Steelers OC Arthur Smith already leaving his mark with play-action game

Mike Moraitis

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Steelers OC Arthur Smith already leaving his mark with play-action game image

One thing that was noticeable during the Pittsburgh Steelers' preseason opener against the Houston Texans was the offense's use of play action, which is a staple of an Arthur Smith offense.

With Derrick Henry and Ryan Tannehill, Smith heavily utilized play-action during his days as the Tennessee Titans' offensive coordinator, and he had a ton of success with it, as the Titans sported one of the better offenses in the NFL over his two seasons calling plays in Nashville.

After just one preseason game, it's clear Smith is bringing that approach with him to Pittsburgh, and it's already proving to be successful.

According to Steelers Depot, Pittsburgh quarterbacks were 8-of-10 for 123 yards and one touchdown on 11 play-action dropbacks on Friday night.

Alex Kozora of Steelers Depot adds that Pittsburgh had three completions of 20-plus yards in those passes, which is how many they had in all of 2023 before former offensive coordinator Matt Canada was fired.

One of the many complaints about the Steelers' offense in recent years was a lack of play-action passes. Only one team in the NFL utilized play action less than the Steelers in 2023, per Steelers.com.

Clearly, that will not happen under Smith.

Of course, the Steelers' projected starting quarterback, Russell Wilson, did not throw any of those passes on Friday night, as he didn't play. But, if there's one thing Russ does well, it's throw deep off play action.

According to Sporting News' Jarrett Bailey, Wilson thrived on passes of 20-plus yards off play action last season.

Half the battle for the Steelers will be setting things up by forcing defenses to respect the ground attack. Pittsburgh has the running backs to do it, but the offensive line has to hold up its end of the bargain, also.

But if the Steelers can check all the boxes needed to get the play action game going, things should be markedly improved from what we saw last season.

Mike Moraitis

Mike Moraitis Photo

After cutting his teeth with Bleacher Report, Mike Moraitis has covered the Los Angeles Rams and Tennessee Titans for FanSided, and the Titans and New York Giants for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. On top of his duties with Sporting News, Mike is the managing editor and lead writer for Titans Wire.