Top WR backs running game, but passing attack must grow
Here’s a first, or at the least a rare occurrence in the NFL: Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster went to offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner during the Steelers’ 24-17 victory against the Los Angeles Chargers Sunday night and told him to keep running the ball.
“You saw this last game, we dominated in the run game,” Smith Schuster said. “That was amazing. I was like, ‘Coach, keep running the ball. It works. Get the ball to our running backs because they’re making plays for us.’ ”
How many times do you think Antonio Brown spoke those words? He once tossed a Gatorade cooler on the sideline in Baltimore when he wasn’t happy with the number of passes thrown his way.
Smith-Schuster, who had one reception and four targets in the game, was playing air guitar in the huddle during a TV timeout in the fourth quarter when the Steelers were trying to hold off a furious Chargers comeback. If he’s unhappy with his usage, he’s doing a pretty good job of hiding it.
The reactions of Brown and Smith-Schuster in the face of slumps could not be more different.
“I talked to the group [Tuesday],” Fichtner said. “I’m proud of the group for the unselfishness, for the giving of others, for putting everyone’s hand in the pile to win the game. JuJu was one of the guys who in-game said, ‘Coach, we’re running it. Keep running. Let’s go.’
“You hear that from a receiver, and that excites you as a coach. I couldn’t have been more proud.”
How often has Fichtner heard that from a receiver?
“Not that often, and to be honest, I understand it,” he said. “Having coached the position a long time, they want to be involved and have an impact on the game. There are other ways to have impacts on the game — leadership, effort. We had some longer runs. That’s usually credited to the group, not just up front. It would be your receivers as well as the offensive line.”
Still, Steelers coaches know any real hopes of getting back into the thick of the AFC North race hinges on the offense becoming better. Mike Tomlin was blunt in his assessment of the state of his offense when he answered questions from reporters Wednesday morning. When asked how much room for growth there is for the offense, he replied: “Substantial.”
The Steelers enter their off week 29th in the NFL in total offense. They’re 28th in passing yards and 28th in rushing yards per game. They’re 20th in scoring, but the defense is responsible for one touchdown and set the offense up on short fields on several other occasions.
The Steelers, of course, have played with three quarterbacks in their first six games, so that explains some of the problems in the passing game. But everyone inside the Steelers facility knows it has to improve.
The Steelers beat the Chargers without much of a passing game. Devlin Hodges, making his first NFL start for the concussed Mason Rudolph, threw for just 132 yards. The leading pass catcher among the receivers was rookie Diontae Johnson, who had two catches for 14 yards. As a group, Johnson, SmithSchuster, Donte Moncrief, Ryan Switzer and Johnny Holton combined for five catches for a total of 30 yards.
That has to be some kind of modern-day NFL record for the fewest number of yards from receivers in a victory. The statistics, or lack thereof, are even harder to believe when broken down over the first six games.
• Moncrief, the biggest free-agent signing by the offense, has four catches for 18 yards.
• Switzer has eight catches for 27 yards.
• James Washington, whom many expected to take a big jump in his second season, has nine catches for 140 yards.
• Smith-Schuster is averaging 57 yards per game this season, down from the 89 a game he averaged last season.
It hasn’t been anything near what the Steelers have been in previous seasons when Ben Roethlisberger had the Steelers among the league leaders in almost every offensive category. And it’s probably not going to get close to approaching that for the remainder of the season.
Fichtner pointed out the Steelers would likely be 4-2 if the Steelers protected the ball better in the fourth quarter against the San Francisco 49ers and Ravens. It wasn’t a shot at SmithSchuster or James Conner, whose fumbles cost the Steelers two victories. He was merely pointing out the Steelers have been in position to win games with the offense taking a conservative approach.
“We were just starting to feel for where Mason was after two games,” Fichtner said. “You really get a feel for concepts and what they’re comfortable with. That’s a process.
“That was 13 years in the making with Ben and I, and you’re trying to get that overnight in a game or two. That’s not easy to do.
“They’re doing the things they need to do to give us a chance to win. Every game is going to be an improvement for them just with their perspective, seeing different fronts and coverages. I look forward to their growth every week. That will be a steady process all year.”