Just six points.
Pittsburgh fell short of securing a playoff spot in Week 17 against the Cleveland Browns, falling 13-6 on the road against a divisional rival that had won just three games up to that point.
While Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and defense coordinator Teryl Austin have been popular punching bags for the last several seasons, the utter lack of production on offense Sunday pointed to an awful showing from another prominent member of the Steelers braintrust: offensive coordinator Arthur
Smith.
Do the Steelers have an Arthur Smith problem?
The nuances of this question could probably be spread across a series of articles, but I’ll list out some basics to get the discussion going.
First, the statistics: Over this season, the Steelers rank 26th in yards per game, 22nd in passing, 26th in rushing, and 15th in points. Entering advanced stats territory, they’re 18th in EPA per pass and fourth in rushing success rate per NFL Pro.
The numbers are similar to where Pittsburgh stood last year in Arthur Smith’s first season as offensive coordinator, with the biggest difference being the team was more productive but less efficient as a rushing offense in 2024.
Overall, the Steelers have been a below-average offense, but given the team’s records over the last two years, they’ve done enough to play winning football.
Of course, compared to the Randy Fichtner and Matt Canada offenses that preceded it, Smith’s time in Pittsburgh has been a breath of fresh air. Some of his innovations with the jumbo package and tush push in the Steelers’ offense have been effective, and the offensive line and running back room has largely looked impressive in 2025.
Smith doesn’t deserve all the credit for the team’s offensive success this season, but it’s also hard to put all the blame on him for the unit’s many failures. Does he have a say in roster building? Sure, but the team’s lack of wide receiver depth behind D.K. Metcalf seems like more of a front office decision. Some questionable fourth-down decision-making appears to fall under Tomlin’s authority.
And quarterback Aaron Rodgers hasn’t been a revelation in Pittsburgh, but he was one of the better options available in a slim quarterback offseason this spring, and he has certainly outplayed his 2024 as a New York Jet.
The quarterback point is an interesting one. Over the summer, I went through every starting quarterback Smith has coached in the NFL and came away surprised with how thoroughly underwhelming the list was. In fact, this version of Rodgers might be the best quarterback Smith has ever coached.
While a lack of high-level quarterback play in the Smith system isn’t exactly a glowing endorsement, it’s fair to say he’s gotten more out of names such as Ryan Tannehill, Justin Fields, and late-career Russell Wilson and Rodgers than other coaches.
But Rodgers, whose style of play contradicts many tenets of the Smith offense, also complicates things. He’s been a net positive upgrade over Wilson, but has a lot of control in the offense that can muddle who is making the decisions. For instance, on the ill-fated deep ball to Scotty Miller on a fourth-and-one against the Browns, all signs pointed to Rodgers being to blame for taking the vertical one-on-one over safer — and more open — routes closer to the line of gain.
Smith hasn’t been blameless on offense by any means, however, and his personnel usage can be puzzling. Notably, his heavy usage of Jonnu Smith this season has been questionable at best.
Jonnu Smith can be a talented playmaker, but he is a below-average blocker who has been set up to fail on countless occasions this year. Meanwhile, Pat Freiermuth — and arguably even Roman Wilson (I’m not as convinced) — remains underutilized behind worse pass catchers on offense.
When it comes to the Steelers coaching staff, I’m of the opinion the team should part ways with Teryl Austin this offseason, and realistically, move on from Mike Tomlin after his contract runs out barring a significant turnaround.
But just under two seasons in, Smith remains a harder name to evaluate. Obviously, if the franchise moved on from Tomlin, you’d want the new head coach to bring in their own offensive staff. But if not, it doesn’t take much to talk me into wanting to continue with Smith for another year.
However — and once again, this is a hard question to answer thoroughly in this article — Smith’s interesting track record with quarterbacks muddies the waters. If and when the Steelers bring in their next shot at a franchise quarterback, is Smith the coordinator you want developing that passer in the modern NFL? There, the answer remains complicated.
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