The more things change, they more they stay the same. That’s the truth with a Pittsburgh Steelers offense that has featured new quarterbacks, play callers, and draft picks over the past several seasons. But the results have been nearly identical. After Pittsburgh’s 17-point performance and Sunday night loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd called out the Steelers for their outdated mentality.
“The Steelers offense this morning should be humiliated,” Cowherd said on Monday’s The Herd. “Should be completely embarrassed…You’re at home. It is perfect. The Cowboys are reeling. It’s perfect. And the Pittsburgh offense, the 1977 Pittsburgh offense, engineered 97 yards. Atrocious on third down. Four yards-a-play against the Dallas team without their top two defenders. Pittsburgh’s offensive line. Shocker. It stinks for years.”
The Cowboys came into the game without DE/LB Micah Parsons and DE Demarcus Lawrence, and they weren’t a unit dominating even with those guys, ranking 27th in rush defense and bottom-third in scoring defense through the first month of the year. Dallas’ losses continued throughout the game, losing DE Marshawn Kneeland early in the contest. Still, the Cowboys’ defense stayed one step ahead, shutting down the run and handling Pittsburgh on possession downs.
Since Matt Canada became offensive coordinator in 2021, the Steelers scoring has hardly budged. Their “high” was in ’21, QB Ben Roethlisberger’s final season, finishing just over 20 points per game. Since, they’ve hovered between 17.9 and 18.4 points, hardly scoring more this year despite all the offseason changes.
Steelers points per game, 2021-2024:
2021: 20.2
2022: 18.1
2023: 17.9
2024: 18.4The more things change, the more they stay the same.
On the ground, the Steelers slogged their way to 3.5 yards per carry. RB Najee Harris couldn’t even top that, finishing with 3 yards a pop while the team had a “long” of 8 yards. Through the air, their longest completion was just 21 yards, and they had only two explosive plays all night. Even then, they barely met the definition.
Pittsburgh entered the year boasting their desire to play physical and tough and win the rock fight. Cowherd says that hard-headed nature isn’t getting the team anywhere.
“Their strengths are actually their weakness. Their strength is they’re tough and physical. Their weaknesses, they rely on that too often. Tough and physical. How about smart, thoughtful, clever on offense?”
Despite being in pristine position to win, the Steelers are dealing with their first losing streak of the season.
“That was an atrocious loss handed to you and you wouldn’t take it.”
Now, Pittsburgh has to stop their streak from becoming a skid against the Las Vegas Raiders next weekend. The Raiders are the 28th-ranked scoring defense and have allowed at least 22 points in four of five games this season. But the Steelers have shown trends like that don’t really matter.
