When the Pittsburgh Steelers swapped Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky, and Mason Rudolph for Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, many fans thought the team would see an instant improvement. In the preseason, that has not been the case.
Entering their preseason finale, Pittsburgh has struggled mightily to move the chains and put points on the board. Wilson had a disastrous performance in his Steelers debut against the Bills, while Fields' ability to escape traffic and use his legs hasn't led to success on the scoreboard.
Recently, NFL data and analytics expert Warren Sharp broke down why the league is seeing its worst offensive performance in NFL preseason history.
Compared to the first two weeks of the preseason from previous years, Sharp explains that the numbers have hit record lows when it comes to offensive EPA per play, EPA per dropback, success rate, quarterback yards per attempt, quarterback completion percentage, and points per game. You can check out Sharp's full study here.
Sharp concluded that factors such as fewer starting quarterbacks playing in the preseason, head coaches not caring about game results, and a drop in referees calling penalties as a result. Unfortunately, the Pittsburgh Steelers are contributing to the NFL's most boring preseason as much as any team in the league.
Steelers partially to blame for boring NFL preseason
The Steelers can't use some of the same excuses that other teams have. The LA Rams, for instance,m rarely play starters during the preseason and don't even risk putting their starting quarterback out on the field. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, has given numerous series to both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields in the first two games.
It hasn't helped. Even with most of their starters seeing significant action, the Steelers are averaging a dismal 7.5 points per game entering Week 3 of the preseason... and I can assure you that Tomlin cares about the outcome of the game more than most NFL coaches.
Perhaps this has something to do with all of the moving parts on the roster. In one offseason, the Steelers have a completely new set of quarterbacks, a new offensive coordinator, new receivers alongside George Pickens, and new faces on the offensive line.
Pittsburgh is going to require some time for all of their new pieces to gel, but they can't take too long. Things have been downright ugly so far, and legitimate questions have been raised about 2023 first-round offensive tackle Broderick Jones, as well as who to deploy at quarterback in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons.
Just because this has been the worst offensive NFL preseason on record doesn't mean this will directly correlate to what we see in the regular season. The Steelers, like many other teams, need some time to fire up the engines before taking off. However, the 2024 preseason has been brutal, and the Pittsburgh Steelers aren't making it any better.