The Atlanta Falcons hired Arthur Smith in 2021, hoping he would be the next young, genius play-caller in the NFL—it didn't take long for everyone to figure out he wasn't.
Three years into his time in Atlanta, he was fired as the head coach after another 7-10 season. Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had a rotating door at offensive coordinator, hired him to be their play-caller.
They hoped he would lead a smash-mouth running game, which would pair well with a lockdown defense. However, his offense has been far too inconsistent, especially when everything is on the line.
Arthur Smith's offense falls flat on its face yet again
Entering Week 16, the Steelers set themselves up in a position to clinch the AFC North title; all they had to do was beat the 3-12 Cleveland Browns. But they couldn't do that despite their defense holding their division rival to 262 yards and 13 points.
Pittsburgh's offense couldn't reach the endzone and was held to six points on two field goals. And again, this was the biggest game of their season. Their offense came up nine yards short of 300 yards and didn't commit a single turnover. How you don't score more than six points with those stats is beyond me.
Smith has routinely shown that he cannot lead a consistent offense no matter who his quarterback is. He has had the chance to fix a half dozen quarterbacks over the past four years and has come up short every single time.
He couldn't make Desmond Ridder, Taylor Heinicke, Justin Fields, or Russell Wilson look anything close to serviceable quarterbacks. This is the same coach who turned Ryan Tannehill's career around—but that may have just been the god-given gifts of Derrick Henry.
The only two quarterbacks he has found any success with are Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers—two future Pro Football Hall of Famers.
Even then, things have been inconsistent. With Rodgers under center this year, he has called great games that end up getting overshadowed by brutal performances.
They have scored 30-plus three times, 20-29 points nine times, 10-19 points twice, and fewer than ten points twice. That last point is what the focus of this is: scoring fewer than ten points in any NFL game is inexcusable. These games have come in critical games against the Bills and the Browns.
It is something Falcons fans saw way too much from Smith's offense. There are far too many inconsistencies to believe his offense can take you to the promised land.