The Pittsburgh Steelers' offense was among the league's worst during the 2023 season, prompting the team to take decisive action to address their issues. A key part of their strategy was hiring Arthur Smith as the new offensive coordinator. Smith joins the Steelers after a challenging three-season stint as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. While his tenure as a head coach was less successful, Smith had a reputation as one of the NFL's top offensive coordinators before that.
The addition of Smith has generated considerable excitement. Bringing in a former head coach is often seen as a significant boost, and although Smith struggled with a 7-10 record in each of his three seasons with the Falcons, he previously led the Tennessee Titans' offense to impressive heights.
Steelers fans are hopeful that Smith can revitalize Pittsburgh’s offense. There is optimism not only about Smith's impact but also about the potential of the new quarterbacks, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. However, the Steelers' recent game against the Buffalo Bills showcased severe problems. The offense struggled mightily, with a porous offensive line and poor execution.
Former NFL offensive lineman Alex Boone voiced strong criticism of Smith's performance on The OLine Committee podcast, expressing frustration over the current state of the Steelers' offense.
"Offenses that just line up and go, 'We’re going to kick the sh** out of you.' Are you serious? These three techniques can rush the passer now also and they are 400 pounds. They are 400 pounds and they can rush the passer. Have you met these dudes? I don’t think so bud."
Boone was candid in his critique of Smith's performance, expressing strong dissatisfaction with what he has seen from Smith so far in the preseason.
"You need a little bit of trickery in life… I don’t see anything. I see a little wide zone this way, a little wide zone that way, run a little bit of stick route. F*** Arthur Smith dude your dad owns FedEx, wake the f*** up and do something."
During Boone’s rant, the show’s co-host repeatedly interrupted him, emphasizing that it was only preseason and suggesting Boone was overreacting.
Undeterred, Boone doubled down on his strong opinions about the Steelers, even throwing some shade at Wilson and Fields.
"Well, I know who’s getting cut. Everybody on those two teams," said Boone. He then started ranting about the quarterbacks. "Yes, that’s my point. What do you expect? They are going to suck, they are free and then you sit there and you run the most vanilla offense. That’s my whole point. It’s 2024 dude, you gotta make this exciting. You got to have dudes going every which way."
Two things can be true at once: The Steelers' offense has indeed struggled in the first two preseason games. However, as Smith has noted, preseason games can often distort reality.
It’s premature to judge or evaluate Smith’s performance based on these early exhibitions. Preseason is not the same as regular season, and Boone’s take is likely to be seen as a significant overreaction.
Steelers Offense Is Going To Take Some Time To Gel
Smith is working in a new environment with new quarterbacks, players, and personnel. There are rookies starting, and it’s natural that the offense will take time to gel given all these changes.
If this were Week 14 and the offense was still underperforming like it did in 2023, then criticism might be warranted. But judging the situation based on preseason performance alone is likely too harsh.
