Steelers' offense outshines defense like never before

When wide receiver Antonio Brown was drafted by the Steelers in 2010, the team was in the middle of six consecutive seasons in which it ranked among the top five in the NFL in defense.

That generally mirrors the franchise's storied history, particularly during the post-Chuck Noll era.

So does the fact that the Steelers' offense — statistically, at least — was no better than average over that six-year span.

How things have changed.

“(Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger) talks about it a lot — how we want our offense to be known,” Brown said. “The Steelers are always known for great defense. So anytime we can flip that around is always exciting.”

Brown, center Maurkice Pouncey, running back Le'Veon Bell — all first-team All Pros in 2014 — and NFL co-leader in passing yardage Roethlisberger have turned the Steelers, as they historically had been known, upside down.

The Steelers last season had the NFL's No. 2 offense, 16 spots better than where their defense ranked.

It marked the first time since 2006 and only the third over the past 22 seasons the Steelers offense was better relative to its NFL peers than its defense.

Over the 75 seasons since the franchise adopted the “Steelers” moniker (they were the “Pirates” from 1933-39), the offense has had a better league ranking than the defense just 17 times. The 2014 ranking differential the Steelers offense carried over the defense easily is the biggest in club history. By comparison, during the 18 seasons between 1993-2013 that the Steelers' defense was statistically higher-ranked than their offense, the average difference was almost 12 spots.

“People still talk about that defense,” said guard Ramon Foster of the unit that led the NFL in yardage, points allowed or both five times in six years between 2007-2012. “Those guys left a legacy.

“We (as an offense) now have to stay on top. (The defense) did it year after year. We can't come around in camp and this season … as if we have made it. It doesn't mean anything unless we can keep it up.”

History suggests that won't be easy, although the Steelers have of the most talented offensive rosters in the league.

The Steelers' No. 2 ranking last season marked only the second time in 81 seasons the team had one of the league's top-two statistical offenses.

The 1979 team ranked No. 1. That's also the only team among the Steelers' eight that have played in the Super Bowl that had a higher-ranked offense than defense.

The 1979 Steelers defense was the NFL's second-best.

“Of course, it's always good to have a good offense,” said James Harrison, who has played for eight Steelers teams that ranked among the top five in the league defensively but did not have a top-five offense to work with until last season.

“It makes things easier for the defense. It's just a little switched up from what it usually is right now, but it's never a bad thing to have a good offense.”

The Steelers last season finished three-tenths of a yard behind New Orleans for the most yards per game (411.1) and led the league in time of possession (32:24) and yards per play (6.2, tied with Green Bay).

The Steelers broke 35-year-old franchise records for points (436) and total yards (6,577) and also established records for first downs (379) and passing yardage (301.6 per game).

The team ranked second in the NFL in passing yardage and first downs. Roethlisberger, Bell and Brown combined to break 10 single-season club records covering a variety of offensive superlatives.

On the whole, a tough act to follow.

“We are going to try,” offensive coordinator Todd Haley said. “That's our goal every year. (And we try) to get better every day. We have a lot of people back, which is a good thing.”

The Steelers return all 11 of their starters on offense for the first time since the strike-shortened 1982 season. In a possible sign the unit still hasn't peaked, only two of the offense's starters are in their 30s.

“You can tell that some of those guys, like (receivers) Martavis Bryant, Markus Wheaton and Le'Veon Bell, they are getting more comfortable,” Haley said. “That doesn't necessarily mean that you are going to be better. But I think the fact that they are more comfortable and understand how we are trying to do things, that it will only help them have a chance to be better. And that's the goal.”

The 2014 Steelers offense wasn't perfect: All that yardage still only equated into the NFL's seventh-most points. A lot of that was because of a red-zone touchdown conversion percentage (51.7) that was 19th in the league. During three of its five losses, the team scored a total of 29 points.

“There are still a lot of areas that we can improve in,” said Roethlisberger, whose 4,952 passing yards last season tied Drew Brees for the NFL's most and allowed him to join Jim Finks (1955) as the Steelers' lone league passing champions.

“We want to improve on third downs, improve in the red zone and we want to score more points. Obviously, guys had some amazing individual seasons last year, and we had a really good season on offense in general, but there are always areas we can improve in and get better.”

Get better? That could be a frightening proposition for the rest of the league after Bell lead the AFC with a club-record 2,215 yards from scrimmage and Brown topped the NFL in catches (129) and receiving yards (1,698) in 2014.

“We can be as good as we want,” Brown said. “I think everyone's hungry, we've got a young group, everyone is excited to return.

“We're excited to make even more strides this year.”

Chris Adamski is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at cadamski@tribweb.com or via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.