Football Footnotes: Why Arthur Smith's offense worked in Tennessee and how it may work again with the Steelers

It’s been three days since word broke that the Pittsburgh Steelers plan to hire Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator. By now, you’ve probably read a lot about what went wrong for him as Atlanta’s head coach from 2021-23.

Those teams never made the playoffs, going 7-10 every year. The last two years, they were 31st (2022) and 22nd (2023) in passing offense. They were 26th in scoring this year at 18.9 points per game, and they were 30th in red zone touchdown percentage at 46.8%. Plus, Smith was pilloried for failing to develop quarterback Desmond Ridder while also not leaning enough on the potential of young skill position players such as Bijan Robinson (RB), Drake London (WR) and Kyle Pitts (TE).

But when he was the offensive coordinator in Tennessee in 2019-20, those offenses had a great deal of success. The Titans finished 10th in the NFL in points per game in 2019. With star running back Derrick Henry carrying the load, Tennessee wound up with 138.9 rushing yards per game, third best in the NFL.

In 2020, only the Baltimore Ravens had a better rushing attack, as the Titans put up 168.1 yards per contest. The club was fourth in points at 30.7. Henry had 3,567 yards rushing over those two seasons. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill had a passer rating of 110.6 over those two years and was 18-8. He had a 55:13 touchdown to interception ratio. He made the Pro Bowl in 2019 when his 9.6 yards gained per pass attempt led the NFL. Tannehill also led the NFL in passer rating in 2019 (117) and was fifth in 2020 (106.5).

The team went 9-7 in 2019 and won two playoff games. In 2020, the team went 11-5 and lost its only playoff game to Baltimore.

So, what went right in Tennessee for Smith before things went sideways in Atlanta? That’s what I asked former WTAE sports anchor Jon Burton, now of News Channel 5 and WNSR Sports Radio in Nashville, when he joined me during the “Breakfast With Benz” podcast this week.

Is Smith’s offense simply “grahnd and pahnd”: “It’s actually a little bit more balanced than ‘ground and pound.’ Everybody points to the production Derrick Henry had under Arthur Smith and for good reason,” Burton said.

“But there is a lot of balance there too. Go back to that 2020 season. Derrick had over 2,000 yards, but AJ Brown had over 1,000 yards receiving. And Ryan Tannehill threw for 3,800 yards, 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions. So it was just a nice mix there. It was one of the more exciting, productive offenses in the NFL that season.”

On what Smith wants out of his linemen: “They had (center) Ben Jones (6-foot-3, 308 pounds), (tackle) Taylor Lewan (6-foot-7, 315 pounds) and (guard) Roger Saffold (6-foot-5, 325 pounds). Big, strong, physical, mean, nasty guys. I think Arthur is the type of guy who could make any kind of offensive line or running game work, depending on the personnel. But when he was here, yeah, he had big, strong road graders in front, and then you had a big hoss in the backfield like Derrick Henry.”

When the air attack was working well with Ryan Tannehill, what made it click?: “A rhythmic and timing passing game. Under Art’s system, the quarterbacks are taught to throw to a spot and expect the receiver to be there. If they’re not there, that’s on them. That’s not on you. And Ryan Tannehill got really comfortable with that,” Burton said. “A lot of short passes. But the biggest thing they had going was with the threat of (Henry) in the backfield. You couldn’t just walk your safeties up because it was a run/play-action offense. Tannehill was really good with his ball fakes, and he was able to play with play-action due to Derrick Henry.

“The next thing you know, you’ve got A.J. Brown hitting an over route or a crossing route and taking it 75 yards to the house. So it really made you, as a defensive coordinator, unsure about how to line up to stop them.”

Quick editorial note here: It’s great that play-action may be a big part of Pickett’s game. I think he needs that. But the idea of Pickett standing in the pocket long enough to let the play develop and the Steelers’ two erratic receivers — Diontae Johnson and George Pickens — constantly getting to the right spot at the right time to catch a well-placed ball for lots of yards after the catch sounds like fairy tale stuff to me.

We saw some of that last year with Mason Rudolph at QB, but nowhere near enough with Pickett.

Was Smith’s run game really that well-designed? Or was he just lucky to have Henry: “I would say yes to both,” Burton said. “I think his running game has a good design to it. It’s more of a power attack, but I think he’s versatile enough as an OC that if he has to go to more of a zone running scheme, he can do that. He’ll do a good job of evaluating what talent he has. But, yeah, if you have Derrick Henry back there, that’s going to help any offense. There’s no question.”

Can Smith rediscover Pat Freiermuth?: “A lot of use of the tight ends as well. Jonnu Smith and Anthony Frisker were the two tight ends who also were highly productive in Arthur Smith’s offense,” Burton said.

In 2020, Frisker and Smith totaled 80 receptions for 835 yards and nine touchdowns.

Freiermuth had just 32 catches for 308 yards and two touchdowns last year. Granted, he played just 12 games, but keep in mind, nine of those catches and 120 of those yards came in one game at Cincinnati.

Why did things go wrong for Smith as a head coach in Atlanta: “He didn’t do a very good job developing (quarterback) Desmond Ridder. So it’ll be interesting to see what he can do with a young quarterback, assuming Kenny Pickett will be the starter again next year,” Burton said.

“When Ryan Tannehill got (to Nashville), he was a veteran. He had played a lot of games. He led the Miami Dolphins to the playoffs one year (against the Steelers in 2016-17, but didn’t play). So that’s going to be the biggest thing: How well the receivers adapt to his timing offense in the passing game and how well he can develop — and how quickly he can develop — a young quarterback like Kenny Pickett.”

Why should Pittsburgh believe they are getting the Tennessee version of Smith?: “Some guys just make better coordinators than head coaches. Now that Arthur will have his sole focus on developing the offense, perfecting and working with the skill players that the Steelers have, you could very well see better results than what you saw in Atlanta,” Burton said.

Here’s to hoping that’s true.

Listen: Tim Benz and Jon Burton of News Channel 5 and WNSR Sports Radio in Nashville discuss the Steelers’ decision to hire Arthur Smith.