Behind the Steel Curtain
Just six points.
Pittsburgh fell short of securing a playoff spot in Week 17 against the Cleveland Browns, falling 13-6 on the road against a divisional rival that had won just three games up to that point.
While Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and defense coordinator Teryl Austin have been popular punching bags for the last several seasons, the utter lack of production on offense Sunday pointed to an awful showing from another prominent member of the Steelers braintrust: offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
The nuances of this question could probably be spread across a series of articles, but I’ll list out some basics to get the discussion going.
First, the statistics: Over this season, the Steelers rank 26th in yards per game, 22nd in passing, 26th in rushing, and 15th in points. Entering advanced stats territory, they’re 18th in EPA per pass and fourth in rushing success rate per NFL Pro.
The numbers are similar to where Pittsburgh stood last year in Arthur Smith’s first season as offensive coordinator, with the biggest difference being the team was more productive but less efficient as a rushing offense in 2024.
Overall, the Steelers have been a below-average offense, but given the team’s records over the last two years, they’ve done enough to play winning football.
Of course, compared to the Randy Fichtner and Matt Canada offenses that preceded it, Smith’s time in Pittsburgh has been a breath of fresh air. Some of his innovations with the jumbo package and tush push in the Steelers’ offense have been effective, and the offensive line and running back room has largely looked impressive in 2025.
Smith doesn’t deserve all the credit for the team’s offensive success this season, but it’s also hard to put all the blame on him for the unit’s many failures. Does he have a say in roster building? Sure, but the team’s lack of wide receiver depth behind D.K. Metcalf seems like more of a front office decision. Some questionable fourth-down decision-making appears to fall under Tomlin’s authority.
And quarterback Aaron Rodgers hasn’t been a revelation in Pittsburgh, but he was one of the better options available in a slim quarterback offseason this spring, and he has certainly outplayed his 2024 as a New York Jet.
The quarterback point is an interesting one. Over the summer, I went through every starting quarterback Smith has coached in the NFL and came away surprised with how thoroughly underwhelming the list was. In fact, this version of Rodgers might be the best quarterback Smith has ever coached.
While a lack of high-level quarterback play in the Smith system isn’t exactly a glowing endorsement, it’s fair to say he’s gotten more out of names such as Ryan Tannehill, Justin Fields, and late-career Russell Wilson and Rodgers than other coaches.
But Rodgers, whose style of play contradicts many tenets of the Smith offense, also complicates things. He’s been a net positive upgrade over Wilson, but has a...
