The Pittsburgh Steelers took their first loss of the season on Sunday afternoon on the road vs the New England Patriots. The Steelers' offense looked dead in the water all afternoon in this one, with Aaron Rodgers unable to get anything going and then subtly blaming head coach Mike McCarthy after the fact.
Now, ESPN NFL insider Dan Graziano has shared his take on how the Steelers can improve things on that side of the ball heading into Week 3.
“Two players I'd be watching for potentially increased roles in the offense are running back Jalen Warren and wide receiver Roman Wilson as Pittsburgh looks for ways to get into an offensive rhythm,” noted Graziano on ESPN.com.
Indeed, the Steelers would certainly behoove themselves to establish more of a running game early and often in order to take some of the pressure off Rodgers and potentially open up opportunities in the passing game.
Even in their Week 1 win over the Atlanta Falcons, the Pittsburgh offense wasn't exactly anything to write home about, as seven of the team's 20 points came courtesy of a TJ Watt defensive score.
Graziano also reported that “…after the loss to the Patriots, it seemed clear the Steelers would be open to more significant change this week.”
Overall, many pundits expected that the Steelers would struggle to put points on the board after returning most of the same roster that was completely shut down in the Wild Card round vs the Houston Texans last year, and with Rodgers now another year older.
While changing up the strategy could help give the team a shot in the arm, it's hard to imagine the Steelers becoming anything truly special on that side of the ball with this current roster and quarterback.