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When the Pittsburgh Steelers traded polarizing wide receiver Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers during the 2024 offseason, the assumption was that general manager Omar Khan had something up his sleeve. With one week to go before the first game on the Steelers’ 2024 slate, the WR2 slot is still concerning, all the more considering that Brandon Aiyuk stayed with the San Francisco 49ers. As disappointing as that may have been, the Steelers won’t panic.
The Matt Canada Years Were Terrible
Former Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada struggled mightily in running an NFL offense. An average of 18.3 points-per-game (PPG) during his tenure wasn’t anything close to good enough. And the way it played out on the field was even more embarrassing than the numbers suggest. Canada showed a lack of creativity, the inability to utilize the offensive weapons on the roster properly, and a one-dimensional approach to the game. Canada had driven the Steelers’ offense so far into the ground that the tumultuous few years culminated in his firing following Week 11 of 2023. The franchise had never done this mid-season before.
The painful lack of offensive success under Canada had a stifling impact on the defense’s performance, considering the team’s third-down conversion rate of 37% (21st in the NFL). The offense only averaged 8.8 points in the first half per game, which explains the need for fourth-quarter magic so often. But wait, it gets worse. The offense had the fourth-worst average of three-and-outs per drive in the league. Despite being known as a defensive-minded team, the Steelers were not used to that low-end scoring. Except for 2019 where they scored 18.1 PPG, Pittsburgh routinely scored more than 23 points on average since 2013.
Trying To Cancel Out Canada
Canada was the second consecutive Steelers’ offensive coordinator with no previous NFL coordinator experience. Randy Fichtner was the previous one. He was the quarterbacks coach from 2010 to 2018 when he was named both the team’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Fichtner’s final season with the team was in 2019. Canada was hired as the Steelers’ quarterbacks coach in 2019, and in 2020, he was named offensive coordinator. That lack of NFL experience quickly became apparent. The Steelers scored 26 PPG in 2020 to 20.2 in 2021, 18.1 in 2022, and then bottomed out at 17.9 in 2023. While Pittsburgh fans have had their coordinator problems, it was drastically different when it came to Canada’s offense.
Despite the offense consistently underperforming, head coach Mike Tomlin seemed determined to keep Canada even though he had been on one-year contracts since being promoted to coordinator. If Steelers fans couldn’t rely on him to competently run an offense, the hope had to be that the team’s talent would cancel out the negative effect Canada had. Ahead of the 2024 season, new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is eager to roll out the new offense. The 2024 offense in Pittsburgh won’t just look different; it will be a more professional, in-depth, big-picture, creative approach that has been lacking for far too long.
No WR Panic In Pittsburgh
While a 2024 Steelers roster with Brandon Aiyuk on it would have been fun, the assumption that the team sunk itself by missing out on the receiver comes from the Canada-era mindset. Aiyuk wasn’t needed for this version of the Steelers’ offense to be successful. He would have added to any team he ended up on, but this isn’t a backyard squad doing their best to stack the roster so the coordinator’s shortcomings are minimized.
Fans and the media don’t seem particularly satisfied with a Pittsburgh receivers’ group that, behind Pickens, includes Van Jefferson, a still-rehabbing Roman Wilson, Calvin Austin III, and Scotty Miller. However, those in Pittsburgh haven’t seen what a fully prepared NFL offense looks like for a while. The transition may take a while to become accustomed to. Smith may not have had the success he hoped for as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. But as the Steelers offensive coordinator, the team is built for excellence in his system. Tone Digz of the Pat McAfee Show pointed out that this Steelers offense is similar to the 2019 Titans that Smith took to the AFC Championship.
Steelers Built For Arthur Smith Offense
Rookie AJ Brown put up 1,051 yards and eight touchdowns on the 2019 Titans. George Pickens could surpass that. But after that, it was a collective of players rather than another star like Aiyuk. This included players like Corey Davis (601 yards, two touchdowns), and tight end Jonnu Smith (439 yards, three touchdowns). The team is counting on tight end Pat Freiermuth to have a career season. So the rest of the wide receivers won’t have to do a ton for this offense to approve noticeably.
The 2024 Steelers boast a much better defense than the 2019 Titans fielded on paper. While there are no two NFL seasons alike, the Steelers seem to be more focused in 2024. Smith is bringing reliable experience that had been desperately missing. Injuries during training camp and preseason mean that the Steelers have to hit the ground running when the team travels to play the Falcons in Week 1. While 2023 began with raised hopes and a painful loss to the 49ers, Pittsburgh’s offensive product should resemble an actual NFL offense. With this team already being a massive upgrade from the 2023 debacle, it’s hard to count out the Steelers until the team proves otherwise.
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