Can the Steelers offense actually run as planned?
Pittsburgh made their identity clear this offseason. They added a lot of physical pieces to the offense in hopes of establishing a more traditional offense powered by the running game. The expectation was for a slow-paced offense built on a consistent run game. Week one didn’t live up to that expectation though, as the Steelers ran the ball a whopping ten times.
Now, to be fair, the pace of the game dictated this. The Steelers were down for the entire game, and that typically lends itself to needing to throw the ball more. The issue is, even before Pittsburgh was down, they seemed to want to pass the ball, and specifically use concepts that they did a season ago.
Why go through the entire offseason beefing up the line and building around the running backs to so quickly abandon that in week one? While the score dictates the pace, the Steelers seemed fine with their conventional and safe offense from the get-go. Even when the game was close, Pittsburgh was still focused on the quick and short throws.
If this team wants a shot at winning this week, they need to be able to establish a ground game and control the clock. That was how they won late last year, and the recipe shouldn’t be much different. Regressing to a picture-perfect example of last year's early offense will derail this team and set them up for another loss.