Big Flaw In Steelers' Offense Earns Arthur Smith Stern Criticism

After the Pittsburgh Steelers' frustrating and disappointing loss to the Cleveland Browns, the offensive unit is starting to be seriously questioned. Since the start of a Week 11 game against the Baltimore Ravens, Arthur Smith and the Pittsburgh offense went seven straight quarters without scoring a touchdown. Jaylen Warren finally got the team across the goal line early in the fourth quarter in Cleveland, but it was too little, too late for the Steelers. 

Pittsburgh had scored 20 or more points in seven of eight weeks, going back to the home opener against the Los Angeles Chargers. However, in the last two games, they've failed to reach that number, causing great concern. The Steelers have had one of the worst red zone offenses in the NFL this season, especially since Russell Wilson replaced Justin Fields. The Steelers have a ton of talent across their entire roster, yet it seems that the coaching staff has been unable to spread the wealth. 

Ray Fittipaldo, a Steelers reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, gave the players and coaching staff their report cards for their performance Thursday night. In his report for the coaches, in which he gave them an F, Fittipaldo highlighted Smith's personnel usage. 

"Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is going to get some criticism for this game," Fittipaldo wrote. "He has a plethora of personnel packages, but the Steelers aren't threatening anyone when the likes of Connor Heyward, MyCole Pruitt and Cordarrelle Patterson are on the field. Heyward got called for two pre-snap penalties. General manager Omar Khan went out and got Smith a weapon in [Mike] Williams, and Smith should start using him more instead of his assortment of underwhelming H-backs." 

Connor Heyward caught a lot of backlash after Pittsburgh's loss. Heyward, who is in his third season, has seemed to struggle in multiple aspects of the offense, including blocking and pass catching. Smith has a lot of prior experience giving his tight ends lots of playing time. Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator is big on using multi-tight end personnel groups in an attempt to dominate the running game; however, it seems as if that it could be hurting the offense more than anything. 

Another glaring issue within Smith's offense is the lack of targets towards his play-makers, like Pat Freiermuth and Mike Williams. Williams now has three games under his belt as a Steeler since being traded, yet he hasn't received a single target over the last two weeks. Freiermuth, arguably Pittsburgh's second best threat through the air, is averaging less than four catches a game in 2024. Against Cleveland, he had four receptions for 59 yards, tying the most yards he's had in a game this season. 

Smith's offense has started to become very predictable as of late. With the questionable personnel usage and the constant continuation of running the ball on first and second down, it's becoming very easy for opposing defenses to stop the Steelers. It could just be that they've had two tough matchups against AFC North rivals, but nonetheless, the offense has significantly fallen off. 

Despite Smith being in charge of the offense, Mike Tomlin, as the head coach, needs to fix the recent issues. Though the team still remains in first place in the division, the fan base is furious with its latest performance and is uninterested in ending the season without a postseason victory. 

Steelers Offense Gets More Favorable Matchup In Next Challenge

After playing Thursday night, the team gets a few extra days to prepare for the Cincinnati Bengals, a franchise that has a much less impressive defense compared to Baltimore and Cleveland. Tomlin and Smith need to implement more involvement with Freiermuth and Williams, who could turn the offense around quickly. When called upon and thrown to, Freiermuth always seems to be making big plays.