Steelers: Three Takeaways From Week Nine Win

Randy Fichtner’s Play-Calling Is Still Horrible

Although Rudolph deserves plenty of blame for the passing attack’s struggles, Offensive Coordinator Randy Fichtner hasn’t been much better. Roethlisberger’s hand-picked coordinator, Fichtner, is starting to show everyone that he is just not creative enough to call plays for an NFL-caliber offense. In past years with talent like Roethlisberger, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown Fichtner’s offense was solid, but the mark of a good coach is being able to adapt, and Fichtner simply hasn’t done that. His schemes are outdated, and far too often, he doesn’t put his players in positions to succeed.

For proof, look no further than JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner. Both immensely talented players, neither have lived up to expectations this season, and that’s primarily due to the scheme they are in. The Steelers basically have three rushing plays that are called over and over again, and the passing game is so short-pass based that it’s wholly negated Smith-Schuster’s deep speed. Between a quarterback that is scared to throw deep and a coordinator that seems to use a Magic Eightball to call his plays, the offense has been a disaster.

In today’s NFL, there are so many creative schemes, and coaches are better than ever at putting their players in positions to thrive. Fichtner, however, continues to draw up uninspiring game plans that defenses are quick to figure out. He’s putting this offense in a nearly-impossible situation to produce, and until things change, we will continue to watch a talented offense get ruined by horrific play-calling.