The Pittsburgh Steelers are facing major personnel changes on offense

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Steelers will not begin their game against the Cincinnati Bengals without making changes to their offensive workflow.

Head coach Mike Tomlin made it clear Tuesday that there will be some schematic changes. An important change will not be the overview of short distances or in the red zone, but substitutions and personnel packages.

In a game against the Browns, a third-string offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith, had 13 Steelers players (3 TE, 1 WR, 1 RB). However, the players on the field were Darnell Washington, MyCole Pruitt, Pat Freiermuth, Ben Skowronek and Jaylen Warren.

That doesn’t mean winning football, and Smith made it clear that will change on Sunday.

“We have to be better there in terms of substitutions,” Smith said. “They don’t want to take time off. You have to trust that the guy has a helmet. That’s part of it too. That’s why I’m careful (answering questions). You want to be transparent, here’s what happened. But sometimes that sounds like an excuse. We definitely have to get better. That wasn’t the intention, in case you’re wondering.”

There were some overarching issues on all sides of the ball. The Steelers have not yet adjusted to replay support coming into play. There are rules for this and how the clock runs, when referees are given assistance with replays, and they influence how substitutions are made.

Smith admitted that this caused some confusion for the Steelers and forced them to miss some plays.

“Sometimes it’s chaotic,” Smith said. “It sounds like an excuse, but I’m just stating what’s going on on the ground. You make a first-down call. (The officials) say they’re pumping (the game clock), but the problem is that by the time they’re pumping it, they’re changing the logistics and changing the personnel and getting into the things of your plan. So when you call a run that gets you a win, give Cleveland the credit. We have to get better at that.”

That particular third down Smith was referring to. However, there was no replay support before this play. Some of these players had no reason to be out there. Smith made it clear that adapting the personnel to certain situations will be something the Bengals struggle with moving forward.

So the Steelers admitted that they had a crucial problem: the overexposure of some of their employees. It could rightly mean more appearances for the likes of George Pickens, Mike Williams and others.

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