Pittsburgh Steelers need to see one big change on offense

The Pittsburgh Steelers offense is averaging just 15.5 points per game through two games, and while there are a litany of reasons for that from the Steelers struggling on offense, the lack of explosive plays for a ball control offense might be the biggest reason.

Through two weeks of the NFL season, the Steelers have just five explosive plays. The only team with fewer is the Carolina Panthers, who just benched starting quarterback Bryce Young.

BETTING:

Now, there are a few points of context for that. For one, the Steelers had two called back by penalties. In fact, in terms of EPA lost by penalties, no one has lost more than the Steelers offense through two games.

Second, the Steelers' offense needs some necessary context, creating some explosive plays through defensive pass interference penalties. If those counted towards the total, they would have three more such plays.

However, penalties are variable and unpredictable week over week, while explosive plays are concrete. The Steelers need more explosives from their run game. As it stands, nothing has popped there yet. George Pickens has most of the explosive plays, and all the explosive plays through the air.

One way to crack the scoring issues is to shorten drives. Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith loves the idea of the Steelers wasting the clock and running up the time of possession. That all works fine and well in some instances, but the Steelers need explosive plays to buoy their offensive scoring. Considering that four of the five explosive plays came against the Falcons, that feels far more sustainable than what occurred in Denver.

Either way, the Steelers must find a way to be more explosive with the uptick in competition starting this week against the Los Angeles Chargers.