Carter's Classroom: Fichtner doing enough? ☕ taken at Rooney Complex (Steelers)

Randy Fichtner and Mason Rudolph - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

Randy Fichtner got the Steelers to be the most efficient red zone offense in the NFL last year, as well as Ben Roethlisberger to lead the league in passing yards.

But this year with Mason Rudolph, Fichtner's offense ranks 24th in points scored, 28th in total yards, and 27th in both passing and rushing yards.

How much of that has been from a lack of creativity on Fichtner's part? The Steelers' rush of injuries to key players have brought unique challenges to make the offense work. Is the fact that the offense hadn't worked yet more on Fichtner? Or has he schemed enough reasonable opportunities for the offense?

We look at last week as an example:

The best thing Fichtner can do is scheme open the best matchups to favor the Steelers. Getting James Conner a chance to break tackles against a cornerback and make a big play.

Conner gets the offensive line to block down and isolate him with rookie cornerback Greedy Williams, one of the worst grading tackling cornerbacks from the 2019 NFL Draft. And Conner gets tackled for a loss:

This has happened a lot with the Steelers' running game this season. Back against the Colts, Tre Edmunds took a carry at the goal line and ran into the back of his offensive line to get tackled for no gain when he could've followed David DeCastro for an easy jog into the end zone.

Fichtner's offense has generated several opportunities that would be reasonable for players to win but they've fallen short. But that doesn't mean his plans make everything easy. Opposing defenses are lining up to stop Conner and the ground game to force Rudolph to beat them and sometimes the offense puts itself behind the sticks when running right into such a defense.

Here's a run play where the Steelers called in a heavy package with Zach Banner as an added lineman. But the Browns retaliate by loading the box with nine defenders, each taking their first steps off the snap moving towards the line, looking for the run.

This gives the Steelers very little room to work. Even with DeCastro and Matt Feiler blowing up their double team and Ramon Foster chipping to a linebacker, the Browns overload the line of scrimmage to neutralize effective run blocking and force Conner to break a tackle in tight space:

That presents another challenge for Fichtner as teams key off on the run. The better defenses the Steelers face will keep overloading the offensive line until they show a passing threat. But it's difficult to establish a consistent enough passing threat while Rudolph figures out his style of play in the offense.

Rudolph's had problems the open receiving options downfield, which has made Fichtner's job more difficult. While Rudolph does have to evolve to making more throws downfield, Fichtner also has to scheme open easier targets in open space to turn easy throws into big plays.

I reviewed this play earlier in the week, but I wanted to show a better view to illustrate how Fichtner does provide easy throws that could lead to big plays. It's fourth and one and Johnny Holton breaks over the middle with no defenders following him. Rudolph never rotates off his first read to see him, but look how much space Holton has in the middle:

With his speed, he might have scored. And this would've been a tie game that flipped entirely in the Steelers' favor. There are some plays Rudolph doesn't make that can be excused by his lack of experienced and unpolished play. But the above incomplete pass is one play he must make.

Rudolph has to  stick to reading his keys. That means remembering his primary and secondary reads and combining those with how to attack different defenses. That's not easy to do all the time in the NFL, but Fichtner's offense does provide him with options.

Watch how Rudolph understands where he wants to attack the Browns' cover six defense. Cover six implies a mix of cover 4 and cover 2 zone packages where half the field is covered by two deep safeties and the other half is only covered by a single deep safety.

Rudolph has to attack either underneath the two deep safeties or challenge the single deep safety on a deep ball that forces him to a decision since he has to cover more of the field.

But Rudolph tries throwing underneath the single deep safety, Joel Burris, where he has more support. That creates a tighter passing window that when Rudolph tries to hit it, he overshoots and is intercepted:

The proper reads would've been to Tre Edmunds underneath or drawing Burris to the middle of the field with his eyes so that he can target Holton in wide open space deep down the sideline without any challenges.

Fichtner still has to keep working with his young players to focus and take advantage of the opportunities he creates in his scheme. But the creativity in Xs and Os are there.

Carter’s Classroom needs your help! We are seeking sponsors for the 2019 NFL season that would be willing to see their brand grow through advertising with us. All interested parties should contact me at christopher@dkpittsburghsports.com.

MORE CLASSROOM

Nov. 21: Where are the tight ends?

Nov. 20: Right direction for run defense

Nov. 19: What’s Rudolph’s standard?

Nov. 18: Simple solutions to O-line problems

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