Art Rooney II tends to know his stuff when talking about his team, and this year it’s no different in his thoughts on the 2017 Pittsburgh Steelers.
"“I think over the course of the season, we felt like we could be better on third-down conversions and red-zone conversions,” Rooney told reporters. “But, overall, I think it’s one of those years where we’ve got to look at everything and try to figure out where we can get better.”"
On point yet again. The Pittsburgh Steelers had the most talented offensive roster in the NFL. Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell and a top five offensive line unit should be a 30-plus point team.
That’s not the case, though. In 2017, the Steelers’ offense was on fire. That was until they got inside the 20.
Scoring touchdowns within the red zone this season was the obvious weak point for Pittsburgh. This team ranked 22nd in touchdowns scored within the 20, dropping to only a 50.79% scoring percentage within the red zone, according to Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
If it wasn’t for Chris Boswell, this team would’ve been one of the worst red zone teams in the NFL. Which brings us to Todd Haley.
Throughout Haley’s six years in Pittsburgh, the team has never finished higher than No. 10 in red zone scoring percentage. With the third most red zone scoring attempts in the NFL (3.9), this team should’ve been one of the most proficient scoring teams in the league.
They weren’t, and because of it Haley is in Cleveland and Randy Fitchner is the new man in charge. Whether or not that means this team is going to be more efficient in the red zone won’t be known until next season.
Most can assume that Pittsburgh is going to flow better on offense. Even with the talent, you felt watching as though they were running plays that weren’t taking advantage of everyone’s skill set.
Fitchner and Roethlisberger have a much better relationship than Big Ben and Haley. Instead of constant tension between the offensive coordinator and the quarterback, these two should be able to game plan between each other.
Next: 3rd and 5th round draft picks are key for Steelers
Almost no one knows these players’ skills better than Ben. With him and Fitchner changing things up, the Steelers could finally reach their full potential and utilize everyone to fix their red zone situation as they battle for Super Bowl LIV.