Halicke: Offense running out of excuses across the board

It wasn't all that long ago that we heard Arthur Smith and several players feeling like the dam was about to break on offense. And, after putting up more than 400 yards in last week's loss to the Colts, maybe they were figuring some things out.

But then, the offense barely found a way to muster just 226 yards in a much-deserved 20-17 loss to the Cowboys early Monday morning at Acrisure Stadium.

The emphasis on the South Side all week was getting off to a fast start. And, Smith had some nice play calls in the first series that helped move the ball down the field enough to at least get a field goal. But then, the offense punted on three straight series, gaining a total of 23 yards of 17 plays, an average of 1.4 yards per play. It was an ugly half of football for both sides of the ball, but especially on offense.

"I wish I could tell you," Pat Freiermuth said, regarding the constant slow starts to games. "We have to figure it out quickly. We're getting into October, November, big games and stuff like that. We've gotta figure it out and keep it moving."

It didn't get much better in the second half, though they were able to at least score a couple of touchdowns. But, there's now a large enough sample size to judge this offense for what it is statistically. It's one thing to have a game or two in which luck isn't on their side or some plays are taken away due to self-inflicted wounds such as penalties.

But through five games, this is one of the worst offenses in the league. They aren't scoring points. They aren't racking up yards. And, for a Smith-run offense, they aren't running the football.

This week's loss is a huge red flag. The Steelers finished with 92 rushing yards on 26 carries, an average of just 3.5 yards per carry. I spoke with multiple guys up front and tried to get them to explain why the just couldn't get things going on the ground.

"They were bringing pressures. That's something we've gotta understand and adjust to as players out there," Freiermuth said. "We understand that teams are going to pressure us a lot knowing we're going to run the ball. We have to figure that out quicker as players, have more accountability on that end and get started faster."

Here's the problem. It's not like this was a stout Dallas defense. Coming into this game, this was a defense that ranked 26th in rush defense and rush success rate against, and ranked dead last in rush EPA against. And, They were without their two best players in the front seven, Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence.

The failures only begin there. Granted, it's a pretty big one since Smith stubbornly wants his offenses to run the ball at will. But, the failures are piling up across the board, some on the field and some off of it. I prefer to stick with Xs and Os in this Chalk Talk series, but the issues are so vast now it goes beyond that.

To cap off the slow start issues, Dallas had allowed 65 first-half points heading into Sunday night. The Steelers had three points at halftime. That, along with the failure to run the ball, is bad enough.

But then, we can get into other issues. There were self-inflicted wounds. One drive in the first half was derailed by not one but two false start penalties. That's not the first time that's happened this season.

Then, there were drives stalled by dropped passes:

And drives also stalled from severe lack of execution, including this lazy route by George Pickens on a crosser:

The one thing a receiver absolutely has to do on a crossing route on play-action is sprint across the field. Full speed sprint. You can't see on the whole play, but I can tell you that I watched Pickens the entire route live and he was way closer to jogging than sprinting. That's not going to cut it.

And, it's not like he was tired or anything. Of a possible 58 snaps, Pickens played only 34. By comparison, Van Jefferson played 47 and Calvin Austin III played 44. If Pickens is the team's No. 1 receiver, why is he playing so little?

"We just wanted to minimize his reps in an effort to get more productivity," Mike Tomlin said after the game. "We're just trying to manage in terms of the totality of the big picture. He wasn't less of a focal point in terms of our intentions of what we wanted to do offensively, but we did want to cut his reps a little bit in an effort to get higher quality play, just in general."

I'm sorry, that sounds like load management to me.

"It's no different than we minimized some of the snaps of D-lineman like Cam Hayward and so forth, man," Tomlin added. "It is just about snap management. It is no underlying story to be quite honest with you."

Load management? For a 23-year-old receiver?! Heyward played 55 snaps and he's 35 years old and plays in the trenches. I'm not buying it. And if it is actually true, it's a coaching failure.

But, coaching is part of the failures here. Freiermuth didn't see one target in the first half. Pickens was barely targeted in the first half, too. Dialing up plays for Connor Heyward and Jefferson instead of Freiermuth and Pickens is failure by the coaching staff. Your best players need to be your best players, not used sparingly 

The good thing is Freiermuth has a great attitude about what he's asked to do, which by my estimation and nobody else's, flies in the face of what appears to be Pickens' attitude.

"I trust the coaching staff with what they’re doing," Freiermuth said. "Everyone can bitch and complain about getting a lack of targets, but it’s the stuff you do without the ball. That’s what leaders do. That’s what good teammates do. I play my ass off regardless. The targets are going to find me as long as I’m doing my job. Whatever’s asked of me to do, I’m going to go out there and do it the best I can."

That sounds like a guy who should be playing more in 12 personnel, but so many of those reps are going to Heyward and Darnell Washington. Freiermuth was just given a big contract. Get your money's worth.

There are more failures we can look at here. The offensive line continues to be very subpar, though they may get a tad bit of a pass due to the slew of injuries there. Justin Fields, for the first time this season, just didn't look all that good or dynamic. He was more reckless than calculated, and that can be a slippery slope.

And, my God, can this team get a second receiver so when Fields does lay out perfect throws on difficult passes, they can actually be caught?

For all these failures, it's produced 18.4 points per game. And, after starting the first three games of the season red hot on third down percentage, the offense has gone 9 for 25 over the previous two games. 

Anyone who expected this offense to hit the ground running right away wasn't being real about the situation. Brand new offensive coordinator, new quarterback room, new position coaches. This was bound to start off slow.

However, five games is more than a quarter of the season. And, failing to run the football in perhaps the most advantageous game to do so should be the wake up call this coaching staff needs.

Stop being stubborn about needing to run the ball, whether it's done shrewdly or not. Stop trying all these tricks with personnel usage. Get your best players on the field and get them the football. This is an offensive league. Teams need all the firepower they can get, and deep passes to Connor bleeping Heyward isn't going to strike fear in opposing defenses. 

And for the players, actually execute the plays that are called. The offensive line has to block better. Najee Harris has to run better. Receivers need to get open. Fields needs to build off the efficient play from the pocket and not revert to the reckless kid that played in Chicago.

Five games is enough. This is a bad offense, and it's for a lot of reasons. It's not just Tomlin. It's not just Smith. It's not just the players. Everyone truly shares blame here. And that's why it's easy to conclude that this is just a bad offense right now. Maybe it could be at some point this season. And while a trade for an impact receiver such as Davante Adams could surely help, there are plenty of other issues to fix.

These guys keep saying that teams aren't beating them, that they're beating themselves. The thing is: I actually mostly agree with them. They are doing so many things that are detrimental to playing any kind of legitimate offense. And they just can't be hidden any longer by optimistic ideals offered up in interviews.