Some put woes of the run game far down on the list of problems facing the Pittsburgh Steelers.
To a certain extent, that’s understandable. There are plenty of other things to worry about. Injuries to star players. A passing game that’s struggling on offense, too. Spotty play in the secondary.
Plus, who cares, right? The NFL is a passing league these days n’at, so it’s not that big of a deal if the Steelers can’t run the ball. After all, the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers were 28th in rushing in 2020. The AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs were 16th.
But we’ve heard these rationalizations for run game failures in Pittsburgh for years now. And it’s time to tune them out.
Because the Steelers run game is so bad it’s tangibly affecting every other area of the team in a negative way. And that needs to stop.
The Steelers are last in the league in rushing through the NFL’s first two weeks at 57 yards per game. They were last a season ago through all 17 weeks at 84.4 yards per game.
Only two teams — the Green Bay Packers (3.0) and Las Vegas Raiders (2.9) — have a worse yards per rush than the Steelers’ 3.3. The Jacksonville Jaguars (32) are the only team to attempt fewer rushes than the Steelers (35).
The Steelers offensive line simply can’t run block. It’s not particularly great at pass blocking either, mind you. So that’s a big problem. As a result, Ben Roethlisberger is getting hit way too much. He absorbed two sacks and eight additional quarterback hits against the Raiders Sunday.
That wear and tear likely contributed to the injured left pectoral muscle that Mike Tomlin mentioned Tuesday during his press conference.
“He took too many hits,” Tomlin said. “We can run the ball better. We can get the ball out of his hand quicker. We can stay on schedule and not get behind the sticks and get in situations where the line of gain is so far that it enhances the rush.”
I agree with everything Tomlin said there except for Roethlisberger needing to get rid of the ball faster. He leads the NFL in quickest average time to throw at 2.41 seconds. How much faster can he get?
Everything else Tomlin said is right, though. Roethlisberger isn’t just getting hit too frequently because the offensive line can’t pass block and/or he’s too old to elude the rush.
It’s happening because the opposing defense doesn’t have to honor the run. So pass rushers can attack the line of scrimmage with reckless abandon.
To Tomlin’s other point, opposing defenses are also in down and distance situations that are allowing them to rush freely because the Steelers aren’t gaining enough rushing yards on first and second down.
Furthermore, the Steelers’ injury-riddled defense is on the field too much, in part, because of the anemic run game. Tomlin’s team lost the time of possession battle to the Buffalo Bills 33:17 to 26:43. Granted, the Steelers’ blocked-punt touchdown had a little something to do with that. But they lost it again Sunday to Las Vegas 34:22 to 25:38.
They are 28th in the league in time of possession through two games. And that’s despite having a defense that was largely excellent in Week 1.
Why? Again, no run game to speak of to control the clock.
“We’ve just got to keep working,” Tomlin said of the run game. “It’s development. It doesn’t happen in an instant. It doesn’t happen overnight. We’re sensitive to that. But at the same time, there’s urgency because we’ve got ballgames to win in the midst of all of this.”
Tomlin’s patchwork offensive line has come under scrutiny for its inability to run block. But does rookie first-round running back Najee Harris deserve blame for missing rare holes when they do develop? Or running to the wrong spot? Or failure to maximize runs when he can get beyond the first wave of defenders cleanly?
I’ve been looking for that. Honestly, I’m having trouble finding evidence. If I’m squinting, perhaps on one or two occasions versus the Raiders Sunday, I did think Harris looked so stunned to actually see daylight beyond the line of scrimmage, that maybe he stuttered a bit through a wide-open hole.
However, for the most part, I think Harris is doing whatever he can with the limited space he’s been given. When I asked Tomlin about Harris Tuesday, he expressed a similar sentiment.
“We spent a lot of time talking about the cohesion and the development and the comfortability of the blockers, but the same could be said for the runner who’s also played eight quarters of NFL football,” Tomlin said. “He was better last week than he was in Week 1 in terms of the things that we value. Some things that aren’t valued to the naked eye. Professionalism things, mechanical things, technical things. He’s going to continue to get comfortable.”
The best way to get comfortable would be a few holes big enough for him to find second gear and average more than 3.2 yards per carry.
Not only would Harris benefit from such help, but so would the rest of the team. Whether the NFL is a passing league or not.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.