PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Political discussions are currently less heated than those involving the Steelers offense. It's managed four touchdowns in three games, however some players are confident the turnaround is around the corner.
"I think we are really close," said Steelers center Mason Cole. "I don't think it's as bad as a lot of people think it is. It's still not good enough, but it really comes down to 11 guys doing their job."
"I've felt like it's close," said Steelers guard Kevin Dotson. "It's just one thing, one thing, one thing and that's the frustrating part. It's one block, one catch, one something. One blocking assignment, one person you didn't go to and the play is 70 yards instead of 10."
We've heard some comments from different players after games about play-calling or not executing at certain times. Is it becoming frustrating for the unit?
"I think it's too early to be frustrated, maybe in three, four weeks I'll have a different answer," said receiver Chase Claypool. "Right now, just figuring stuff out."
"The frustration is just knowing how good you can be," Dotson said. "Potential is one of those things it's a good thing and it can drag you down. You have to do the thing before you say that you are good. We just know how good we can be and that's the thing that's frustrating us is that we are not clicking how we could be."
"I felt like we got the run game going a little bit," Cole said. "There is still a lot more out there to be had. It felt good in the first half to have some success in the run. I think our tempo helped us a little bit."
It led to their most impressive touchdown drive of the season. Would players like to see more tempo?
"I've played in different offenses can where tempo can be a serious weapon," Cole said. "It's just finding the right time to use that tempo. I think we used it well in the first half of this last game. For whatever reason in the second half we didn't use it as much or it wasn't working as much."
"I think schematically tempo is good in just changing the pace. Changing the pace can be slowing it down some too and grinding out the clock to help our defense out."
That's an area where Cole said they really haven't helped out the other side of the ball.
"The three-and-outs and consecutive ones, are not good," Cole said. "It kills our defense. I think they (Cleveland) had a 10-play drive and we went out and went three-and-out. That's brutal. We can't do that to our defense. A lot of people will say our defense needs to play the run better. We need to help our defense out. It's important for us to possess the ball and win the possession downs."
While now it's the coordinator taking the heat, earlier in camp is was all about the offensive line. Especially after a really rough preseason game at Jacksonville. Now it's the most improved unit on the field over the early part of the season.
"I think it's progressed a lot in three games," Cole said. "Early in the year, newer guys and getting in the heat of battle, I think over time has gotten better. I think we all feel really comfortable with each other now and I think we are starting to see that on the film."
While they continue to work through their issues. Players say they are doing it together. They say there hasn't been a 'blame game' going on behind the scenes.
"Nobody has pointed fingers and that's something I definitely like about this team," Dotson said. "Nobody feels like they can blame it on anybody. We just know we have to do our job."
All of them.
The old saying is 'close only matters in horseshoes and hand grenades'. This is the NFL where only results matter.
