Steelers' Mike McCarthy Must Make Offense Innovative, Get Ahead of NFL Trends to Raise Ceiling

The Pittsburgh Steelers are set to open their season against the Atlanta Falcons Sunday, where we'll get our first real chance to see what Mike McCarthy has in store for the direction of the franchise. Christopher Carter and Ray Fittipaldo talk on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's North Shore Drive podcast about how McCarthy can get the Steelers ahead of some key NFL trends. How do Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington factor in to the Steelers being at the forefront of innovation when it comes to offense and set the stage for McCarthy's era to raise the ceiling of the franchise from recent years. Also, Chris and Ray give you a first look at the Falcons and the challenges they present as week one opponents. Tua Tagovailoa was named as the starting quarterback, and that might be the opportunity he Steelers need to get Patrick Graham's defense up and running. But will they run into trouble with Joey Porter Jr. still negotiating a contract extension, DeShon Elliott on injured reserve, and both Jalen Ramsey and Jaquan Brisker missing a lot of practices? For more sports, visit post-gazette.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.