year, scoring touchdowns just over 50 percent of the time for the season. That number dips to 41 percent of the time in away games.

This downturn makes it seem like the Steelers have embarked on an offensive slide that could easily extend to their 2012 season. However, I don't see that being the case.

The Steelers' relatively minor offensive struggles last season could be blamed on a few factors—mainly the offensive line and the play-calling of coordinator Bruce Arians.

The offensive line suffered from a number of injuries that required the Steelers to field 25 different combinations of linemen last season, so it's no surprise that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was sacked 40 times or that the run game struggled to take off. Combine that with Arians' penchant for slow-developing plays and predictable calls when in the red zone, and it's easy to see why the Steelers didn't perform as well as players' individual statistics would indicate.

Despite those issues, the Steelers have managed to build one of the best receiving corps in the league. Roethlisberger's development has been aided immeasurably by the talents of his top-two targets, Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown, who both ended the season with more than 1,000 receiving yards apiece.

If Wallace and Browns are as deadly a tandem this year, while Roethlisberger benefits from the added protection of what appears to be a much-improved offensive line (thanks to the team drafting guard David DeCastro in the first round and tackle Mike Adams in the second), the Steelers will once again end the season as a top-10, or even top-five, passing offense.

The run game should be far stronger than it was last season as well, though the Steelers will be without starting running back Rashard Mendenhall for most, if not all, of the year.

With Todd Haley as offensive coordinator, they should be able to maximize the strengths of the five backs currently on the roster, rotating them in and out as the situation warrants and ultimately being both more efficient and effective on the ground. The improvements on offensive line only help these efforts along. 

In 2012, the Steelers offense should be not only stronger than it was last season, it should also be more well-balanced. Thanks to Roethlisberger, their receivers and a revitalized run game helmed by a new coordinator, Pittsburgh should emerge as the top offensive team in the AFC North.

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