Research has shown that since Randy Fichtner has taken over as OC, the Pittsburgh Steelers have continuously struggled to finish each season off strong.
After an embarrassing loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, who are now 3-10-1, the Pittsburgh Steelers losing streak has reached three games. This is the second time Pittsburgh has lost to a team with a sub .500 record since Week 13 of the 2020 NFL season. However, this is nothing new for Mike Tomlin and his team over the past three seasons, and analytics will showcase why.
Pittsburgh was 11-0 up until their Week 13 loss against the Washington Football Team (5-7). Fast forward two weeks from that game and the Steelers now have an 11-3 record with the Cleveland Browns one game out of first place. This is an all too familiar trend for the Steelers over the past three seasons.
Up until a certain point, I always viewed Mike Tomlin as one of the best coaches when it came to preparing his team in the months of November and December. However, something has changed over the course of the past couple of seasons and I do not believe it all falls on Tomlin’s shoulders.
Is Fichtner the problem for the Steelers late in the season?
Since Randy Fichtner has taken over the duties as offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team has failed to finish with a winning record between weeks 13 and 17. The following table details the Steelers struggles to finish out each of the last three seasons:
| Year/Label | Record (Loss) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-2019: Weeks 13-17 | 2-3 | ||||
| Record vs. Sub .500 Team | 1-1 (OAK) | ||||
| 2019-2020: Weeks 13-17 | 2-3 | ||||
| Record vs. Sub .500 Team | 2-1 (NYJ) (And a loss to RG3) | ||||
| 2020-2021: Weeks 13-15 | 0-3 | ||||
| Record vs. Sub .500 Team | 0-2 (WAS, CIN) | ||||
| All-time Record in Weeks 13-17 as of now | 4-9 | ||||
| All-time Record vs. Sub .500 Team in Weeks 13-17 | 3-4 |
Thankfully the Steelers played their way into the playoffs early on into the 2020-2021 season, because some of the dreadful losses listed above resulted in the historic franchise missing out in the postseason (2018-2019: OAK, 2019-2020 NYJ).
I want to mention that Pittsburgh last season lost to a Robert Griffin III-led Ravens, which also contributed to the team not making the playoffs. Yes, Devlin Hodges was in the game, but when you lose to a QB that has a 16-26 overall record in a must-win game, it is still a horrendous loss.
I find Randy Fichtner does a poor job of preparing the offense from week to week and playing to his players’ strengths. He also calls plays that make the Steelers offense one-dimensional. He does not mix in the running game enough – specifically when Ben Roethlisberger is healthy. Pittsburgh has finished toward the bottom of the league in rushing attempts in three consecutive seasons with Fichtner as OC (2018-31st, 2019-20th, 2020-27th).
Todd Haley was much better down the stretch than Fichtner
At least when Todd Haley was offensive coordinator, he made an attempt to run the ball. The last two seasons Haley was calling the Steelers plays, they were ranked 17th in 2016 and 15th in 2017 in rushing attempts. Speaking of Haley, let us look at his records between weeks 13 and 17 during his last two years with the team:
| Year/Label | Record (Loss) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-2017: Weeks 13-17 | 5-0 | ||||
| Record vs. Sub .500 Team | 3-0 | ||||
| 2017-2018: Weeks 13-17 | 4-1 | ||||
| Record vs. Sub .500 Team | 3-0 | ||||
| All-time Record in Weeks 13-17 in those two seasons | 9-1 | ||||
| All-time Record vs. Sub .500 Team in Weeks 13-17 in those two seasons | 6-0 |
Not only does this display that Todd Haley knew how to close out a season before exiting the Pittsburgh Steelers organization, but he won those games against teams that had a sub .500 record. The Steelers need to bring in some who can succeed in the following areas: They will need to take care of business against those inferior teams, someone who call a multi-dimensional offense, and someone who can make adjustments accordingly.
Randy Fichtner is just not cutting it anymore and I believe the analytical data speaks volumes on the subject, as does the game film. However, I am not saying the Steelers should fire Randy but possibly demote him to an offensive assistant. No matter what, something does have to change before the playoffs or after their season has come to a close when it comes to the offensive side of the ball.