New Offensive Setup Working So Far For The Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are going with an untraditional setup in the wake of firing offensive coordinator Matt Canada last week.

Eddie Faulkner was promoted to offensive coordinator from running backs coach. He is now formulating the gameplan each week.

However, quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan is handling play-calling duties on game days.

While it might seem a little confusing, the system worked well in its debut last Sunday when the Steelers beat the Bengals 16-10 in Cincinnati. The Steelers surpassed 400 total yards in a game for the first time since 2020.

“One of the first things I said was good teamwork is communication,” Faulkner said about his first meeting with the players following his promotion.

The communication was just fine in Cincinnati between Faulker, Sullivan, head coach Mike Tomlin and quarterback Kenny Pickett —- who had a season-high 283 yards passing. Tomlin would like to see more of the same when the Steelers (7-4) host the Arizona Cardinals (2-10) on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium and for the remainder of the season.

“I thought it was good,” Tomlin said during his weekly news conference. “I think it’s reasonable to expect it to continue to improve and to be better. Just another week under our belt. Another normal week, if there’s such a thing. Last week we had Thanksgiving and some of that stuff, and so I’m excited about it.

“I like where it is. We’re going to continue to work to get better not only in terms of how we communicate, but things that we do logistically leading up to performance. How we construct our day, how we present material, how we ready our group physically for the work. And particularly this time of year you work to reduce some of your on-field snaps in an effort to preserve the group.

“But you’ve got to be thoughtful about what you choose to physically rep and what you choose not to,” Tomlin added. “We’ve got some growth opportunities ahead of us on many fronts.”

While the yardage figure was encouraging against the Bengals, the Steelers still managed just 16 points. Pittsburgh’s average of 16.5 points a game ranks 28^th among the NFL’s 32 teams.

The Steelers haven’t scored more than 26 points in a game all season and the coaching staff shakeup was made to remedy that situation. The Steelers have scored less than 20 points in six of their 11 games this season.

“I’m not ready to paint with a broad brush at this juncture,” Tomlin said when asked to evaluate the changes. “I thought we did what we needed to do last week, and I think the more we proceed, the more the answers to those type questions will become more evident.”

The Cardinals seem to be a good matchup for the Steelers’ rejuvenated offense. Arizona gave 457 total yards last Sunday in a 37-14 loss to the visiting Los Angeles Rams and the Cardinals are 27^th in the league in total defense.