After failing to get results from internal candidates Randy Fichtner and Matt Canada, the Pittsburgh Steelers went outside the organization to find its next offensive coordinator. A condensed search led them to hire Arthur Smith, experienced and proven who had just been fired as the Atlanta Falcons’ head coach. While Pittsburgh finished with better overall results, 22.4 points per game and a 16th-place ranking, the offense went into a shell down the stretch and failed to score more than 17 points in any of their final five games.
Still, Mike Tomlin seemed pleased happy with the job Smith did with the offense out of the gate.