Remember the Pittsburgh Steelers on a crisp fall Sunday. The offense, once a powerhouse, is now sputtering and stalling, unable to recapture the magic of its early days. What changed? Who’s to blame? In 2024, the answer, according to insiders and even franchise legends, points to a QB-coach mismatch and a crisis of faith. It wasn’t about a single loss or a bad game. It was about how the wrong QB, even a proven veteran like Russell Wilson, could hold back an entire offense, especially with coaching hurdles.

Ben Roethlisberger had recently said, “Arthur Smith has to understand he has to let the quarterback have some rein. I was told he really pulled the reins back on Russ. In the two-minute drill, wouldn’t let Russ call his own plays. You have to let a quarterback do that stuff.” But Arthur Smith had refuted having tensions with Russell Wilson. As per Smith, they were constantly evolving around the quarterbacks, and it wasn’t Smith calling all the plays. The reason for last year’s defeat was simple. As Smith notably said, “I just know what we did in Pittsburgh in ‘24, and our issue at the end of the year was we weren’t good enough.” And that brings us back to Wilson leading under center.

The question isn’t whether Russell Wilson is a talented quarterback. He’s a Super Bowl champ and a 10x Pro Bowler. But was he the right man for the Steelers’ system? As insider Christopher Carter believes, the answer is ‘no.’ On the Locked on Steelers podcast, Carter discussed the possible reasons the Steelers failed last year. One reason was “giving the power to Russell Wilson to change plays,” while another reason was the “lack of a run game towards the end of the season after it had started off pretty well.” But as Carter believes, all of that will see a significant change now that Aaron Rodgers will be taking the helm. The solution will be to have more “play action passes over the middle.” And that’s something Russell Wilson struggled with.

As Carter further added, “to have a good play action pass quarterback, you need to have a guy who’s taller. They didn’t have that with Russ Wilson. You also need to have a quarterback that’s, you know, pretty experienced in handling pressure and adjusting to it and getting that quick release off. That’s not something they really had before Aaron Rodgers on the team.” Wilson’s limitations – his height, his struggles to see over the middle, and his occasional lapses under pressure meant he couldn’t fully unlock Arthur Smith’s preferred offence. Wilson, for all his mobility and playmaking ability, didn’t fit Smith’s mold.

The ‘24 season started pretty strong for the Steelers. With Russell Wilson at the helm and a run game that looked revitalized. But cracks began to show as the season went on. The result? A late-season collapse that saw the Steelers lose their final four games and miss the playoffs, again. The cracks were already visible through practice before the big games. As Brook Pryor had noted, “He did not look good. He was making mistakes, he was throwing picks. – I felt like Russ kind of went over a cliff at some point in the season in that five-game losing streak. And no matter how much positivity he’s reaching, the actions didn’t back up the words. It just snowballed.” Other analysts also noted a major red-zone efficiency dip in Wilson’s plays towards the end. The 10 – 7 season stands as proof that something was clearly lacking.

But, for veterans like Ben Roethlisberger, there were greater concerns. And even with Aaron Rodgers leading the team now, Big Ben isn’t all-in for the coaching staff heading into the new season. He believes that if the Steelers fail to turn their losing streaks around, OC Arthur Smith might be on the “hot seat.”

Big Ben’s future sight for Steelers’ coach

The last time the Steelers crossed the playoffs bridge was in 2016, back when Todd Haley was running the offense. Since then, with three other OCs, the team has reached the playoffs but failed to secure a win. On a recent edition of Footbahlin with Ben Roethlisberger, Big Ben discussed the Steelers’ offensive future with his old coach, Randy Fitchner. And Big Ben wondered if Arthur Smith was the guy to lead the offense.

As Ben Roethlisberger said on the podcast, “Is he the coordinator of the future? That’s going to be the key, too, because if you’re building for the future and you end up saying, okay, Arthur Smith ends up, say they don’t have a great year this year, and then it’s like okay, Arthur’s on the hot seat.” Even if the Steelers have a bad year with Aaron Rodgers, Smith will have another shot next year with another QB under center.

But if the losing streak continues, it might be curtain calls for Smith. Big Ben further added, “And then they have another bad year, and then you get rid of the coordinator, and then it’s like, okay, now we’re getting a new coordinator in. – So I think that’s what you have to figure out first… if Arthur Smith and that kind of offense is what you want for the future.”

For now, at least, Arthur Smith is all set to rebuild the team around Aaron Rodgers. His mission for 2025 is to “give your guys the best shot to succeed.” Whether this plays out in favor of Rodgers and Smith or snowballs like Wilson’s time will only be seen once the season kicks into high gear.