PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s group didn’t have a lot of answers against the Bills. He said this week he is accepting blame and will do whatever to get a win this week in Baltimore.
“I've been in situations and personally myself, this isn't this isn't a business for the for the meek, especially mentally,” Smith said. “I roll my eyes when people act like a victim. I mean our job is to win. You step in this arena, that's part of the job, whether you like it or not. You better check your mentality.”
“We're in the entertainment sports entertainment business, high pressure, high performance business. It's competitive and your job is to win and produce.”
Smith wasn’t done about the responsibilities that come with the decision-making positions.
“I mean, you become the play caller, head coach or quarterback in this league, it's easy to stand there, everything's going (well), but you're gonna find out by yourself when things aren't,” Smith said. “And that's a true test of any leadership for this position. And a lot of what I found over the years is kind of freeing in terms of you're trying to do the best job you can, you know what the expectations are.”
The Steelers OC said he spends every day working and that’s what you have to do when there are struggles. You keep working. You problem solve. He said they look back at things that are working earlier in the season. Basically, what Smith said is anything and everything is under consideration, and that includes personnel.
Smith said he’s trying to be solution based. He’s looking at himself.
“You know, the easy thing I think in life, and people always look at things all the way to blame somebody else,” Smith said. “That's the poorest form of leadership ever. I look at things when it breaks down like you get in that third quarter the other day, where we had a breakdown. Easily just say you blame the end result on a guy here or there.”
Smith said he’s trying to keep a good climate where he makes sure not one person or position group is shouldering the blame.
The Steelers offensive coordinator says they try to cover every look. He’s looking at every option. Quite simply Smith said that’s his job and he’s putting it on himself right now.
Tight ends
A lot of questions this week are centered around opportunities for tight ends. Pat Freiermuth had zero targets against Buffalo and Jonnu Smith hasn’t had even a 30-yard game since he’s been with the Steelers. Arthur Smith said some of that is due to the emergence of tight end Darnell Washington and they believe running back Kenneth Gainwell has also earned reps.
Smith said they’ve had opportunities, but guys may not be open for the play breaks down somewhere else. Often one to quote history, Smith said they don’t die on the same hill every week. They continue to look at anything.
Deep throws
As with the other issues, Smith is attempting to find solutions. Where he feels they might find opportunities for big pass plays first depends on getting a consistent running game going. Forcing teams to honor the run should create some good spacing allowing them to attack coverages. All of that needs to happen and then you have to execute.
There could be changes this week, maybe the Steelers elevate veteran wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling off the practice squad. The 6’4” receiver did average 20.9 yards-per-reception with Aaron Rodgers back in 2020. In eight games with New Orleans last year, MVS averaged 22.6 per catch on 17 receptions with four touchdowns.
“It's crunch time, December, big game for us,” Smith said. “And here we got all options on the table.”