In addition to the struggles of the Pittsburgh Steelers defense, the Steelers’ offense simply hasn’t been the same since shattering the scoreboard in back-to-back weeks against the Indianapolis Colts and Baltimore Ravens.
Something has clearly been missing from the Steelers offense the past three weeks and that has been the deep ball.
Along with that is the disappearance of rookie Martavis Bryant from the Steelers offense.
The Steelers offense had a very productive three-game stretch beginning with the win on Monday night against the Houston Texans. It’s not a coincidence that Bryant made his NFL debut that night and added a different dimension to the offense that simply hasn’t been there in quite some time.
After exploding onto the scene by catching 14 passes for 310 yards and six touchdowns in his first four NFL games, Bryant has come crashing back down to earth and the Steelers offense has suffered.
The Clemson product caught just one pass for 23 yards in Pittsburgh’s 35-32 loss to New Orleans on Sunday.
Bryant was targeted on just four of Ben Roethlisberger’s 58 pass attempts, including a dropped 13-yard touchdown in the first half. Although Bryant is second on the team, behind Antonio Brown, with six scores, he has just three receptions for 34 yards and no touchdowns in his past two games.
It doesn’t look to get any easier for Bryant either this week, as the Steelers face a Cincinnati defense that has yielded a league-low 11 receiving touchdowns on the season.
Getting back to what was working will be crucial for the Steelers late playoff push.
Roethlisberger certainly has to play better, but Bryant has to be able to make big plays the rest of the way opposite Antonio Brown.
He’s not a secret anymore, and teams have been game planning to take Bryant out of the game, and they have had success with it the past two weeks.
For the Steelers to get back to being the big-play offense that we saw against Baltimore and Indianapolis, Bryant has to play a major role. The deep ball has to be a big part of the Steelers game plan.
If they are to avoid sitting home for a third consecutive postseason, Bryant is going to have to be one of many guys to step up the final four weeks of the season.
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