After watching the Pittsburgh Steelers drop to 2-6 on the season following their 35-13 road defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 8, longtime head coach Bill Cowher believes that his former team needs to make one notable change on the offensive side of the ball.
Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett threw the football 38 times in the road contest against the Eagles, while running backs Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris combined for 14 rush attempts. For Cowher, as he touched on following the game on CBS Sports' “NFL Today Postgame” program, he sees that the Steelers should not continue to call on the rookie quarterback to put the offense on his back.
“You're transitioning into a new quarterback, and right now, I get worried about his confidence because I’ve seen this happen to other quarterbacks right now,” Cowher said. “Take the ball out of his hands.
“Don’t ask him to do as much as you’re asking him to do. … You have to somehow shorten the game with this quarterback, and it goes back to run the ball and put him back under center. Don’t subject him to being back there and getting sacked six times today. This is a good defense, I get it.”
Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada was forced to call more pass plays than run ones after the team fell behind by double-digits in the second quarter. Overall, Pickett was not able to get much going during his time on the field, as he was sacked six times and the offense converted a mere one third down.
Moving forward, Cowher simply wants the Steelers to remain patient with Pickett's development in his rookie campaign.
“You’re 2-6, understand it is a period of transition,” Cowher said. “What’s in the best interest to develop this quarterback, who is your quarterback of the future, without destroying his confidence.”
For now, the Steelers will have their bye week coming up next, which will then be followed up by back-to-back pivotal home games against the New Orleans Saints and their AFC North rival in the Cincinnati Bengals. It will be noteworthy to see whether Canada will make any changes for Pickett come Week 10.