The Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1) took strides offensively in the 23-18 Week 3 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders (1-2) Sunday.
Ranking 31st in total offense entering the road tilt, the Steelers put up a season-high 333 yards and averaged 5.6 yards a play. Not bad for an offense that had a full crowd at Acrisure Stadium chanting “Fire [offensive coordinator Matt] Canada” just six days prior. While not a perfect performance by any means, it was a strong effort where the offense showed improvement.
For head coach Mike Tomlin, that was an encouraging sign for what’s to come.
“We’re getting better. We had better,” Tomlin said Tuesday, via the team’s website. “Everyone better be getting better, regardless of the outcome of games, obviously, but it’s good enough to win the games. But there’s some components to get better. The planning component, the coach component, the playing component, and then the adjustment component.
“We’ve been dealing with all of those things and everyone does. But I just want to be really clear about just everyone’s still very much in development, as are we, and I saw some signs there to build upon in the midst of earning a victory.”
Steelers improve stellar record with Kenny Pickett under center
With the win, the Steelers improved to 9-6 in games started by second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett, and 8-2 in the last 10 games in which he started and played at least a half. Pickett had his best game of the season, completing 16-of-28 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns.
Tomlin asked for Pickett and the offense to get their mojo back, which they most certainly are close to doing.
“I think we’re on track to getting [the offensive mojo] back,” Pickett said. “There’s never a perfect game. There are things we wished we had back, and that’s always going to be the case, but I think we’re definitely heading towards that stuff we need to have back.”
While the 2022 first-round pick still needs to find the necessary consistency to take the offense to the next level, Tomlin liked what he saw overall from him in Week 3.
“He made the necessary plays,” Tomlin said. “I thought he was good in the environment. I thought he was a good communicator. He did the job tonight.”
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