Pittsburgh Steelers Don't Pass on Chance to Welcome New Offensive Era

There are two passes that could end up telling us a great deal about how the Steelers intend to operate their offense from now on.

Those two passes opened the Steelers' week four matchup with the San Diego Chargers.

No, that's not a misprint. The Steelers actually opened a game by featuring a quick strike passing game and not the once-vaunted rushing attack that was always part of Pittsburgh's past offensive systems.

While Bruce Arians takes a ton of heat for calling a run heavy, unimaginative offensive game, he has been rather diverse this season. If you close your eyes to a squint and look, it almost looks like they Mike Mularkey heyday (before he, too, became unimaginative and conservative).

There is one certainty through four games. These aren't your father's or grandfather's Pittsburgh Steelers.

A certain segment of the massive, worldwide Pittsburgh fanbase will be disappointed to see this evolution. I would say that it's most unsurprising considering how the team has drafted since 2004.

In the 2004 draft, the Steelers drafted quarterback Ben Roethlisberger with the 11th overall pick. If Kevin Colbert had intended for Roethlisberger to be nothing but a glorified game manager his entire career, he probably would have just signed a cheaper quarterback.

You don't draft first round quarterbacks to manage games for a career.

In 2005, the Steelers drafted Heath Miller in the first round. Miller was lauded as a great pass catching tight end.  The Steelers needed a tight end. But Miller? He had suspect blocking skills listed by almost every analyst as his only weakness.

In 2006, the Steelers traded up in the draft to snag Santonio Holmes, a wide receiver with star potential. Again, you don't draft first round talent to be a role player.

In 2007 and 2009, the Steelers finally focused on their defense with Lawrence Timmons and Ziggy Hood, respectively.  In 2008, the team drafted Rashard Mendenhall, the lone contributor to the rushing attack from the team's last six first round picks.

If that doesn't show that the Steelers have been building up to this, then maybe this will convince you.

Pittsburgh has also drafted Limas Sweed, Mike Wallace, and Carey Davis while signing Mewelde Moore.  Two of those guys are wide receivers with good speed.  Davis is a pass catching fullback with so-so blocking skills.  Moore is a better pass catcher than he is a rusher.

So this should come as no shock. The Steelers, as they showed Sunday night, still intend to run the football.  They just are no longer a run-heavy, bruising offense. 

If Rashard Mendenhall can generate those kinds of yards on a regular basis, then the Steelers will still be able to execute their run-out-the-clock offense in the fourth quarter. 

The new wrinkle is that, during the bulk of the game, the attack will be balanced.

The first drive the Steelers had last night was a six play, 79-yard effort that included three passes and three runs.

Overall, the Steelers passed 33 times and ran 34 times (eliminating two Roethlisberger kneel downs).

How's that for balance?

Much of the credit for this change should be given to Roethlisberger himself.  He has proven with late game drives that he can win games with his arm. He also has showed a great knack for calling things at the line and for operating the no-huddle offense.

Those kinds of things give you the confidence to balance your attack and let a guy put the ball up 30+ times a game.

You know Roethlisberger won't argue with that. He loves it.

Some of the other credit should be given to the offensive line, which has vastly improved its pass blocking this season. Roethlisberger was sacked three times by San Diego, at least two of which were because he was trying to make a play.  Three sacks isn't a bad total anyway, especially considering that they didn't kill drives because Ben can make big plays with his arm.

The final piece of credit goes to Arians, who's finally emerging from his shell.  Whether or not he's a great coordinator is a matter for debate. I think we need more evidence in the form of offensive games like Sunday night's before we give him too much credit.

He did let Ben start calling plays and audibles, so he is taking the cuffs off finally. The offense certainly hasn't been a problem in the last two games, so he's doing something right.

Is this a good change, though? Changes in unit philosophy are often among the most debated in the NFL. If a defense switches from a 4-3 to a 3-4 or vice versa, it makes the news.

For the Steelers to change from a decades long stance of run first, pass second on offense is almost unheard of. Running is the Steelers identity, or so the pundits say.

The truth is, the Steelers never had a star quarterback once Terry Bradshaw left. If you think Cliff Stoudt, Mark Malone, David Woodley, Bubby Brister, Neil O'Donnell, Jim Miller, Mike Tomczak, Kordell Stewart, or Tommy Maddox were anywhere near as talented as Roethlisberger or Bradshaw, I have some ocean-front property in South Dakota for you.

The Steelers have, however, had great running backs. After Franco Harris, there was a bit of a gap until Barry Foster emerged. It is no coincidence that without a good quarterback and with running backs like Walter Abercrombie and Tim Worley the Steelers were not a good football team.

After Foster came Eric Pegram and Bam Morris, then Jerome Bettis, then Willie Parker, and now Mendenhall. Mendenhall isn't great yet, but he showed he could be on Sunday.

Running may have been the team's identity, but it may also have been so simply out of necessity and talent than because the coaches were making a conscious decision to run 70% of the time.

Even if Mendenhall shows he is the second coming of Jerome Bettis, the Steelers will likely always be a balanced team as long as Roethlisberger is under center. He's too good to ask to manage the game.

Is it a good change? That's a matter of opinion. I think it is. It will let the Steelers dominate teams offensively the way they usually dominate them defensively. If they do that, they'll be getting fitted for more rings in the very near future.