The Steelers will look to get the offense back on track in an AFC North showdown on Monday night against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Steelers wait for work in practice to pay off
Want to know why the Steelers haven’t scored more than 19 points in each of the past three games?
Well, primarily because too many aspects of their offense need to be fixed. And that’s by their own diagnosis.
The running game is abysmal. The offensive line is not physical enough to move people off the line of scrimmage. And the mid- to deep-passing game, the traditional calling card of a gunslinger, is basically nonexistent.
Other than that, the offense is operating at peak efficiency.
According to coach Mike Tomlin, the Steelers have been placing great emphasis in practice each week on running the ball better and more efficiently. He said they just haven’t seen the results of their efforts yet.
Maybe the fruits of that labor will be evident Monday night against the Cincinnati Bengals. Maybe.
But, offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner also said he has been devoting more time to improving the deep passing and making “chunk” plays by something other than a 5yard completion and a 10- to 15-yard run after the catch.
Fichtner said the offense devoted a day this week to simply throwing the deep ball to receivers with no defenders, even examining which receivers might be best suited running deep routes to a certain side of the field.
“A lot might have to do with maybe who’s running certain patterns on which side,” Fichtner said. “Some guys get clean releases, some guys maybe never top a defender so the opportunity for a jump ball is there, so ball placement is so much more critical.
“It gives you that sense of timing and rhythm again and potentially just the idea of seeing the throw and catch and the adjustment by the receiver.”
Ben Roethlisberger has just four completions of at least 40 yards this season, fewest among all quarterbacks who have started every game in 2020. He has 36 completions of 20 or more yards, secondfewest among quarterbacks who have started every game.
Compare that to his 2018 season when he tied Aaron Rodgers for the league lead with 16 completions of at least 40 yards and was third with 61 completions of 20 or
more yards.
That wasn’t a problem when the short catch-and-run passing game was creating some chunk plays. But, other than James Washington’s 50-yard touchdown in which he caught a 7-yard pass and ran 43 yards to the end zone against Washington, those have not been working, either. Defenses have brought their safeties closer to the line of scrimmage to take away the yards after a catch.
Throw in 16 drops the past three games — seven by Diontae Johnson, who is 17th in the league in yards after the catch (370) — and the necessity for a return to Roethlisberger’s gun-slinging days have become essential.
Maybe the fruits of that labor will be evident like the first game against the Bengals, when Roethlisberger passed for 333 yards and four touchdowns. Maybe.
Any success in the postseason will depend on it.
‘Control my blocks’
Alejandro Villanueva said he has been in a “media bubble” for the past year. He does not use the internet and even bought a flip phone so he doesn’t have the technology to constantly look at his screen for text messages or social media.
He describes himself as being somewhere between “a 2020 millennial and an Amish person in Pennsylvania.”
So when he is asked about people, including Tomlin, criticizing the Steelers for not being physical enough, he is unaware of the attacks. Even if most of them are directed at the offensive line.
“I don’t dwell on the commentary,” said Villanueva, who has started 87 consecutive regular season games at left tackle, thirdmost among active NFL offensive linemen. “I focus on things I can control and that’s assignment blocking and the types of blocks I have to do.
“If you ask me about those types of blocks, then I can give you a little more insight of what I believe. Maybe I haven’t been doing a good job this season. I can only speak for myself. I have no idea what a guard block or a center block looks like, or even a right tackle. The narratives that come and go, I’m not familiar with anything been said. I’m not very familiar with what coach Tomlin tells you in the media.
“I understand that for sure I have so much to improve on. I’m not a perfect player ... and the physicality is always a component of playing football in general. If someone wants to write or say — to include the head coach — we lack physicality, then they absolutely have the right to do it. In my head, I cannot challenge narratives. All I can do is control my blocks.”