May 24, 2024 4 min read

By Dale Lolley

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

With on-field OTAs heating up this week, the question must be asked, how can the Steelers’ offense be better in 2024?

There are a number of ways, but one need look no further than red zone passing.

Last season, Russell Wilson threw 20 touchdown passes in the red zone, with only one interception while playing for the Broncos.

Steelers quarterbacks combined for five red zone touchdown passes with no interceptions in 2023.

The closer an offense gets to the opposing end zone, the tighter the windows get. And oftentimes that is where young quarterbacks struggle, just not trusting that they can fit the football into tight spaces.

That’s not an issue for Wilson. In 188 career games he’s thrown 221 touchdown passes against just 14 interceptions inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

Wilson understands how to protect the football down close. But he also knows how to put the ball in the end zone.

Then there is the Arthur Smith factor.

In five seasons as an offensive coordinator and head coach, Smith’s teams have finished with a top-10 rushing attack four times. On three of those occasions, they’ve been a top-3 rushing team.

In both of his seasons as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator, Smith’s offenses finished in the top-10 in the NFL in scoring.

Yes, he had a potential Pro Football Hall of Fame running back in Derrick Henry during in his time with the Titans. But the duo of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren is one of the best in the NFL, having combined for more than 1,800 rushing yards in 2023 and 1,400 yards in 2022.

With potential upgrades to the offensive line, as well as quarterbacks who are capable runners, the Steelers should be no worse than a top-10 rushing team this season.

After a slow start in 2023, the Steelers finished 13th in rushing yards. In 2022, they finished 16th, again starting slowly and finishing with a flourish.

“I’ve been able to watch and experience coach Arthur Smith over the years and just his knowledge of the game,” Wilson said last week. “His knowledge of getting people in the right places at the right time, the physicality that he coaches with in terms of having all of us players play with that mentality. We’re going to be able to run the ball downhill. I think just doing all the right things in the right moments. You know, situational football is everything. And if we can do that as collective offense and defense and special teams, we got a chance and I think that’s all you asked for.”

• For those discounting Smith, remember that while in Tennessee, he worked for Mike Mularkey, Ken Whisenhunt and Mike Munchak.

If you asked Steelers fans to name some of their favorite assistant coaches in team history, those three would be high on the list.

• The Steelers opened OTAs with Dan Moore at left tackle and Nate Herbig at center.

Don’t read too much into that. It’s just a tip of the cap to the veteran players. And the coaching staff wants draft picks Troy Fautanu and Zach Frazier to earn their starting spots.

• The Pirates are turning into a must-watch team, at least three out of every five games.

Of course, those three games would be when Paul Skenes, Jared Jones or Mitch Keller pitch. Bailey Falter has mostly been good, but he’s not a must-see event like the others. But as a low-end starter, he’s better than most.

So, now the Pirates have 4/5ths of a quality rotation.

The next step is to bring the offense along. If this team could pick up its scoring just a little, it could contend for a playoff spot.

And in the postseason, the Pirates’ three-man rotation would be as good as any other team could run out there.

• It’s quite an honor for Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan to be named coach of the U.S. men’s Olympic team, though it’s not exactly apparent what Sullivan has done of late to earn such an honor.

Maybe it’s been missing the playoffs in each of the past two seasons. Or perhaps it’s the fact his team hasn’t gotten out of the first round of the playoffs since 2019 with some of the best talent in the game.

At least that is what many would have us believe. But if the Penguins were as talented as some fans seem to think, they probably would have advanced past the first round at least once in that period.

After all, Sullivan is, in fact, a good coach. Being named the U.S. Olympic head coach shows that.

Dale Lolley hosts The Drive on Steelers Nation Radio and writes a Sunday column for the Observer-Reporter.