The Steelers are 1-3 with four tough games ahead of them and could very well be 1-7 going into the bye week.
There is a little excitement, since Kenny Pickett finally got a chance to play in Sunday’s loss to the New York Jets. But even with Pickett now likely the starter, it doesn’t matter who your quarterback is when you have games against Buffalo, Tampa Bay, Miami and Philadelphia loom.
If that isn’t depressing enough, former Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith Schuster, Now with the Kansas City Chiefs, is taking shots at his former team and the offense.
NBC Sports’ Melissa Stark said during Sunday Night’s game between Kansas City and Tampa Bay, she spoke with Smith-Schuster during the week.
“It is awesome to have an offensive minded coach in Andy Reid, he has learned more in these last few month in Kansas City than he did in all five years in Pittsburgh” Stark said of her talk with Smith-Schuster.
“He said Reid makes you see the whole field, he answers the why, he gets you to understand defenses,” added Stark.
Smith-Schuster also told Stark that Reid encourages his players to show their personalities, and we all know JuJu has a big personality.
The Steelers offense has been heavily criticized the past few seasons, basically since offensive coordinator Todd Haley left in 2017. Randy Fichtner was offensive coordinator from 2018-2020 with Matt Canada the current OC.
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin is a defensive-minded coach and Fichtner and Canada would likely be happy staying in the position of offensive coordinator until they retired.
That isn’t something you want in an offensive coordinator. You wants a bright mind that has head coaching aspirations.
Fichtner and now Canada just seem(ed) to be happy to be there.
The blame isn’t all on the OC, with the Steelers having to go between Devlin “Duck” Hodges and Mason Rudolph in 2019 and an aging Ben Roethlisberger the past two seasons.
But now the scheme is being exposed without “Duck” and an older Roethlisberger to blame, the Steelers warts are showing.
Going back to last season, the Steelers have only scored 30 or more points in a game once.
Doesn’t sound like Smith-Schuster is wrong.