Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley says that “30 points per game is still a goal” for the 2016 NFL season, despite the fact Pittsburgh settled for 26.4 points per game last season.
But Haley has every reason to believe that a healthy Steelers offense will hit that 30.0 mark for the first time in franchise history in 2016. Two particular reasons why…
1. Ben Roethlisberger missed a quarter of the Steelers’ 2015 campaign, yet Big Ben still led the league in 40-yard completions. Without him, the Steelers averaged 20.5 points per game. With him, they averaged 28.4.
2. Le’Veon Bell missed the majority of the Steelers’ 2015 campaign. Veteran backup DeAngelo Williams did a decent job picking up the slack, but Bell was one of the league’s best backs in 2014. In the six games he started, Bell averaged 4.9 yards per carry and amassed 692 yards from scrimmage, and the Steelers went 4-2.
Roethlisberger and Bell started just two games together last season. With Antonio Brown back and likely to be just as dominant, and with new tight end Ladarius Green bringing some athleticism to the pass-catching corps, look for the Pittsburgh offense to really take off next year.
Assuming those guys can stay healthy, of course.
