Steelers Still Looking for Answers on Offense

The Pittsburgh Steelers are leading the AFC North, but their offense still has a lot of problems to fix. Tight end Pat Freiermuth recently spoke about what’s going wrong, especially on third downs, where the team has struggled to stay on the field and keep drives alive.

Freiermuth had 3 catches for 33 yards in the Week 10 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. The Steelers lost 25-10, and the offense had trouble moving the ball. When asked what the main issue is, Freiermuth pointed to how the receivers are running their routes.

“It’s the small details in route depth,” Freiermuth said to reporter Nick Farabaugh. “We have to get open. Teams are playing heavy man coverage, and if we can’t beat that, we’re not going to do anything on third downs.”

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers had a rough game, completing only 51.6 percent of his passes. For the season, Rodgers has played nine games and thrown for 1,853 yards, 18 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. His 68.7 percent completion rate shows he can still be accurate, and his interception numbers are better than last year. But the lower yardage and fewer games show that the offense has not produced at the level expected from a veteran quarterback.

This puts more pressure on the Steelers’ defense and running game. Without steady passing production, the team has trouble keeping momentum and finishing drives. It also makes it harder to score enough points to stay ahead in games.

Rodgers admitted after the Chargers loss that the offense didn’t play well enough.

“A lot wasn’t working,” Rodgers said. “We were bad on third down. I was a little off — missed DK (Metcalf) on a big one, threw a little high to Jonnu (Smith). And we didn’t run the ball well in the first half.”

Next, the Steelers will face the Cincinnati Bengals on November 16, followed by a home game against the Chicago Bears on November 23. These upcoming games give Pittsburgh a chance to get back on track.

If the offense can improve on third downs and execute more consistently, the Steelers can still stay in strong playoff position. For now, fixing the passing game remains the biggest key.

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