Only one thing could make the Steelers offense worse in 2022

The Pittsburgh Steelers should have an improved offense in 2022, but there’s only one area that could potentially be worse this year. 

I specifically remember fans arguing that the Steelers offense couldn’t get any worse from 2020 to 2021. Boy, was that a misguided statement. After scoring 26.6 points per game during the 2020 season in Ben Roethlisberger’s first year back from elbow surgery, Pittsburgh dropped all the way down to just 20.2 points scored per contest in 2021, according to Team Rankings.

This year, I’m already starting to hear the same things. After finishing 21st in the NFL in points per game and 23rd in yards per contest, many fans assume there’s nowhere to go but up. As we saw from 2020 to 2021, this isn’t necessarily the case.

I do believe that Pittsburgh should be an improved offense, for the most, in 2022. They went from an aging quarterback with no big-play ability to younger quarterbacks who can extend the play. Likewise, I believe they upgraded the wide receiver position going from JuJu Smith-Schuster and Ray-Ray McCloud to George Pickens and Calvin Austin.

On top of this, the Steelers essentially have their entire starting offensive line returning from the 2021 season. However, the most significant difference should be a noticeable improvement going from Trai Turner to James Daniels. This is also one of the youngest units in the NFL, and they should theoretically improve with another year of experience.

However, there is one area that could potentially make Pittsburgh’s offense worse in the upcoming 2022 season: turnovers.

Steelers could turn the ball over more in 2022

On paper, I agree with every other fan and analyst out there: the Steelers are an improved team this year. However, one thing could prevent them from seeing better offensive results in 2022.

Over the past two seasons, Ben Roethlisberger was rather underwhelming as a passer. He didn’t make a lot of plays down the field and his air yards and yards per attempt plummeted towards the bottom of the league. One thing he continued to do well, however, is take care of the football.

Over each of the past two years, Roethlisberger threw 10 no more than interceptions and the offense, collectively, didn’t lose more than 9 fumbles in a season over this span (despite the added 17th game last year).

This was not the case when Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges were leading the charge in 2019. Three years ago when Big Ben was sidelined for the season with his elbow injury, the Steelers turned the ball over a combined 30 times in the season, according to Pro Football Reference. Only five teams had more turnovers in 2019.

As a result of these turnovers and all of the time of possession lost on offense, the Steelers finished the season ranking 27th in points scored per game and 30th in offensive yards per game.

It’s still too early to name a starter at quarterback for the Steelers this year, but it’s a contest that is going to come down to either Mitch Trubisky or Kenny Pickett. Though I would expect either player to make more big plays in the passing game than what Roethlisberger did last year, it’s probably not reasonable to expect just 10 interceptions or fewer from either quarterback.

Turnovers can obviously be game-changers in the NFL, and if the Steelers happen to turn the ball over at a much higher rate next year, it won’t matter how much better their offense looks on paper. They will still struggle as a unit and Pittsburgh will have a hard time winning football games.

I’m very excited about the next era of football in Pittsburgh. However, I have bad memories of watching the Steelers offense get worse after fans insisted that it couldn’t happen. Let’s hope our new quarterbacks can make more plays down the field while taking good care of the football.