Mike Mularkey fulfilled his mission in the Steelers' four exhibition games. He showed the Jacksonville Jaguars little of what everyone has been calling his simplified offense.
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Kordell Stewart shows there's nothing up his sleeve. Or is there as the Steelers prepare to unveil their new offense Sunday? (Matt Freed, Post-Gazette) |
Starting Sunday, that offense might not look so simple in Jacksonville as Mularkey unveils many of the nuances he introduced during training camp.
"There will be some more things that we've kind of held back," said Mularkey, entering his first regular-season game as the team's offensive coordinator. "Not just particularly for this game, but the first few games we feel will be an advantage to us."
Coach Bill Cowher doesn't care what Mularkey runs or throws if it works.
"You want new stuff?" Cowher said, chuckling at a reporter's question about what Mularkey has held back from his offense this summer. "I do, too, as long as the new stuff works.
"I don't know. Every time I hear Mike say that, I say why are you saying that? We're going to do what we do.
"Don't let the buildup become such that it's going to be too dramatic. I don't want you to get let down and say, there was nothing new there. I just want to get a 'W.' Whatever it takes to get a 'W' down there. Make some third downs, move the sticks, keep their offense off the field and don't turn the football over. That may sound like old stuff but it's good stuff. I'll take that over anything that's new and innovative that doesn't work."
The offense Cowher probably liked best was Ron Erhardt's stodgy old thing that helped get the Steelers to the Super Bowl after the 1995 season.
His players, however, have given a firm stamp of approval all summer to Mularkey's offense, which took much of what Kevin Gilbride ran and added and subtracted. He mainly reduced all the option routes and the seven-step drops by the quarterback.
Mularkey's offense will emphasize quick decisions by Kordell Stewart and try to take advantage of Stewart's ability to run and scramble out of a passing situation if he finds no one open. He will deploy more movement by players before the snaps and there will be different formations. Those include the "bunch" formations where two wide receivers and a tight end cluster closely, not far from the tackle.
It will be rare when the Steelers send five wide receivers into formation, which had been a favorite since 1997. That's why they kept only five receives on the roster. Instead, there will be more formations that feature three receivers, a tight end and a back or two halfbacks and three receivers.
"Man, you didn't see it all yet," fullback Jon Witman said. "We've got a lot of stuff in that we haven't used this preseason, a lot of movement. I think it's going to get better."
Sending players in motion before the snap seems to hold the key to part of Mularkey's subterfuge.
"What we really kept under covers was misdirection," tackle Wayne Gandy said. "Usually, you break the huddle, go to the line and we might have one little basic move and run the play. Now, we'll break the huddle and the defense will have to move with us. There will be more motion."
With motion, Gandy predicted, will come confusion by the defense.
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Big 'O' |
Top offenses in 2000 |
Rank |
Team |
Ypg. |
1. |
Rams |
442.2 |
2. |
Broncos |
410.4 |
3. |
Colts |
383.8 |
4. |
49ers |
377.5 |
5. |
Vikings |
372.6 |
18. |
Steelers |
297.9 |
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"Sometimes, a [defender] thought he was in one thing and because someone moved and he really didn't see it, the next thing you know our guys are running down the sideline. Teams like the Rams and others are doing that of late. You get mismatches set up because people had to move and now they're not sure what [defense] they're in."
The Steelers threw many more screen passes in their exhibition games, something they've not executed well in the past few years. They promise to bring back a longtime Steelers bread-and-butter play, the sprint draw. It worked well for them for years but they only used it a handful of times last season.
As Cowher warned, however, don't expect Star Wars from his offense.
"People have to realize we have Jerome Bettis back there," receiver Bobby Shaw said. "We're not going to have the passing yards St. Louis has. We understand that. As wideouts, we have to take on more in terms of blocking and that. You just have to understand we're not going to get as many opportunities."
Cowher's goal when he fired Gilbride in January was to improve a passing game that ranked 29th in the 31-team NFL last season. Those were Mularkey's marching orders and what he has been trying to do.
"We've spent a lot of time trying to put that thing together," Mularkey said. "I think it's gotten better each week. If we keep on track, I think we will be better."
Mularkey broke into pro football under Sam Wyche, so there's always the chance of trick plays and the no-huddle offense, which they used against Buffalo in the final exhibition game, allowing Stewart to call his own plays.
"We've had success with it," Mularkey said. "It's a little different than the way Sam did it. But it's the same thought process as far as being in an attack mode, with different wrinkles."
The wrinkle Mularkey will want to stay away from is the one that forms on Cowher's forehead when something doesn't work.
Mike Mularkey to unveil nuances of offense vs. Jaguars 
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