The Steelers are last in the NFL in touchdown passes since 2022, here’s why
I saw a graphic the other day that caught my attention, and not in a good way. It listed the NFL team leaders in touchdown passes since 2022. Way down at the bottom of the list, below perennially offensively-challenged teams like the Jets, Giants and Panthers, were the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers were dead last in the NFL, with just 46 touchdown passes over the past three seasons. For the sake of context, Joe Burrow of the Bengals threw 43 touchdown passes himself last season. Burrow, in one season, threw three less touchdown passes than five different Pittsburgh quarterbacks have thrown over the past three seasons combined.
Let that sink in.
Why is that? Why have the Steelers been so bad at scoring through the air the past few years? To find an answer, I began rewatching games from the previous few seasons, and looking at how the Steelers have coordinated their passing game, particularly in plus territory. My findings won’t shock anyone — most fans can name the culprits off the top of their heads — but if you want a more nuanced explanation, read on.
The first, and perhaps most obvious reason, has been quarterback play. Since Ben Roethlisberger retired in 2021, the Steelers have been piloted by Mitch Trubisky, Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph, Justin Fields and Russell Wilson. None have played the position at a particularly high level, and all have been especially ineffective passing in the red zone.
In 2022, Pickett ranked dead last — 33rd of 33 — in completion percentage by quarterbacks who had at least 25 red zone pass attempts. In 2023, Pickett was 32nd of 33 quarterbacks in the same category. In 2024, the numbers were slightly better. Wilson ranked 23rd in red zone completion percentage, while Fields, although he had just 28 red zone attempts, completed 18 of them. Still, the Steelers ranked 28th in red zone scoring percentage, indicating they struggled mightily to get the football across the goal line from close range.
While watching film of the team’s primary starters over that span — Pickett and Wilson — a common flaw emerged that hamstrung Pittsburgh’s red zone offense. Both quarterbacks were quick to bail from the pocket when pressured, and often ran themselves out of points by failing to hang in late and throw into tight windows. Receivers are rarely wide open in the red zone — there just isn’t enough field space to create much separation — so quarterbacks have to be willing to anticipate and fit balls into tight spaces. Whether it was a fear of turnovers, an unwillingness to hold on as the pocket collapsed, or something else, neither Pickett nor Wilson did that with regularity.
A second reason for Pittsburgh’s low passing touchdown numbers involves their coordinators. Everyone knows the two-year Matt Canada experiment was a disaster. I was told by an NFL scout at the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis back in February that his franchise wanted nothing more than for Canada to remain employed as offensive coordinator by the Steelers because he was, quote, “the worst OC at the professional level any of us had ever seen.” Enough said there.
As for Arthur Smith, who replaced Canada as OC last season, things did improve. Nearly half of Pittsburgh’s touchdown passes from 2022-2024 came last season, under Smith. But, with Smith so committed to running the football, the Steelers often opted for a run-run-pass formula that left them in third down situations that were difficult to convert. And, when they did throw in those situations, it was often low percentage jump balls to George Pickens or bootlegs that didn’t surprise the defense because they weren’t committed to the run at that point.
Finally, there is the matter of execution. Often, Pittsburgh was one player away from creating an explosive play or throwing a touchdown pass. But a lineman would miss a block, causing the quarterback to bail from the pocket just as a receiver was breaking open. Or a receiver would misread an option route and make the wrong adjustment. Or a tight end would fail to block the corner on a perimeter screen that could have gone for six. It was rare to see the Steelers have all eleven players operate as one. Perhaps that was the fault of the players themselves. Or the coordinator. Or the position coaches. Whatever the case, breakdowns in execution often sabotaged potential scoring plays.
In the video breakdown below, I went through an offensive series from last year’s first game against the Ravens that I believe showcases all of these shortcomings. It’s a series from the +16 yard-line that results in three ineffective pass plays, with each failing to succeed because of a different reason. It’s a perfect storm of ineptitude, in a way, and it encapsulates why the Steelers are where they are in the league rankings in touchdown passes the past three years.
Hopefully, the 2025 Steelers will be better. With Aaron Rodgers at the helm, and the team having arguably assembled a better receiving corps, and Smith in his second year as coordinator, things should improve. If Pittsburgh hopes to qualify for the playoffs and end their post-season losing streak, they’re going to have to.
The Steelers are last in the NFL in touchdown passes since 2022, with just 46. Here’s my latest video breakdown examining those struggles. @FFSNSteelCity pic.twitter.com/PKEQxyKZfG
— Kevin Smith (@KTSmithFFSN) June 23, 2025
For more of my work, follow me on X @KTSmithFFSN, and tune into my Call Sheet Daily podcast every Monday-Friday on all major platforms.
a true4 Pittsburgh Steelers fan, since the 70’s I like Mike Tomlin as the Steelers head coach the part I don’t like about Mike Tomlin is he doesn’t start rookies day one that’s why I was shocked that Mike Tomlin started Derrick Harman and not keeping Justin Fields and benching him
Well, there’s opportunity for improvement, multiple-fold. Sad to see Pgh run a dead play with Smith, hoped that would have gone away with Canada.
Dead play but doesn’t the QB have to recognize that when PF88 goes in motion and get them into a better play? That was the main reason to play Russell over Fields. Hopefully Rodgers can give that savvy to the offense this year. It won’t always be perfect but you like to see fewer dead plays being run.
Uh, yeah… I’ll buy that idea for a dollar.
Hard to know if Wilson has the freedom to check out of plays in that situation, or if PIT packages their plays so he has another option, etc. But yes, that clip was disappointing because it suggests the Steelers were guessing with their play call, something Canada seemed notorious for doing.
This is exactly why this team is so hard to assess. The QB play has been below the bar so you can’t really judge other offensive talent. How is the OL? well they gave up some sacks (49) but the average time to pressure was pretty high. The QB’s had the ninth most time to throw.
I don’t know what they have in Rodgers, but I always come back to it has to be better, doesn’t it? Maybe Rodgers still has something in the tank and we see that CAIII and Wilson are both big time playmakers at WR. The guys on the OL are gelling and going to be a force for years to come. Washington is more than a 6th OL but is a weapon.
This is the season of hope and I will be riding that hope into camp.
Seems reasonable.
This is the internet. Reason has no place here.
Oh, my goodness… probably why I retired from LinkedIn forums.
A completely reasonable article. I would be interested to know how much Mike Tomlin’s “don’t turn the ball over no matter what” mandates come into play when considering the low passing TDs. To wit, Coach’s factual statement, “Receivers are rarely wide open in the red zone”. In those situations, which are plentiful in most games, how much does Mike Tomlin’s mentality sneak into a QB’s mind? “Throw the ball away, take a sack, whatever. Just don’t throw an interception”. Kenny Pickett and Justin Fields are one thing, but when a historically aggressive QB like Russell Wilson seems tentative in the red zone? That’s probably the Mike Tomlin effect. We’ll see this year with Rodgers.
I am not hammering Mike Tomlin either. Turnovers are killer, over course, and Tomlin is right to crush guys for making them. Could he be “crushing” too much at this point and causing overly conservative play? It’s possible, that for sure.
I am sure there is certainly an impact, but BR7 had several 30+ TD seasons. In 2018 Ben threw for over 5000 yards with 34 TD’s. I do think that Tomlin hasn’t had a QB that he thought could overcome a 3-turnover day. Classic Chicken or Egg philosophy.
Say what you want about Tomlin but he found a way to go 307-30 with Hodges, Rudolph, Trubisky, Pickett, and Wilson/Fields. That has to mean something. I’m just not sure what.
Tonlin’s good at playing not to lose. Conservative ball. He realized what he had, and tried to maximize it.
KT. Great video. That was a depressing 3 play series.