Recently I was thinking about my time writing about the Pittsburgh Steelers. Throughout my career doing so, I’ve essentially done it all.

Commentary, news, breaking stories, features and even took a stab at simple film room breakdowns.

The one thing I’ve never done is work on just a random thought type format.

I can’t speak for you, the reader, but I am always thinking about writing and the Steelers. Thinking about different aspects of the team and game. Thanks to reading Myron Cope’s biography I decided to put a unique spin on this type of feature.

Now, for the name of the article, anyone who is familiar with the Styx song “Renegade” should know where it came from. If not, this is where it came from…

The jig is up, the news is out
They finally found me
The renegade who had it made
Retrieved for a bounty
Nevermore to go astray
This’ll be the end today of the wanted man

The jig is up…time for some randomness.

What will it take for you to believe?

I posed this question on Twitter/X the other day, and I was surprised by the responses from fans of the black-and-gold. Some said it would just take one dominant performance, regardless of the performance. Some suggested it would take beating the Chiefs on Christmas Day. Others suggested it wouldn’t happen until the team wins a playoff game.

I get it, all of it, and completely understand why fans are hesitant to fully buy-in with the Steelers. However, it’s a worthwhile exercise during the bye week to try and answer that question for yourself. What will it take for you to start believing in this Steelers team?

Arthur Smith and Russell Wilson Offense

We have only seen two games of the Arthur Smith and Russell Wilson offense, but you can immediately tell the difference between this offense and the one they utilized with Justin Fields at the helm. I’m not suggesting the Fields offense wasn’t effective, it was, but this offense has the look of a contender. What made me extremely happy on Monday night was how the Steelers threw in a wrinkle of the up-tempo offense. It wasn’t a full-blown no-huddle offense, but it kept the defense from substituting. I expect more and more of these subtle wrinkles within the offense to not just maximize potential, but also to keep defenses guessing as to what the Steelers may be doing on a week-in and week-out basis.

Justin Fields Package Upcoming?

Last night on the Steelers Preview podcast I brought up the idea of the Steelers potentially using Justin Fields on offense in specific situations. When you look at the Steelers success they had in the red-zone this season, a large portion of those conversions were with the legs, and improvisation, of Fields. I’m not about to suggest the team just yank Wilson off the field once the offense gets within the 20-yard line, but will the Steelers entertain the thought of utilizing Fields in specific areas?

Whether you view Fields as the future or not, you can’t ignore the athleticism Fields brings to the offense. Keeping that type of player standing on the sideline week after week seems like a bad business decision, but Mike Tomlin has aced the test of playing the right quarterback so far. Maybe I’ll just have to trust the Steelers to do the right thing.

Steelers game experience is “spiritual”

A part of my job here at FFSN is not just to write and podcast about sports, but to do a lot of work on the back end of the business. One of those back end things is recruitment. When we meet with a podcast it is always fun to hear the story of these people who were dedicated enough to start podcasting about a sport/team.

The other day I was meeting with someone who does a Pittsburgh Penguins podcast, and his story was very unique. He didn’t grow up in Pittsburgh, but he and his wife ended up moving to the city. He was always a Penguins fan, but attended his first Steelers game on Monday night in Week 8.

This gentleman had attended a ton of sporting events, including World Series games, but said nothing came close to the experience he had in prime time on Monday night. He called it “spiritual”, and when I asked what the thought about Renegade, he said he was left speechless. It made me realize the experience of going to a Steelers game live is something all fans should experience at least once in their lifetime. When he described it as spiritual, he wasn’t far off…

Run defense being an issue is NOT a trend

This past week on the Steel City Insider podcast, Jeremy Hritz and Jim Wexell had former Bills GM and former Steelers front office employee Doug Whaley on the show. It was an interesting perspective from someone who isn’t directly tied to the Steelers organization, but some of what Whaley was saying seemed a bit off. One of those areas were his comments regarding the Steelers run defense. If you didn’t listen, which you should, he made it sound as if the Steelers run defense couldn’t stop anyone after allowing over 150 yards to the Giants in Week 8.

But is it really an issue??

It could be, but I would hardly say one game is somehow indicative of a long term problem. Prior to the Giants game the Steelers defense averaged 81 yards per game on the ground. After Week 8 the average has sky-rocketed to 90.5 yards. Could it be the beginning of a bad trend? It could. Could it be just a blip on the radar? Just a one off? Absolutely. I want to see how it looks coming off the bye week before I start to freak out about it.

Excitement about the Steelers, and it’s about time!

Yesterday in my Steelers Stock Report article I wrote about how the bye week had the “stock down” label, and the reason was simple. The Steeles are fun to watch again!

The past three seasons have been extremely difficult to watch, and there is no other way of saying it. From the excitement of the Ben Roethlisberger era to the “Will we score 17 points?” era. Now the Steelers offense is providing big plays, the defense is doing what the defense always does, and even the special teams is chipping in on the fun. Make Steelers football fun again!

Can we get 27 points per game?!

The other day I was looking at the Steelers statistical rankings, and I stumbled on the fact the Steelers now average 23.4 points per game. The Steelers have gone against some good defenses in the first half of the season, and they are nearing a touchdown better than they did a year ago. But it made me wonder, could they possibly get to 27 points per game? While the second half of the season will challenge the defense, more on that shortly, the offense will have favorable matchups. I’m not about to suggest a lofty goal of 30 points per game, but 27 points seems attainable. What a change a year makes…

Second half will challenge the defense

Speaking of the second half of the season, the Steelers defense will have their hands full on more than one occasion. I took a look at the offenses they’ll face in the final nine games of the regular season, and it was telling.

Points Per Game in following 9 games (heading into Week 9):

• WAS: 29.5
• BAL: 30.3
• CLE: 17.3
• CIN: 24.4
• PHI: 24.4
• KC: 24.7

The Steelers defense has done their jobs well in the first half of the season, giving up 14.9 points per game on average, but the challenge in the second half will be to keep the opposition off 20 points per game. Can they get it done? Time for that high-priced defense to do their job, but for the first time in a long time I feel the offense could carry some of the weight if the defense has some in-game struggles.

Happy bye week everyone!

That does it…the jig is up, they’ve finally found me. This renegade is outta here…be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the bye in Week 9.