Consistency remains the missing piece of the Steelers offensive puzzle moving forward

The Pittsburgh Steelers offense is good. Change that. The Steelers offense could be incredible. The key word in that last sentence? Could. After 7 games, if there is one constant surrounding the Steelers offense, it is how inconsistent it has become.

Sure, the team is averaging 24 points per game, but this unit has displayed anything but consistency. The inconsistencies are vast and start from the top, and flow down to the bottom.

Injuries to Ben Roethlisberger, Marcus Gilbert, Sammie Coates, Ramon Foster, Markus Wheaton and Eli Rogers have left the offense in a constant state of flux. Add in Le’Veon Bell’s 3-game suspension to start the season and you seemingly have a revolving door at several positions. The lack of consistency in the personnel department certainly has taken a toll on the consistency on the football field.

The players aren’t the only ones to blame for the inconsistencies. Todd Haley, offensive coordinator, has had his head scratching moments. Most notably being in Miami when the team abandoned the run so early against the league’s worst rushing defense.

Throughout their first 7 games, the Steelers offense has put up 43 points, as well as 3 points against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 3. Suffice to say, the main goal moving forward for this group is consistency across the board.

Haley spoke to Steelers.com about the team’s need to be more consistent in all phases of their game.

“I think it’s pretty obvious where we need to be. We need to be more consistent game in and game out. We’ve shown we are capable of putting up a lot of points when we execute run and pass, and the games where we haven’t we haven’t executed the finer details of the game plan, and we just need to have more consistency across the board. I think if we can do that we can make good things happen.”

Not only does Haley hit the nail on the head, he might find consistency to be an attainable goal when the players return after the Week 8 bye to prepare for the Baltimore Ravens in Week 9.

First, his franchise quarterback should be available to him, and although Roethlisberger has been anything but consistent throughout the 2016 season, fans should know he is more than capable of turning his game around at the drop of a hat. Second, he should have new pieces to add to the puzzle. Ladarius Green’s return will add just another wrinkle to the offense which wasn’t there with just Jesse James manning the tight end duties. Lastly, if all the weapons are available, the Pittsburgh offense should become a pick-your-poison unit, almost to the point of being unable to defend.

Want to take away Antonio Brown? Sammie Coates, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Markus Wheaton or Eli Rogers will take advantage of the opportunity.

The goal to eliminate Le’Veon Bell from the game plan? Good luck bringing that safety into the box to help with Brown running routes on the outside. Want to bracket Brown’s side of the field in this scenario? Green is a threat to exploit the seam with his size and speed.

I could go on, but you get the picture. There are a lot of reasons for the lack of consistency with the Pittsburgh offense, but the ultimate goal for Haley and company coming off the bye is to find the consistency they often speak of. If they can do that, this offense might be as prolific as many thought they would be heading into the 2016 season.