With Russell Wilson coming off a season-best 414-yard performance in last Sunday's 44-36 win over the Bengals, it would be natural to assume that the Steelers had multiple 100-yard receivers in the game.
That assumption would be incorrect.
Wilson utilized 10 different receivers in the victory, with five Steelers recording 43 or more yards in the game. It wasn't necessarily by accident.
It also was more than just Wilson dropping back and launching deep ball after deep ball to his wide receivers.
"Obviously (you) can't be rigid, force something that's not there," said Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith on Thursday at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. "But that's how we want to operate. I think we're at our best when everybody gets involved.
"Naturally certain guys will get the majority of the targets, but when you're able to do that, that really helps you become efficient and you get a result that we had on Sunday."
Continuing that kind of diverse attack is something the Steelers (9-3) would like to continue Sunday when they host the Browns (3-9) at Acrisure Stadium.
Tight end Pat Freiermuth and running back Najee Harris led the Steelers with six receptions each, for 68 and 54 yards, respectively, against the Bengals. Leading receiver George Pickens had a team-high 74 receiving yards on just three receptions, while running back Jaylen Warren added four catches for 55 yards and Van Jefferson had a 43-yard catch.
Overall, the Steelers running back as a group caught 13 passes. The tight ends hauled in nine completions. The wide receivers had seven.
Pickens has gotten more and more attention as this season has worn on as the Steelers' clear-cut No. 1 wide receiver. But the game against the Bengals showed the rest of the roster can be dangerous, as well.
"I think the biggest thing is just the versatility of everybody," Wilson said. "I think all of our receivers, our tight ends, our backs, everybody can catch the football and do great things for us. So when we're able to do that and spread the ball around everybody, it makes it really hard on the defense."
The interesting thing about the Steelers' attack last week was that despite so many passes to the tight ends and running backs, Wilson still averaged a season-high 10.9 per pass attempt.
Part of the reason for that was because he was changing plays at the line of scrimmage so much, getting the Steelers into better plays or adjusting things subtly.
That has come from his growth within Smith's system and the trust the two have gained in each other.
"That's the stuff you practice and meet on," Smith said. "If you're not on the same page, there could be some really bad unintended consequences. So a lot of that is built up, things we have been working on all year, certain games, certain moments situationally comes up, that's where that work pays off."
And for a 13-year veteran such as Wilson, there's not much he hasn't seen from defenses. And he understands where to attack if he gets certain looks.
It's something the Steelers haven't had over the past couple of seasons since Ben Roethlisberger retired. But Roethlisberger had built up a trust level within the organization to check to different plays. Wilson has that same gravitas.
But when he's checking out of one play and into another, he also has to trust that the rest of the offense will be on the same page, as well.
"I think we've done a really good job of being at the line of scrimmage," Wilson said. "I think for me, I've always loved that part of the game being the line of scrimmage, checking the plays, getting into audibles, getting into the right situation, the right play. I think that we do a really good job of that. We prepare for that. We think about it, we study it, we understand what we're trying to do, what we're trying to get to in certain moments."
• Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast Pittonline@iheartmedia.com
The result could make the Steelers much more difficult to play against.
It's been a process getting to this spot with Wilson having missed the first six games of the season because of a calf injury and Justin Fields starting in his place.
Both quarterbacks were new and working in a new offense with a new offensive coordinator in Smith. Add in some massive changes early in the season on the offensive line, and it led to some tough spots.
But the Steelers feel they are getting to the point where they can make those adjustments now.
"There is a lot of work that goes into this and how you're teaching the quarterback," Smith said. "This is what we're looking for on this play. You get this; do this. But that's all part of the call. It would be chaos if everybody wasn't on the same page. That's where you want to get. You are in the season with a rookie center, new quarterback, a lot of new players.
"Drop a play, you obviously want to exploit this coverage or this defense. A lot of things get talked about and defenses are doing the same thing. You play these teams and they have a zone call or a man to man call and you get certain bunches of stacks, get to a zone check, those are games within the games."
