PITTSBURGH — To say the least, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been abysmal in the red zone this year. They currently rank 30th in the NFL in the red area, converting touchdowns on 44.74% of their trips inside the 20. Over the past two weeks, they have scored just one touchdown inside the 20-yard line — a three-yard run by running back Jaylen Warren.
Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith thinks self-inflicted wounds in the red zone have been the biggest issue. Turnovers and penalties have really hindered the Steelers’ offense in recent weeks.
“We have to get out of own way,” Smith said on Thursday.
Since Russell Wilson took over at quarterback in Week 7, the Steelers are 8-for-22 in red-zone situations. Wilson knows if the Steelers want to be true contenders in the AFC, they need to clean things up in the red area. They can’t rely on six Chris Boswell field goals to win games.
“I think the thing is we just got to stay on schedule first and second down,” Wilson said on Wednesday. “We’ve got to make plays and we’ve got to find plays, and I don’t think we’re far off. I definitely don’t think that. I think we played two tough games over the past two weeks and I believe in us. I know how capable we are and I’m looking forward to it.”
Wilson revealed the offense is looking at good and bad film to find answers.
“I think we study just everything,” Wilson said. “I think we study the things we’ve done well. I think that’s the first thing and do more of it. I think that’s one thing. I think the second thing is figure out where we’re missing. We’ve had a lot of third-and-longs down there it seems like, and so we’ve got to make sure that we’re giving ourselves the best chance to run all of our red zone plays that we practice and do everything that we are prepared to do.”
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Alan Saunders provided reporting from Pittsburgh.