There were many issues for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2023 season opener. One of them was the running game, the identity we expected the offense to come out with, which was far from the truth. The defense also failed to limit the 49ers offense in this regard. Here’s a visual to put this in context around the league in Week One:
Pittsburgh had the least rushing attempts in the NFL by far, with only 10, seven less than any other team. Yes, being down on the scoreboard was a big component to this, but only two traditional rushes in the first quarter, including none on the first drive was definitely unexpected before the game got out of hand. Way too predictable, especially against such a good defense.
The Steelers weren’t the only team that got blown out, and the visual gives context to how one-dimensional they became. Teams that lost by more than 14 points in Week One were Pittsburgh, Houston, Cincinnati, Chicago, Seattle, and the New York Giants. Of this group, the Seahawks were the only other team that had less than 20 attempts.
Ten rushing attempts were the least in a regular-season game for Pittsburgh since 2018, with 10 rushes against the Jaguars in Week 11. This was the year Le’Veon Bell held out the entire season, and the Steelers ranked 31st in rushing yards on the year. This context is very painful to open 2023, asking quarterback Kenny Pickett to do way too much. It absolutely needs to change given how the 2023 Steelers have been built.
On the small sample size, Pittsburgh averaged 4.6 yards per carry, which is a healthy number on a surface level. Najee Harris encouragingly provided a 24-yard explosive run, which was great to see, but it came in a two-minute drill before the half down 20 points, with the 49ers playing conservatively. This play also accounted for the majority of the very low 41 total rushing yards in the game. So, the other nine attempts went for 17 yards, for 0.5 yards per carry. The offensive line struggled in the game overall, with guard James Daniels earning the only Pro Football Focus run block grade above 60 (82.1). Hopefully we see better quality and quantity, starting on Monday night against the Browns.
Pittsburgh’s defense allowed the third-most rushing yards in Week One (188 yards), on 34 attempts, which was fifth most. Christian McCaffrey went off for 152 of them, which led the NFL, on 22 rushes (T-first) and 6.9 yards per attempt. This included four runs of 10-plus yards, two of 15-plus yards, and a painful triple explosive 65-yard touchdown. Missed tackles were a big issue for the defense. McCaffrey forced five of them (T-second) and had 125 yards after contact (second).
There were several culprits to the poor run defense in Week One, with cornerback Levi Wallace atop the list. He had a very poor run fill and missed tackle on the triple explosive run. On that same run, safety Damontae Kazee got pancaked and cornerback Patrick Peterson was unable to get off a downfield block. Kazee also had a missed tackle on another run. Other players that were below the line were linebacker Cole Holcomb and defensive linemen Montravius Adams and Isaiahh Loudermilk. Not what you want to hear, especially considering the unfortunate injury to Cameron Heyward, and another huge task to overcome in hopes of remedying their run defense. The Steelers defense had five missed tackles against the run, and the players yet to be named were edge rusher Nick Herbig and linebacker Elandon Roberts.
The visual also highlights the Steelers’ next challenge, with the Browns having the second-most rushing yards in week two (206), one of only two teams with more than 200. Their whopping 40 attempts tied for the most in the opener, an impressive 24-3 win against the Bengals. Nick Chubb is a monster, and he rushed for 106 yards (fourth among running backs) on just 18 attempts. Quarterback Deshaun Watson also provides a challenge in this regard, and he had 45 rushing yards last game on five attempts. They also use wide receivers in the running game, and Elijah Moore added 19 yards on two attempts as well.
The Steelers’ run defense will surely need to turn things around in Pittsburgh hopes to avoid an 0-2 start. Here’s hoping some players who did play well against the run last game can lead this charge, namely edge rusher Alex Highsmith, rookie Keeanu Benton — that would be huge in Heyward’s absence — and Roberts, whose quick reactions and tackle-for-loss ability need to show up again. Knock on wood it’s a better run game showing for Pittsburgh on both sides of the ball on Monday night.
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