Steelers OC set to interview for head coaching vacancy despite historically bad stretch in Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Steelers' offense which was firing on all cylinders in their midseason form has fallen off a cliff. Plenty of blame has fallen at the feet of Russell Wilson and Mike Tomlin after four straight losses. But the rest of the blame has been aimed towards OC Arthur Smith, though the New York Jets […]
The Pittsburgh Steelers' offense which was firing on all cylinders in their midseason form has fallen off a cliff.
Plenty of blame has fallen at the feet of Russell Wilson and Mike Tomlin after four straight losses.
But the rest of the blame has been aimed towards OC Arthur Smith, though the New York Jets seemingly don't care…
Jets request to interview Arthur Smith
“It’s ugly. I feel hopeless. And right now, I’m mad at Arthur Smith. Cause he has gotten nothing out of this offense over the last four games,' said former Steelers Super Bowl champion Willie Colon on Fox Sports on Monday.
The Steelers offense is a shell of itself compared to just a few weeks ago. The same Cincinnati Bengals defense that held Pittsburgh to 17 points and Russell Wilson to less than 150 yards passing on Saturday, let him go for over 400 yards and 40+ points a few weeks earlier.
Whether it's Arthur Smith's scheme or Russell Wilson's regression, the Steelers offense has gone ice cold at the worst time possible. They now head into Baltimore as heavy underdogs after dropping four in a row and with questions about who should start at QB.
"I'm not sure a whole lot can be fixed, you know?" said Kurt Warner on NFL Network on Sunday. "Russell Wilson, I don't think is the best drop-back passer. And so, when he's had his success, it's been more creating, throwing down the field, or just those one-on-one throws. And that's really where they've gotten away these last four weeks. They're not making those go-balls, fifty-fifty catches, which has been such a big part of their offense since Russell Wilson has gotten in there."
For Smith, he has yet to have an even above-average QB during his time as an OC or HC in the league. He made magic with Ryan Tannehill as the OC in Tennessee, where he parlayed that into a head coaching gig in Atlanta, but had an older Matt Ryan, Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder among others as his QBs.
And Pittsburgh's offense may just be in dry spell, with plenty of limitations at QB and WR. But even still, Smith being a significant head coaching candidate comes as a surprise nonetheless.
