In the Week One loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Pittsburgh Steelers were playing from behind early and often, leading to a significant lack of balance offensively.
That caused some concerns for second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett, who stated after the game he wanted to see more balance offensively from the Black and Gold. Against San Francisco, Pittsburgh dropped back to pass 50 times (an additional pass attempt was a flip to Calvin Austin III on a play that mimicked a jet sweep) and attempted just 10 rushes. Though Pittsburgh trailed early and never came within 13 points in the game, there was a noticeable lack of running the football early that got the Steelers out of sorts.