The point totals haven’t been reflective of how the Steelers’ offense has controlled the game in their first two outings, but first-year offensive coordinator Arthur Smith has been happy with the results.
Even though the Steelers have scored just 31 points in their first two games, it’s been enough to win as the team is off to its first 2-0 start since the 2020 season.
And for Smith, who joined the Steelers this year after three years as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, that’s all that matters.
“It’s ultimately about winning, and you can’t start worrying about stats this early in the year,” Smith said. “You see that with players and coaches. That’s the thing you’re fighting. It’s incentivized, right?
“I guess what’s surprising for me now is having been a head coach, I feel you get the big picture. Mike (Tomlin) is awesome. The whole organization. It’s about winning, period, and what it’s about, improving it. And so that certainly helps. You know, big-picture wise, we’re building this thing out.”
Smith and the Steelers expected some growing pains early in the season with a new offensive scheme and a very young offense, one that has gotten even younger because of some injuries. Rookies Troy Fautanu and Zach Frazier, the team’s top two picks in this year’s draft, have made their first career starts at right tackle and center in the first two games, while second-year player Spencer Anderson made his first two career starts, as well, in place of injured Isaac Seumalo at left guard.
Added to that has been the fact backup quarterback Justin Fields has been needed to play in place of Russell Wilson, who has missed the first two games with a calf injury, and it’s a whole lot of newness on that side of the ball.
“I feel like I’m, we’re like a startup on offense, a startup company, really,” said Smith. “And, you know, we’ve got a great defense and good (special) teams. So those are things we’ve go to work with and we’ve got to keep working.”
In the meantime, the Steelers have relied heavily on their running game and that defense to get them in and out of their first two games with victories.
The Steelers have a 62-38 run-pass ratio in their first two games, having run the ball 77 times compared to 43 pass attempts. The 77 rushing attempts lead the NFL.
Fields, meanwhile, is second in the NFL in quarterback runs behind Washington rookie Jayden Daniels with 22 attempts for 84 yards. But his long run has been just 16 yards.
Over his career, Fields has averaged 52.6 yards rushing per game, second only to Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson in NFL history among quarterbacks.
He is completing 69.8 percent of his passes, a marked increase from the 60.3 percent of his passes he completed in three seasons in Chicago. But his depth of target is just 6.4 yards per attempt. He averaged 6.9 yards per attempt with the Bears.
But penalties have wiped out some big gains on throws by Fields, both for the good and the bad. Last week against the Broncos, the Steelers drew two big pass interference penalties, while they also had a 51-yard play negated by a holding penalty and a touchdown pass to George Pickens taken off the board because of an offensive pass interference call against Van Jefferson.
Overall, however, Fields has been efficient, posting a 94.4 passer rating and not turning the ball over.
Fields, who was sacked 99 times in the past two seasons while with the Bears, an average of nearly four per game, also has been sacked just four times in two games with the Steelers.
“What’s been very encouraging to me is his pocket presence,” Smith said of Fields. “He’s stood in there when the pocket gets dirty. He’s made some big throws down the field.
“I’m very encouraged.”
As the young players get more experience under their collective belts and everyone gets a better grasp of the offense, Smith expects things to start to click on a more regular basis.
And that will lead to more points.
“This (season) is so long, it’s really like four lifetimes in an NFL season,” said Smith. “It really is. … It’s a constant work in progress. We’ll get there.”
