Mike McCarthy Is Already Simplifying the Steelers’ Offense — And it’s a major concern

Chris Gates | The Pittsburgh Football Podcast

There were plenty of concerning things to come out of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 20-3 loss to the New England Patriots.

The offensive line couldn’t block.
The running game couldn’t get going.
Receivers dropped passes.
Aaron Rodgers spent far too much time under pressure.
The Steelers only mustered 3 points.

But one of the most concerning developments actually came after the game.

Mike McCarthy acknowledged that the Steelers may need to simplify their offense.

Two games into the season.

That doesn’t mean simplifying things is the wrong decision. In fact, given what we’ve watched through the first two weeks, it may be exactly what McCarthy needs to do.

But the fact that we’re already having this conversation tells you just how far away this offense appears to be.

The Steelers Are Moving in the Wrong Direction

Normally, an offense should grow as the season progresses.

You spend training camp installing the foundation.
You establish the core concepts everyone understands and executes well.
Then, as players become increasingly comfortable within the system, you add to it.

More formations. More personnel groupings. More wrinkles. More counters off the things you’ve already put on film.

The playbook expands.

The Steelers appear to be heading in the opposite direction.

McCarthy explained after the loss that when an offense performs this poorly, reducing the volume is one of the things a coach can do. Essentially, you take things off the players’ plates and allow them to focus on executing a smaller number of concepts correctly.

“If it’s not clean, you cut the volume down, and we’re not clean on offense,” McCarthy said. “So, the volume is getting cut down. That’s the first starting point, and that’s my fault. I felt it earlier in the week.”

Again, that makes sense.

If Pittsburgh’s offensive linemen are struggling with assignments and communication, asking them to do fewer things may help. If receivers aren’t consistently running the correct routes or identifying coverages correctly, simplify their responsibilities. If the entire operation looks like everyone is thinking instead of reacting, give them less to think about.

But we’re talking about doing this after Week 2.

That’s the problem.

The Steelers aren’t trimming down an offense that became overly complicated halfway through a season. They’re talking about reducing the workload almost immediately after leaving training camp.

That should be concerning.

McCarthy Saw the Problems Coming

There was another part of McCarthy’s postgame comments that stood out to me.

He said that, as an experienced coach, he could sense during the week that the offense was struggling.

“The reality of it is the detail’s not there, and that’s on coaching. Starts with me,” McCarthy said. “I’m calling the offense. I have to get the detail better. So if you need someone, fire away because I felt it on Wednesday and Thursday. I’m a veteran coach. I know better, and I didn’t do a good job.”

Then Sunday arrived, and we all saw it.

That raises even more questions about exactly where this offense is right now.

This isn’t simply a situation where Pittsburgh had a bad afternoon. Bad games happen. Good offenses occasionally look terrible.

But McCarthy apparently saw warning signs during the week, and then those problems carried directly into the game.

And they weren’t isolated mistakes.

The entire operation looked disorganized.

The offensive line struggled with protection and communication.
Pittsburgh couldn’t consistently establish the run.
Rodgers was getting hit.
Receivers weren’t making plays when opportunities finally arrived.

At one point, Rodgers was absolutely blindsided by a free rusher because of what he later described as a communication issue.

That’s your 42-year-old quarterback taking a massive hit because someone didn’t know where the pressure was coming from.

This offense isn’t at the stage where we’re debating whether McCarthy needs to call more play-action or throw over the middle more often.

They need to figure out how to consistently execute the basics.

This Wasn’t Supposed to Be the Problem

That’s what makes all of this particularly frustrating.

I came into this season optimistic about McCarthy’s ability to improve the offense because his track record suggested there should be a relatively high floor.

I wasn’t expecting the Steelers to suddenly become one of the five best offenses in football.

But better than what we’ve watched in Pittsburgh over the last several years?

Absolutely.

McCarthy has coached many productive offenses throughout his career.
He was reuniting with Rodgers.
The Steelers added Michael Pittman Jr. to play alongside DK Metcalf.
They had Pat Freiermuth.
There were other experienced pieces throughout the offense.

And perhaps most importantly, McCarthy’s history suggested Pittsburgh would finally do some of the things we’ve been begging to see from this offense for years.

Use the middle of the field. Spread the football around. Become more multiple and less predictable.

Through two games, none of it matters.

Because Pittsburgh can’t execute.

The Steelers have scored one offensive touchdown.

One.

Simplifying Things May Help — But It Can’t Fix Everything

Here’s where things get complicated.

I actually agree with the idea of simplifying the offense.

If players are overwhelmed by the volume of the system, cut it down. Find the concepts they can execute. Identify what your offensive line can block. Figure out which routes your receivers consistently run correctly. Give Rodgers something dependable to work with and build from there.

There’s no prize for having the thickest playbook in the NFL.

Execution matters infinitely more.

But simplifying the playbook doesn’t suddenly make the offensive line more talented.

It doesn’t guarantee DK Metcalf catches the football.

It doesn’t create running lanes that aren’t there.

It doesn’t automatically turn struggling offensive linemen into dependable starters.

That’s why I’m having such a hard time identifying an easy solution to what we’re watching.

The Steelers can make a change at right tackle. They drafted Max Iheanachor in the first round, and perhaps it’s time to put him into the lineup and see what happens.

They can reduce the volume offensively.
They can emphasize the running game.
They can make adjustments with personnel.

But none of those moves guarantees the fundamental problems disappear.

Now McCarthy Has to Find Something That Works

We’re only two games into the season.

That’s important context.

There are 15 games remaining, and NFL teams can look dramatically different in November and December than they did in September.

So I’m not declaring the season over after two games.

But I’m also not going to pretend what we’ve watched isn’t concerning.

The baseline is incredibly low right now.

The Steelers aren’t trying to turn an average offense into a good one. They’re trying to figure out how to make one of the most disorganized and ineffective offenses we’ve seen in Pittsburgh in quite some time simply become functional.

Maybe simplifying everything is the first step.

Maybe McCarthy can identify a smaller collection of things this group actually does well and build from there.

But eventually, you’re supposed to start adding pages to the playbook.

The Steelers are two weeks into the season, and they’re already talking about taking pages out.

That tells you everything you need to know about how poorly this offense has started.