Steelers’ Arthur Smith warns against overreacting to offensive woes: ‘Preseason can distort reality’

This offseason meant a lot to Steelers fans because of the changes in the team’s brokers room. Kenny Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky and Mason Rudolph were out, and Russell Wilson and Justin Fields were in, creating competition on paper that didn’t fully materialize over the summer.

But because of the Steelers’ struggles in Week 2, the outcome was closer, at least for those who looked at the stat sheet. Fields played more of the game in the loss to the Bills and, as a result, was responsible for a larger portion of the Steelers’ total offense (92 yards passing and 42 yards rushing).

But the tape doesn’t quite fit the assumption that Fields has managed to close the gap. Fields has had his good moments, but there have also been a number of disappointing instances—like when he made the wrong call on a fourth-down read and ran into a wall of Bills defenders on a passing error—where he failed to prove his worth as a starter.

Meanwhile, Wilson didn’t show much of a good thing during his time on the field, forced to work behind an inexperienced and reorganized line (due to Troy Votano’s inability to play). Wilson finished the game with a passing streak of 8-of-10 for 47 yards, with most of those gains coming on checks.

Overall, the Steelers’ offense lacked power. It wasn’t as weak as it had been under previous offensive coordinator (and frequent target of fan ire) Matt Canada, but it left a lot to be desired. The starting lineup didn’t score a single point in two games.

Smith knows the regular season is not far off, and his team certainly doesn’t look ready to start playing hard. But he’s asking for patience, because this is just the preseason.

“You know that’s not their standard, that’s not acceptable, but at the same time, you’d rather go through it now than have it happen in Week 1,” said Smith, whose offense produced just 15 total points in the preseason. “There’s a lot going on there. We had a really good camp, but the fact is when we got in there in the lights, we found a way — and that’s not to take away from the other defense — but we have to get out of our own way. Those are the things we have to clean up.”

The preseason is not a good indicator of what’s to come. In 2017, the Cleveland Browns finished with a perfect 4-0 record, becoming only the second team in NFL history to finish with an 0-16 record. Last year, the Steelers went a perfect 5-of-5 offensive attempts with their starting quarterbacks, then struggled in the regular season, costing Canada his job.

It would be rash to jump to any conclusions about the team’s preseason performance. But in a pivotal year for the Steelers, the early signs aren’t positive. Smith hopes the issues are resolved before long.