The Pittsburgh Steelers will not enter their game against the Cincinnati Bengals without making changes to their offensive process.
Head coach Mike Tomlin made it clear on Tuesday that there will be some schematic tweaks. One key tweak will not be schematics in short yardage situations or in the red zone but substitutions and personnel packages.
On one play against the Browns, a third-and-three offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith, had the Steelers in 13 personnel (3 TE, 1 WR, 1 RB). However, the players on the field were Darnell Washington, MyCole Pruitt, Pat Freiermuth, Ben Skowronek, and Jaylen Warren.
That is not winning football, and Smith made it clear that will change on Sunday.
“We’ve got to be better there in those substitution things,” Smith said. “You don’t want to call a timeout. You’ve gotta trust that the guy’s got a helmet. That’s part of it, too. That’s why I’m careful (answering questions). You want to be transparent, here’s what happened. But then sometimes that sounds like an excuse. We certainly need to be better. That was not the intent, if that’s what you’re asking.”
There were some overlying issues on all sides of the ball. The Steelers have not yet adjusted to replay assistance coming into play. There are rules to that and how the clock runs when the referees get replay assistance, and it affects how substitutions go down.
Smith admitted that this caused some confusion for the Steelers and forced them to be off on some plays.
“Sometimes it’s chaotic,” Smith said. “It sounds like excuses, but I’m just giving what’s going on on the ground. You put a first-down call in. (The officials) say they pump (the play clock), but the problem is by the time they pump it and you change the logistics of that and change the personnel and get into your scheme things, so you call a run that gets you a hat on a hat, give Cleveland credit. We’ve got to be better there.”
On the particular third down that Smith was referencing. However, there was no replay assistance coming before that play. There was no reason for some of those players to be out there. Smith made it clear that tweaking personnel to specific situations is going to be a thing that comes against the Bengals and moving forward.
So, the Steelers admitted a crucial problem they have had: overexposing some of their personnel. It could, rightfully, mean more plays for guys like George Pickens, Mike Williams, and others.
