The Pittsburgh Steelers' offense was a complete disaster for the majority of the 2023 season, but the team saw the light at the end of the tunnel once it moved away from former offensive coordinator Matt Canada and their top-two quarterbacks on the depth chart in Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky.
As it turned out, the quarterback who was inactive for the majority of the season, Mason Rudolph, was Pittsburgh's best bet. Over his three starts to close out the regular season, the Steelers averaged an impressive 27 points per contest.
In a recent interview on 92.9 ESPN, Steelers wide receiver Calvin Austin admitted that the instability at quarterback and offensive coordinator made it more difficult for the offense to find any consistency and the team never really found its rhythm until the final four games of the season when Rudolph took over.
"(The instability) did make things a little difficult," Austin admitted. "Just because when you go through three quarterbacks, no matter what team you are, it's going to be some ups and downs. It was just difficult because the offense, we didn't really catch our rhythm until probably the last four games of the season."
"With offense, that's the most important thing, is rhythm," he added. "Once we started clicking, things started flowing. I think the continuity and the rhythm, we had to get that down pat... It just made it difficult for the entire offense, and for anybody to just truly thrive. But once we got the quarterback situation and everything settled, I think we started playing some of our best ball."
While Rudolph is no longer in Pittsburgh after signing with the Tennessee Titans in free agency earlier this offseason, the Steelers did add Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, both of whom are better than anything Pittsburgh had in 2023.
Wilson is expected to be the starter coming out of training camp, but Fields will be right there waiting in the wings if he falters. No matter who starts, the Steelers are likely to have much more stability under center in 2024.
