The Pittsburgh Steelers were supposed to play bully ball on offense in 2023 but so far, they have forgotten to bring the bully portion to games. That has led to the team rushing having 96 net yards rushing through the first two weeks of the season.
Yes, that 96 yards includes three kneel downs for minus 3 yards so if you want those removed, we’re still talking about a Steelers offense that has yet to hit 100 net yards rushing in two games. How bad is that? Well, really bad from a historical standpoint when it comes to the Steelers’ franchise.
According to Pro Football Reference, the last time the Steelers rushed for less than 100 total yards through their first two games of a season, Weeks One and Two, was in 2013. The 2013 team registered all of 75 net yards through Week Two of the season on 31 total attempts, the same amount of attempts the 2023 team has through Week Two.
Moving past 2013, only one other time a Steelers team has rushed for less than 100 yards combined in their first two games since the merger in 1970 was in 1970. That season, the 1970 Steelers managed to rush for a combined 89 yards through the team’s first two games and on 50 total carries at that.
Going deeper in the 2023 rushing stats, running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren have combined to rush for 100 yards through the team’s first two games on 25 total carries. The other six carries are credited to QB Kenny Pickett (5) and WR Calvin Austin III with those totaling -4 yards. Three of those Pickett rushed were kneel downs for -3 yards, by the way.
As you probably would imagine, those combined 31 rushes so far in 2023 are tied with the 2013 team for the second-fewest through Week Two of a season. The fewest amount of Steelers rushes through Week Two of a single season came in 2019 (29) and that was the year that QB Ben Roethlisberger went down with his injured elbow halfway through the second game.
With two games accounted for, what about through the third game on Sunday night against the Las Vegas Raiders? Well, the Steelers offense needs 60 yards rushing in that contest to avoid having the lowest rushing total in franchise history through three games played. Currently, that dubious franchise record belongs to the 2013 team (155). The 2023 Steelers haven’t cracked the 60-yard rushing mark in either of the team’s first two games, however. In short, we need to see some sort of bully ball show up on Sunday night in Las Vegas.
