PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Why is it the Chiefs offense looks so much different than the Steelers? The first answer is they have Patrick Mahomes. That's easy. He's the best quarterback in the game and Kenny Pickett won't become that overnight, if ever, to his level.
There is something else Kansas City does that the Steelers don't. Andy Reid is an offensive coach, not a stretch to call him a genius and one of the best offensive coaches in the history of the game. Reid has few peers in today's game, yet he surrounds himself with 13 staff members on offense.
The Steelers, with a head coach that specializes in defense, an offensive coordinator that never worked in the NFL until two years ago, a rookie quarterback with a majority of their offense 26 or under. That team has nine staff members on offense.
The Steelers offensive staff is 69 percent of what the Kansas City Chiefs is. The Chiefs with a veteran superstar quarterback, Hall of Fame head coach, former head coach as a senior assistant, a pair of quality control coaches and an offensive coordinator that is qualified to be a NFL head coach. They have a 30% larger coaching staff than the Steelers.
Obviously, the Steelers want to win. They try to win. They work hard to win. Do they give the players and other coaches enough resources two win is the question? I asked team President Art Rooney about adding a senior offensive assistant to his staff?
"I wouldn't take anything off the table," Rooney said January 26. "We are at that time of year where Mike is evaluating coaches. We have coaches that are interviewing other places. The coaching staff, there could still be changed to it. I don't want to speculate where we might go."
Why not just, yes? It would be good to add another voice or two or three to our offense.
If not Andy Reid and the Chiefs, the next highest regarded NFL offensive mind is Kyle Shanahan. He not only brings his own experiences, but is the son of a two-time Super Bowl champion who was also known for his offensive abilities. San Francisco has 12 offensive coaches, including a former head coach as running backs coach. Shanahan has three more coaches on his staff, even with his knowledge of offense, than the Steelers.
Both teams have a pair of offensive quality control coaches. The Steelers have one, who isn't even branded as an offensive coach, rather just a quality control coach. Both KC and SF have either an assistant head coach or senior assistant coach on offense.
The Steelers are trying to win, but are they giving their coaches and players the resources to win?
They can do more. Why won't they?
