PITTSBURGH — The Steelers’ offense has predictable plays. How many times have you heard that statement from opponents in the past? Well, that has happened more than enough times, and this Sunday was the latest example. Jaguars linebacker Foye Oluokun said he could call out most of the Steelers’ plays before they happened.
“I don’t know if they really ran it on us that much. Kinda called out a lot of their plays before it happened,” Oluokun told 1010XL. “We might see them again later. That’s a good team, so hats off to them and be prepared if we see them later.”
Oluokun is not the first in the last three seasons to call this out. Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin and Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt called it out last year. Pittsburgh has a habit of not working off their tendencies and rocking back into what they do as a comfort mechanism when things are not working.
“Just settling down,” Pratt told CBS Sports last year. “It was us giving them plays. We knew what they were going to do. They like to do the same plays over and over.”
But on Monday, center Mason Cole responded to what Oluokun said. He never felt like the Jaguars were tipped into the Steelers’ plays but rather that the team did not execute. That seems to be the standard message from not just the Jaguars but opponents.
“Well, I didn’t hear any linebackers calling out plays,” Cole said. “If it is man, I don’t think much of it. They can call plays, too, and be wrong. It is what it is. Everyone likes to think they know it all. That’s not necessarily the case all of the time.”
It’s not all Matt Canada’s fault. The Steelers had opportunities but lacked in execution greatly on Sunday. But he is part of the problem, especially when the trend has continued over three seasons. That is no coincidence at that point. Canada becomes a common denominator. But I will say to Cole’s end, it never felt like the Jaguars were tipped onto the Steelers’ plays. It did feel like execution just bottomed out.
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