Dec 27, 2019 5 min read

The Steelers’ offense hasn’t been good. The amazing thing is that it took the rest of the NFL so long to figure that out.

The past two weeks, the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets each played things close to the vest offensively, knowing that the Steelers’ offense had no teeth. They realized that running the ball, even when it wasn’t necessarily gaining anything, and punting when necessary weren’t bad ideas against the league’s most opportunistic defense.

After all, giving it back to the Steelers’ offense was likely going to result in a punt, or better yet, a turnover.

“The last two games, teams have played us kind of weird. They have played us not to lose,” outside linebacker Bud Dupree said. “They’ve been trying hard to not allow us to make splash plays so they can stay in the game. I feel like they’re just saying, ‘Play it close to the vest and not allow the defense to make a big play.’ We can’t allow them to score at all. We gave up that one early touchdown last week. We can’t allow them to score at all. We’ve got to not allow that to happen.”

Certainly not with this offense. After scoring 20 or more points in seven of their first eight games, the Steelers have scored more than 20 just once in their past seven games.

That’s putting too much pressure on a defense that, while good, has to walk a fine line week in and week out.

You’re not going to get much better defense in today’s NFL than the Steelers have played the past two weeks when they’ve allowed a combined 33 points. And yet both games have resulted in losses.

The Steelers haven’t allowed an opponent to go over 300 yards total offense in six consecutive games. Yet their record in those games is 3-3.

And with Devlin Hodges starting at quarterback again this week and running back James Conner sidelined yet again, there’s not much they can do about it.

Plenty of fans seem willing to blame offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner, but he’s basically been calling games with one arm tied behind his back. That has been true in the second half of the season, when Conner has played all of seven quarters of football spread over three different games.

• How bad has it been for the offense? Consider this: The Steelers started the season with three quarterbacks on their roster. None of them was Hodges or Paxton Lynch, the two quarterbacks on the roster for today’s game against the Baltimore Ravens.

The Steelers made the decision to trade Josh Dobbs. But plenty of people were advocating trading Dobbs in the preseason and keeping Hodges.

• If Mason Rudolph had started last week against the Jets or not gotten injured at the end of the third quarter, the Steelers win that game.

If it wasn’t clear that he’s the better quarterback than Hodges to people before that game, then it was certainly clear after watching both perform last week in the same game and same situation against the Jets’ defense.

• Many people are suggesting the Steelers sign a veteran backup quarterback to play behind Ben Roethlisberger next season.

But one of the things gained from this season is that Rudolph is no longer an inexperienced backup. He appeared in 10 games, making eight starts.

The Steelers still have high hopes for him. He’ll be the top backup in 2020.

This week’s picks

Steelers (minus 2) over Ravens: Baltimore has 57 touchdowns this season, but Lamar Jackson has accounted for 43 of them. He won’t play. Mark Ingram has 15 touchdowns, including 10 rushing. He won’t play. That should even things out considerably. As has been the case pretty much all season, don’t expect a lot of points in this one. Take the Steelers, 16-13

Tennessee (minus 3) at Houston: Bill O’Brien said he’s going to play to win this game, even though it will likely mean little to nothing for the Texans. That’s all well and good, but will his team follow suit? The Titans have been playing well in the second half and they’ll be highly motivated. A win by the Titans would make a win by the Steelers meaningless. Take the Titans, 24-20

Philadelphia (minus 4) at Washington: A win by the Eagles will put them into the postseason no matter what Dallas does. The Redskins are banged up in the secondary. Miles Sanders has been coming on strong for Philadelphia. A motivated Philadelphia squad will get the job done. Take the Eagles, 26-17

San Francisco (minus 3) at Seattle: A win by the 49ers will secure the NFC West title for San Francisco and make the very banged up Seahawks the fifth seed in the NFC playoffs. Given that the Seahawks just lost to the Cardinals at home, despite Kyler Murray getting hurt, it’s hard to believe they will challenge the 49ers. Take San Francisco, 31-17

Green Bay (minus 13) at Detroit: The Lions are the worst team in football. I know they don’t have the worst record, but the product they’re putting on the field is the worst. And the Packers need a win in the competitive NFC to lock up a bye and the No. 2 seed. Aaron Rodgers vs. David Blough? Yeah, take Rodgers. Take the Packers, 31-9

Last Week: 2-3 Overall: 41-37-1