A BLUEPRINT TO STOP STEELERS’ OFFENSE?
Buffalo’s defensive backs smothered Steelers receivers at the line of scrimmage, playing press coverage and disrupting the timing of Randy Fichtner’s short-rhythm passing game. It was a page out of the playbook of the Baltimore Ravens, who came up with the blueprint to slow down the Steelers’ offense earlier this month: Shut down the short passing game and see if the Steelers can find another way to win.
They did — but barely — against the Ravens, but they failed miserably against Washington and Buffalo, notching season-low outputs in each of the games, including a measly 15 points against the Bills behind 224 yards of total offense.
“I wouldn’t say they’ve caught onto it,” Fichtner
said. “We have to make our plays.”
Part of the problem during the slump is inconsistency across the board. The running game has stalled, the receivers are dropping passes and Ben Roethlisberger is misfiring on deep passes down the field. At various times during the team’s 11-0 start, Fichtner dealt with all of those issues, but never at the same time.
That’s why Fichtner is dialed in this week and looking forward to a normal week of preparation for the Bengals. In the previous three games, the Steelers’ practice schedule was thrown off by three postponements of the Ravens game and the subsequent fallout of playing three games in 12 days. They played the Ravens on a Tuesday followed by Washington on a Monday and then Buffalo on Sunday night.
This week they’re having a typical practice week that includes a bonus day because the Steelers-Bengals game is on Monday night. The way Fichtner sees it, it’s an opportunity to dive in and attack the issues that have grounded the offense.
Head coach Mike Tomlin mentioned a continuing commitment to working on the 31st-ranked running game during his Zoom call on Tuesday. Fichtner said with the additional practices this week, Roethlisberger and his receivers will work on the intermediate and deep passing game that has been so inconsistent and ineffective in recent weeks.
“Maybe just because there hasn’t been practice time allocated to it,” Fichtner explained of the struggles. “Whatever you missed in that three-week [stretch] with walk-throughs, playing, not playing, games being moved — I think back to repetition, throwing and catching. That’s not an excuse. [But] if there was one area we backed off, it would have been throwing deep balls. Having this week where we get back to some semblance of a real week, we worked on that yesterday and we’ll work on it more today, so it’s an area of emphasis.”
Roethlisberger has done the things Fichtner has asked him to do this season. He’s protecting the football and has drastically cut down his interceptions. He’s getting the ball out of his hand quicker, which has given his talented young receivers opportunities to catch short passes and turn them into long runs — when they’re not dropping the ball, at least.
It was all part of the plan for a 38-year old quarterback coming off elbow surgery. But now the Steelers need some vintage Ben. They need those 15-yard passes over the middle on third and 10. They need those bombs to be completed to loosen up the defense.
If there has been one notable deficiency in Roethlisberger’s game post-surgery, it’s his deep ball. He’s been wildly inconsistent with it, especially to the right side of the field, where his balls tend to sail on him.
“I would say he’s more than capable of throwing the ball down the yard and making plays,” Fichtner said. “We have enough guys who can go up and make a play. We probably have done it less than anybody. That might be an emphasis for us moving forward. I’m not afraid to throw the ball deep. It can be as early as the first play, and it can definitely be the last play.
“It’s something we have to keep working on and getting better at because they create chunks. Chunks are what you need to sustain drives. That’s what, I think, maybe we’re missing now.”
Roethlisberger is averaging just 6.3 yards per attempt, which is by far the lowest average of his career. His previous low was 7.0 in 2008.
Despite the passing game woes, Fichtner is convinced of one thing: The Steelers’ offense is not too dependent on the quarterback.
“You always want to be as diverse as possible,” Fichtner said. “I would shy away from wanting to take too much out of his hands. He’s the most experienced and, quite honestly, our best football player. He has a lot of insight into all levels of the game. We have to do a better job of being more consistent with our runs. We’ve looked at certain play-actions that potentially can create more chunks down the field, as well.
“He hasn’t been resistant to anything. He wants to be coached. He comes in with ideas. I’m kind of excited about this being on a real week schedule. The rush of some of the past weeks, you better get committed to do the things you feel most comfortable doing. I guess we can do everything a little bit better. We know how to do it right. Maybe it’s a lull. Shoot, we can get out of that, too.”