Steelers Offense Ready To Get Back Into Lab After ‘Mental Reset’ During Bye Week

After a “mental reset” during the bye week, the Steelers’ offense is ready to return to the practice field.

There is never a bad time to schedule a bye week, but there also isn’t an ideal time either.
After taking a break after eight games, or nearly halfway through the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers turned their season around, going 7-2 in their final nine games to finish with a 9-8 record.

With a record of 3-2, they are hoping for a similarly productive break, especially on offense, as they return from their bye.
Although there were no significant changes, C Mason Cole thinks that everyone benefited from the vacation both as a group and individually.

Yesterday, he told reporters via the team website, “I think it’s good mentally.”.
It’s a big deal, he said, “not just physically, of course, but mentally, too, to get away from the game for a few days and just reset your mind going into these next 12 weeks with goals in mind of how to get better, how to perform better.”.

He continued, “We definitely have those on offense and personally.”.
“All these guys benefit from a good mental reset.
The next 12 weeks will be filled with a lot of work, so it’s good to take a few days off.

Particularly for the offensive players, they are resetting over a month of poor play.
Over the course of the first five games, they scored an average of just 13 points per contest, excluding a few defensive goals.

The Steelers still place close to the bottom in the majority of offensive categories, even though the fact that they already had their bye while most teams had not throws off the statistics somewhat.
Their play-per-drive and yard-per-drive rankings are at the bottom, and their percentage of scoring drives is at the bottom as well.

On just one out of every four possessions, they score, and the majority of those points are field goals.
Also 30th in the NFL, their 1point.08 points per drive.
But even with Pittsburgh having just five passing touchdowns, there are four teams with fewer than that. Only the New York Giants have scored fewer offensive touchdowns, and they are even worse given that they have already played six games.

The position of offensive coordinator is one thing the Steelers did not reset because, based on all indications, Matt Canada will resume his position from 2021.
Few teams have even come close to matching the level of offensive futility the Steelers have achieved since then, but Pittsburgh appears willing to at least keep him for the remainder of the year.

To look forward to is the recovery of those who have been injured, especially WR Diontae Johnson, who has missed the majority of the season due to a hamstring injury he sustained early in the second half of the season opener.
Along with LT Dan Moore Jr., TE Pat Freiermuth also missed a game.
, and RG James Daniels missed the previous two contests.
R.B. Anthony McFarland Jr. has been absent from the previous four games, so they are looking at other options.