Behind the Steel Curtain
The NFL schedule makers know what they’re doing, huh?
Fresh off a victory against the Jets, where both Aaron Rodgers and former Steeler Justin Fields squared off against their former teams, Pittsburgh will play host to the Seattle Seahawks.
It’s another reunion game for one of the splash acquisitions of the Steelers’ offseason, this time DK Metcalf. Frankly, it’s shocking the schedule makers didn’t make the Steelers face the Dolphins in Week 3. Instead, we’ll get that game for Jalen Ramsey, Jonnu Smith, and former Steeler Minkah Fitzpatrick on December 15.
The Steelers will be facing off against another familiar face, as the Seahawks are led by Mike Macdonald who previously served as the defensive coordinator for the rival Ravens. The Seahawks are 0-1 and hungry for a win after dropping their season opener.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the Steelers’ home opener:
RP: Much like the Steelers this past offseason, the Seahawks were a team of change. This offseason, the Seahawks entered phase two of their transition from Pete Carroll, jettisoning both their starting quarterback, Geno Smith, and the expensive wideout with whom their relationship had cooled, and they no longer wished to pay. Thanks for DK Metcalf, Seattle!
They also hit the redo button on Macdonald’s first offensive coordinator hire, firing Ryan Grubb and bringing in Klint Kubiak. Kubiak is the eldest son of former coach Gary Kubiak, one of the co-creators of the West Coast-Outside Zone system of offense that was first introduced by the Denver Broncos in the mid-90s. Those Broncos would win back-to-back Super Bowls, and that system of offense became popular in the NFL and has been passed down and evolved ever since.
The core of the offense merges some of the quick passing game concepts that came from Bill Walsh’s West Coast offense — i.e., a lot of short, horizontal routes designed to create space for receivers to get open and create yards after the catch — with outside zone concepts developed by Alex Gibbs, plus the addition of bootlegs and designed runs for the quarterback that were developed by Mike Shanahan and Kubiak.
To oversimplify, the offense revolves around creating easy throws for the quarterback that can lead to explosive gains, and then balancing that with a running game that can also create explosive gains by getting their running backs to space outside of the tackles. The addition of bootlegs and designed quarterbacks then helps keep defenses guessing.
The two most prominent descendants of this Shanahan offense are Kyle Shanahan, naturally, and Sean McVay. In recent years, hiring a “Shanahan guy” or a “McVay guy” has become a bit of a fad and meme during hiring cycles. We’ve seen some of those coaches find success — Green Bay’s Matt LaFleur, Minnesota’s Kevin O’Connell — and others not as much.
Klint Kubiak has previously been the offensive coordinator for the Vikings during Mike Zimmer’s final season with the team, as well as...
