As yinz know, the
Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2021 season ended at the
first postseason hurdle by the
Kansas City Chiefs as the reigning Super Bowl champions delivered a 42-21 victory in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. That defeat followed a 9-7-1 regular season for the Steelers.
It was a same-stage playoff exit for Pittsburgh as the previous year – where the team lost to the
Cleveland Browns – but the decline in the regular season record, down from 12-4-0, points to some Black and Gold issues that need addressing.
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As the Steelers continue to look ahead to the next NFL season, here is a look at what went wrong during an up-and-down 2020/21 and what they can do to improve.
Ben Roethlisberger decline
It feels almost rude and disrespectful to point at Roethlisberger as the first reason for Pittsburgh’s issues last season. The quarterback is destined for the Hall of Fame and enters retirement having spent his entire 18-year career with the Steelers, guiding his team to two Super Bowls in the process.
But being completely objective when taking the 2021/22 season in isolation, Roethlisberger was one of the least efficient quarterbacks in the NFL. He may have led the Steelers to the playoffs and a winning regular season record, but a closer look at the statistics
details his decline last season.
Roethlisberger was ranked 30th for yards per attempt and his QBR (Quarterback Rating) score from
PlayerProfiler.com of 35.8 was only good enough for 25th in the league. For a player who spent the bulk of his career as an elite QB, that is of course below his previous standards.
Granted, Roethlisberger was not helped by a substandard offensive line and a lack of elite receiving options, but it was clear that at 39 years old, a lack of mobility and deteriorating arm decreased his effectiveness as leader of the Pittsburgh offense.
So, what next for the Steelers and their QB conundrum? Head coach
Mike Tomlin has suggested Pittsburgh will possibly
attempt to fill the Roethlisberger void with a rookie, while either
Mason Rudolph or
Dwayne Haskins taking the reins is a possibility as well. The latter option is certainly not a long-term answer, and a rookie will need time to adjust.
Whichever route Pittsburgh takes,
Steeler Nation will likely need to practice patience until the team can find, or develop, its next franchise quarterback.
Matt Canada – out of his depth?
When Canada arrived into his position as offensive coordinator ahead of the start of the season, he was being billed as a young and exciting coach whose unique ideas could help shape a newly constructed but promising line.
While, similar to Roethlisberger, Canada may not have had the best batch of personnel to work with, he hardly helped himself with his play-calling consistently disappointing, particularly on big plays.
When a quarterback essentially goes off script and starts to call his own plays throughout the season – which is precisely what Roethlisberger did in 2021 – then you know there are fundamental issues with the man in charge of the offense.
After one year as the Pittsburgh quarterback coach, this was Canada’s first season as the offensive coordinator, so the Steelers have a big decision to make. Do they stick with Canada and hope to see some major improvements next year, or do they look elsewhere for a coach to lead the offense? It appears that Canada
will be given another crack at the whip. Despite admitting the Steelers “took a step back” last season, Tomlin insisted he is “
optimistic about Matt and what he’s capable of doing”.
Defensive line depth
The Steelers had the ninth-worst defense in the 2020/21 NFL season, conceding an average of 361.1 yards per game, while they ranked dead last for total rushing yards.
The latter statistic especially points to some fundamental flaws in the Pittsburgh defensive line last season, and much of that can be attributed to a lack of depth. When defensive end
Stephon Tuitt was ruled out for the season, it proved a bigger loss than many anticipated, and after
Tyson Alualu then had his year cut short, the gaps were glaring.
To be fair,
Cam Heyward and
Chris Wormley proved worthy replacements.
Heyward’s performances came as little surprise, but it was an encouraging breakthrough year for Wormley.
However, the problems lay beyond those two and the Steelers lack of further options exposed the team’s defensive problems.
Isaiah Buggs had his moments but was unavailable for large spells of the season, while
Carlos Davis is yet to consistently show whether he belongs on the NFL stage.
It wasn’t only Pittsburgh’s roster depth that was the problem for the defense, though: defensive coordinator
Keith Butler should shoulder plenty of the blame for the Steelers’ substandard performances. The defensive line has routinely been void of the fundamentals under Butler’s watch, and the line lacks conviction and identity.
As
Butler heads into retirement, Steelers fans will hope the promotion of
Teryl Austin can usher in brighter times for the Pittsburgh defense.
What do yinz think was the most glaring problem for the Steelers in 2021? Click to comment below!
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