It's on to Cincinnati for quarterback Kenny Pickett and the rest of the Steelers offense as they navigate their way through a change in offensive coordinators.
With running backs coach Eddie Faulkner taking over as the team's coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan handling play calling duties following Matt Canada being relieved of those duties on Tuesday, the Steelers don't have a lot of time to wonder what's next. The Steelers arrived at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on Wednesday for their first practices in preparation for Sunday's game at Cincinnati (5-5) knowing they were on a moving train.
"You can't have wholesale changes at this point in the season," Pickett said Wednesday. "We're going to run the system that we've been using and coach Sullivan and coach Faulkner, they're gonna put their wrinkles on it on what they want to run and when they want to run it."
All that matters is improving on what hasn't worked over the first 10 games.
The Steelers find themselves at 6-4 heading into Sunday's game against the Bengals and holding onto the seventh spot in the AFC playoff race. But their offense is ranked 28th in the league in scoring at 16.6 points per game and in total offense at 280.1 yards per game.
Improving on those will be a point of emphasis moving forward. And for Pickett, that starts with himself.
The second-year quarterback hasn't topped 160 passing yards in any of the team's past four games, something that culminated with him throwing for 106 yards in last Sunday's 13-10 loss at Cleveland. It was the lowest yardage total for Pickett in a game in which he has started and finished in his career.
There was too much of what head coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday when announcing the move to let Canada go where the Steelers still looked like they were making early-season mistakes in late November.
Pickett takes that as a challenge to both himself and the offense as a whole.
"We're trying to make things change, to get a spark going," Pickett said. "It's challenged everybody. You know, I feel like you have to take it personally. You know, it's a guy you've worked with since I got drafted here. You want to play great. You don't want anyone to get let go like that. So absolutely. You know we got to answer the bell, find out what we need to do to play better. And then you know, just go and take care of business."
It's not like the offense isn't capable. Early in the season, Pickett was completing chunk plays, as evidenced by his two passing touchdowns of over 70 yards to George Pickens and Calvin Austin III, respectively. And the running game has produced an average of 181 yards per game over the past three games.
But finding a level of consistency has been tough at times.
"I thought we were finding some explosive (plays) in the past, early on this season," Pickett said. "The run game came on these past three or four games. Finding some splash plays down the field, targeting some one-on-ones, whatever it may be. So those are the things you could build on. You just want consistency. That's what I'm pushing to be better at – just more consistent."
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If the offense can do that, the Steelers have positioned themselves to be in the running for a spot in the postseason. Where things go from there will depend on just how successful they can be.
But Pickett doesn't expect any bumps in the road with Faulkner devising a game plan and Sullivan calling it.
And Pickett doesn't have a lot of time to worry about anything else, anyway.
"I've got to play a lot better," said Pickett. "We've got to play a lot better on offense and put points on the board. Our defense is doing a great job, so we've got to handle our business with tough tests going into another road environment in the AFC North. We've got to get ready."
