Halicke: First peek at Smith's offense offers sliver of optimism

Ever since Arthur Smith was hired to be the next offensive coordinator in Pittsburgh, everyone's waited to see what this offense will look like. As always, the hype builds up throughout the offseason, almost creating an unattainable expectation by the first preseason game.

And in the Steelers' 20-12 loss to the Texans Friday night at Acrisure Stadium, just about all excitement was shattered. Three series led by Justin Fields all ended with zero points on the board. Quite the opposite of what we witnessed a year ago when Kenny Pickett and the offense were marching up and down the field, scoring touchdown after touchdown.

Obviously, the coaches and players want those drives to end with points. And some critical miscues were a big reason why the Steelers barely squeaked out 12 points in this game.

But even amid the sloppy play, there were some reasons to be optimistic about this offense, and some noticeable differences from what we've witnessed over the past three seasons when Matt Canada was running things.

Before we dive deep into this, remember this was the first preseason game. Even as I asked Pat Freiermuth about how much of the offense we actually saw, he just gave me a grin and said, "Not a whole lot."

"Obviously, it's preseason," he continued. "We didn't really game plan much. When we get into the season, we'll be able to do what benefits us."

First, let's get some basics out of the way. Throughout the first three series, the Steelers ran 17 plays. They used 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end) eight times, 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) four times, 13 personnel (one running back, three tight ends) three times and 21 personnel (two running backs, one tight end) twice. Any time the Steelers used 21 personnel Friday night, it was a fullback on the field.

Now, if you want to put percentages on these ...

• 11 personnel: 47.1%
• 12 personnel: 23.5%
• 13 personnel: 17.6%
• 21 personnel: 11.8%

... and compare those to the 2023 percentages, per SumerSports ...

• 11 personnel: 73.1%
• 12 personnel: 17.4%
• 13 personnel: 4.2%
• 21 personnel: 1.3%

... you'll see a very noticeable difference.

Now, that is a very, very small sample size. Hardly rely on these percentages to hold up over the course of the regular season. But, the first impression is exactly what everyone would expect from an Arthur Smith offense: More use of larger personnel. The days of the Steelers ranking sixth in the NFL in 11 personnel usage are over.

But, there are different ways to utilize them. As I've reported from training camp, take a look at this usage of 13 personnel:

NFL.COM

That sure looks like an empty five-wide formation, but from top to bottom, that's Jaylen Warren, Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, MyCole Pruitt and George Pickens. And, this play wound up with a completion to Pickens on a quick hitch. There are a number of things to do out of such formations. It creates mismatches against the defense.

In addition, the Steelers utilized play-action on a high percentage of their passing plays throughout these three series. Two of the 17 plays were aborted due to snaps being fumbled. But, Fields dropped back to throw on eight plays, completing 5 of 6 passes for 67 yards and was sacked twice. Play-action was used on four of these passing plays, and Fields completed all four for 52 yards.

Again, this is the tiniest of sample sizes, but that 50% usage of play-action is astronomically higher than the 22.6% we witnessed last season.

And, I didn't track personnel and play-action usage for all 60 minutes, but a lot of the same trends were used throughout the game. Lots of play-action and lots of multiple tight end sets. Just as we've seen in practice throughout training camp.

Just those two things alone should tell everyone this is a different offense.

But, to jump into some plays that stood out, we got a glimpse of how Smith uses these things to attack defenses. And that started with the first play of the game:

I love the design of this screen. The play-action immediately gets the linebackers and safety to step up to honor the run. Then, Fields looks downfield and all four react accordingly. That opens up all kinds of room for James Daniels, Nate Herbig and Spencer Anderson to get out in front and make the necessary blocks. Anderson, in particular, really showcased his athleticism to get downfield and pave the way for a 16-yard gain.

"Just taking advantage of opportunities," Anderson told me after the game. "Art was transparent with us. The first play was going to be a screen. So, he was like, 'I want to see some big men out in space.' So, I just tried to get out in front."

This has been an emphasis in the offense throughout training camp. There's been a healthy dose of screens throughout 13 practices at Saint Vincent College. The offense won't be reliant on them, as I've been told. The running game will be the strength of this offense. But, the preseason is a perfect opportunity to iron these plays out and make them look more like this on a consistent basis by the time the regular season comes.

"Obviously, we're a downhill assault type of run team. Obviously, teams gotta respect us when we're running the ball," Anderson said. "We get into a change of pace when we go with screens. I feel like it complements us well as an offense."

I'm glad Anderson used the words "downhill assault type of run team." I've been wondering if Smith's offense would incorporate more gap schemes than it has in previous systems in Atlanta and Nashville. And, I did see some gap concepts pop up early on:

This looks like a version of Duo, in which Najee Harris is reading No. 22, the Will linebacker on this play. Zach Frazier does a great job of executing the double team alongside Anderson and then getting to the Will on the second level, while Mason McCormick does a great chip to help Broderick Jones gain leverage on the 3-technique before moving up to the Mike linebacker. This creates more than enough room for Harris to read the Will, who drifts outside, then cut back up inside for a solid 6-yard gain against a stacked box.

Who knows how much gap we are going to see in the running game. But, the fact that's it's being used while the offense is being installed -- especially this early on -- tells me that we might see an uptick in gap usage from the 31.7% of the time Smith used it in Atlanta last season, according to FantasyPoints.com.

But another thing Anderson said that rings true for any Smith offense is using big men in space. Smith has loved to do this for the past five seasons, and I expect that to continue in Pittsburgh.

Just look at what the offensive linemen are being asked to do here for this wide receiver screen.

But, let me also say just how much I love the intent and design of this play. First off, the use of motion to bring a defender away from where the play is designed to go. I can't tell you how many times we watched motion be used by Canada only to bring an extra defender into the path of a play. That's using motion just for the sake of using motion. It should always be used to manipulate the defense. 

This happens here. And because the Texans are in man coverage, it works out even better for the Steelers because by the time Fields sets to throw to Pickens, there are only one Texan on the right side of the hashes and only one safety deep by the time Fields throws the ball.

If Fields didn't have somebody in his face, he could have made an accurate throw to Pickens and this could have been a massive gain. Even when it wasn't executed well, it still moved the chains and gained 10 yards.

And, finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't highlight this play:

Play-action. Throw to the intermediate portion of the field. In rhythm. Good protection. Accurate throw. Just music to everyone's ears that watched the offense for the past three years.

It's plays like the ones I've outlined in this Chalk Talk why players such as Freiermuth aren't hanging their heads after a preseason performance that didn't produce any points.

"There were some plays obviously that we want back," Freiermuth told me. "But overall, I think there were some plays that we can build on, some schemes we can build on, some players we can build on. It was good."

That's the point of preseason. Sure, it would look great if the offense went down and scored every time they took the field. Maybe even just once. But, we've also seen that it doesn't mean a dang thing, either.

This is a new offense for everyone -- the quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, tight ends, offensive linemen and coaches. And, while we saw some few glimpses into what the Steelers are going to do on offense, you can also guarantee Friday night is not an exact blueprint for what's to come. 

The Steelers will likely run the ball a lot more than they did Friday night. It also makes no sense to wear down Harris and Warren in the first preseason game. And, that gives the passing game more time to work out all the kinks. Most of all, this gives the players more of a foundation for how to work with Smith in a game environment. That's a huge part of running an offense, too. It's not strictly down to Xs and Os.

"It was good to see how Art wants the game to go -- how he sees it, how he calls it. Just the flow of things," Freiermuth said. "That's one of the main goals for the preseason, just get into the flow of things. Understanding, getting on the same page."

The Steelers still have a while before they're on the same page. While there's room for a little optimism with what we saw in this offense, results still do matter. And, this offense didn't produce any points. So, there's more work to be done.