The Pittsburgh Steelers are gearing up for the 2024 regular season, and with it being the team’s second game fans’ hopes were high heading into the new season. The hope is there is a winning performance on the horizon on Sunday in Week 2 when the team travels to play the Denver Broncos in Colorado.

What exactly do the Steelers need to do to claim their second victory of 2024? Let’s break it down on the offensive side of the ball…

Offense

Get Creative

When it comes to creativity I’m talking about both in the run game and in the passing game. After Week 1 the Steelers gained 137 yards on the ground to 133 in the passing game. The ground game ranks 13th in the league, with the passing numbers 28th. Those numbers are just one week of work, but improvement is absolutely necessary moving forward. To see those numbers increase, creativity in game plan and play calling will be necessary. Last week Just Fields was announced as the starter on Sunday, with the game plan shifting on Thursday when Russell Wilson showed up on the injury report with his nagging calf injury flaring up again. This week should be different, and the hope is creativity is on the way. But let me be clear, if the idea for creativity is nothing more than a George Pickens end-around, well, that isn’t it.

Finish

This might be the shortest breakdown I’ve written in this article series. Six Chris Boswell field goals is impressive for a kicker, but if this team is to be considered dangerous, they need to finish drives with touchdowns. Every drive is a tall task, but out of seven potential scoring drives last week having 2-3 finish in touchdowns would have put the game out of reach. Simple as that.

Get the QB settled early

When you look back to the first drive of Justin Fields’ start vs. Atlanta, this is what it looked like:

• Botched snap, gain of 3 yards after the recovery.
• Missed a wide open Van Jefferson
• Scramble for first down

Later in the drive…

• 3rd down pass behind Najee Harris
• Settle for a field goal

I’m sure there were a lot of nerves for Fields, so I think it’s appropriate to get the quarterback settled early. How do you do that? Get him under center so he and Zach Frazier are comfortable with each other. Get Fields on the move with the option to throw or pass. Cut the field in half to give him simple reads. Move the chains to get a drive which isn’t a 3-and-out. Simple things which we eventually saw in the first half of the Atlanta game that resulted in a positive second half. In other words, early work can lead to seeing that Week 1 second half offense faster in Week 2. That’s a must, in my opinion.

I talk about this, and MUCH more on the “Let’s Ride”, and you can hear that podcast in the player below this article. In the meantime, be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the team as they gear up for game time!