Finding an offensive balance has been a struggle for the Steelers this season without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Heck, it was a struggle for the Steelers even in the six quarters when they had Roethlisberger available this season.
It's a big reason their offense ranks 28th in the league in total offense and 21st in scoring this season heading into their seventh game.
But they've now had a bye week to perhaps solve some of those issues. And they'll see if they have come up with any of the answers Monday night when they host the Dolphins (0-6) at Heinz Field.
The Steelers have not only failed to consistently establish a running game this season, they haven't had much of a passing game, either. But there might not be a better opponent against which to try to get both facets back on track.
The Dolphins are allowing 160 yards rushing per game and have permitted four individual 100-yard rushing games to opposing running backs already this season. Even worse, Miami's pass defense is allowing opposing receivers to average a league-high 13.1 yards per reception, while giving up 16 touchdown catches with just one interception. Opposing quarterbacks have posted a passer rating of 127.9 against the Dolphins. The league record for a single-season passer rating is 122.5 set by Aaron Rodgers in 2011.
Figuring out which facet of their offense they most need to get working better could be difficult for the Steelers, who have struggled at times both running and passing the ball.
"We all want to see each other be great out there," rookie receiver Diontae Johnson told me. "If the running backs are going one game, we’ll keep feeding them the ball. If it’s the receivers, we’ll keep passing. But we’ve got to get the run game going to be able to get the passing game going."
That seems to answer that. The Steelers are averaging just 76.5 yards rushing per game, as they've seen a lot more loaded fronts this season without Roethlisberger available.
"It’s always going to be about opportunity and touches for a running back," offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said. "They need them. James (Conner) deserves them. And our other running backs, in situations, have been positive with the ball in their hands, too. We’ve got to run the football. Our group knows that."
Getting a struggling running game going could help the Steelers get more big passing plays back into their offense, as well. The Steelers are averaging 9.9 yards per catch, their lowest since the 1970 NFL merger. They've gotten some big plays in the passing game -- their four 40-yard pass plays this season are tied for 14th in the league.
But what they've been missing are the intermediate plays of 20-plus yards. The Steelers have just 14 of those. Only the Bears and Jets have fewer.
The lack of those has forced the Steelers to work harder than normal on offense.
"It makes you go the long, hard way," Fichtner said. "I’d be very proud if you can consistently take 10, 12-play drives and score. It’s just awfully hard to do. Defenses get paid well and they get coached well. Chunks are nice. They help."
But you can't get chunks if you don't push the ball down the field on occasion.
The Steelers didn't do it much in their most recent game against the Chargers, a 24-17 win, mostly because they had undrafted rookie Devlin Hodges making his first NFL start in place of injured Mason Rudolph.
Their receivers caught just five passes in the game, including only one for seven yards by star receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.
But Rudolph will be back this week after being cleared of a concussion. And the Steelers want to do a better job of getting their playmakers involved.
"I think you’ve got to have balance. Every game, there are going to be chances to push the ball down the field," Rudolph said. "There are going to be chances to take what the defense gives you. That’s been a point of emphasis for us."
A greater emphasis should be placed on getting Conner and Smith-Schuster more involved. Both earned trips to the Pro Bowl last season and are the two most established playmakers on the roster.
But the big plays have been few and far between this season, as they've gotten more attention from opponents.
Conner is on pace to rush for just 627 yards this season, as the Steelers have gained only 459 yards on the ground in their first six games. Twelve individual players have more rushing yards than the Steelers have as a team, including Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
One thing the Steelers have done to offset that is throw the ball to Conner more, as they did two weeks ago in their win over the Chargers. Though he had 41 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, Conner also caught seven passes for 78 yards and a touchdown in the game.
He now leads the Steelers with 26 receptions, something he's proud of after putting in a lot of work on his receiving skills in the offseason.
"It’s something I tried to work on, trying to be a complete back," Conner said. "I wish we had won a couple of more games — the stats and stuff are nice — but I’m going to continue to try to do my job and do it well."
But while Conner was catching all of those passes, Smith-Schuster and the rest of the team's receivers were doing little more than blocking downfield. Smith-Schuster is on pace for 67 receptions for 907 yards, down from the 111 receptions for 1,426 yards he had in 2018.
"I’m always hunting ways to get the ball in JuJu’s hands," Fichtner said.
Hunting those plays and finding them are often two different things. But Fichtner feels the Steelers are on the edge of putting some things together on offense.
"I think we’re close. They’ve come, they just haven’t come consistently enough," he said. "I don’t know that it’s by design. You’ve just got to take advantage of the opportunity when it presents itself."
LOLLEY'S VIEW
With the defense playing the way it has, the Steelers don't need to be a top-10 unit on offense. But they have to be somewhere in the middle of the pack.
Rudolph was starting to show some signs of coming around in Week 5 against the Ravens before being knocked out of the game with a concussion.
If the Steelers can start to find their way with the running game, it would make things easier on their second-year quarterback. And he could, in turn, start to make some of those chunk plays.
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