The bye week afforded the opportunity to, as Mike Tomlin said Tuesday, "fine-tooth comb" the details of the rights and wrongs of the first five games of the Steelers' season. That includes, of course, on both sides of the ball, but it particularly pertains to the NFL's 30th-ranked offense.
Kenny Pickett is not an exception to this. The success of the offense -- or a lack thereof -- is not wholly on him, but the quarterback is sure to shoulder the load with respect to the responsibility of the livelihood of the offense.
He is up for that, and he said he took the bye week to be "very critical" of not just his offense, but also his own self.
"That's the only way we're going to get better is hold ourselves to a high standard, continue to push forward, and work hard every day to get better," Pickett said after Wednesday's practice on the South Side. "Felt like it was a good week for us mentally to figure out where we were, what we need to do to improve, get a step away, relax a little bit, and come back energized and ready to go."
Pickett has completed 95 of 159 passing attempts (59.7%) for 1,027 yards, five touchdowns, and four interceptions while turning in a rating of 78.8. The offense has not produced a rushing touchdown and has net 606 fewer yards total than its opposition through these five games.
Additionally, the Steelers have produced 34 fewer first downs than their opposition. Their 70 first downs are last in the NFL and trail the next team by 11. The Jets are second-to-last in the AFC in producing first downs with 90 this season, though they have played six games to the Steelers' five. The Browns have accrued 95 first downs in five games to fall just ahead of the Jets.
Most of this relies on Matt Canada and his play calling. Pickett is limited to that, but there are still some plays he acknowledged the offense and he could have made to help remedy some of these deficiencies prior to the bye week.
"All about self scouting," Pickett said. "It's all about looking at yourself as a player, what I need to improve on, what we need to improve on as an offense, getting with coach Canada and watching all of our pass plays together, what went well, what didn't go well, and where we can improve. It was a solid week of work for us."
If Tomlin is tired of giving repetitive answers about his struggling offense in Tuesday's press conference, it is because the results from his struggling offense have also become repetitive. The identity of the offense is lost from what was promised over the offseason and the preseason, and the coordinator rode the coattails of an average finish in the 2022 season into one more chance in the 2023 season.
This offense is, again, one of the worst in football. Only so much can be addressed about it before things become repetitive.
"Man, I think we have talked about this a lot, haven't we?" Tomlin said Tuesday. "We can get better in all areas, and those are our intentions. Whether it is strategy or schematics, whether it's how we divide the labor up or technique relative to our positions, and that's been our agenda. We realize that we've absorbed some negativity based on performance. We're man enough to absorb that negativity and stay singularly focused on what's required to change it, and that's work. We're not interested in assigning blame or making excuses. We're just singularly focused on getting better. We're going to continue to do that and this Sunday is an opportunity to show progress in that regard."
A couple of key reinforcements are on the way to help with that progress, but it will be the applications of Diontae Johnson and Pat Freiermuth that make the difference in whether or not this offense improves.
That doesn't specifically correlate to targets, receptions, yards, and touchdowns, but it is a matter of how those two open up options for Pickett and so forth.
"I think we had the same (reviewing) process (as last year's bye week), honestly," Pickett said. "Saw what we were doing well, saw what we weren't doing well, what we need to increase the numbers on, what we either need to or probably should decrease and take out to help our offense move and play better, but it comes down to players making plays and executing and guys doing their jobs, so that's got to be the main focus."
Johnson reaffirmed Wednesday morning that he will be ready to play Sunday, after spending four weeks on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. Pickett said Johnson's return will "be a huge asset" for the Steelers post-bye, and he brings "another element" to the Steelers' offense with his route running ability.
The emerging George Pickens is sure to command some attention away from Johnson, as well, and Freiermuth will help create more chances in the middle of the field for Pickett. The No. 1 receiver returning will be the most vital component to this, as Johnson led the Steelers in targets at the time of his injury sustained in Week 1 against the 49ers.
"From a route-running standpoint me being able to get open easily, giving that comfort for Kenny out there knowing that he can rely on his guys and knowing who's going to be open each down and distance and whatnot," Johnson said. "It gives the offense a spark. We can play fast knowing Kenny gets comfortable, got his guys' backs. He doesn't have to worry about who, he's unsure about, whatever, so just him, us playing as one and moving faster."
Part of that self-scouting process for the Steelers also traces back to the running game's struggles. Entering Week 7, the Steelers' 80.4 rushing yards per game rank 28th in the NFL.
The position in a general sense is going through a shift, though Najee Harris has carried the ball 63 times to Jaylen Warren's 34 thus far. However, Warren's 21 receptions on 25 targets -- second and third among Steelers, respectively -- have somewhat leveled the touches to 68-55 in favor of Harris.
Harris said he took part of the bye week to watch extra film alongside Mason Cole, and the two presented their suggestions to Canada and the coaching staff.
"This year I wanted to being a lineman in so I could talk to him about what I'm seeing, what are you guys seeing, and what is it exactly we all could work on to help the team out -- the offense and the identity," Harris said. "... We're sitting better than we were at last year (record wise), so that's good. But there's always room to get better. That's what we're kind of preaching right now as a team. That's what we're understanding right now, we got our guys back. So it's good to have them back and get them going."
