Whether it was with late-career Ben Roethlisberger or the two years without him, a lack of play-action was the theme of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense. Curiously absent year after year for no good reason, new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is changing that. While the team’s 18-point total in a season-opening win in Atlanta didn’t look much different than the previous three years, how the offense looked certainly did.
Going back through the game, I charted the Steelers using play-action on 12 snaps. Be it boots, or traditional straight-back play fakes, a dozen of Pittsburgh’s snaps used it. Compared to the Matt Canada era, that is a stark contrast.