Through three games, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ rushing attack isn’t exactly where we thought it would be to start the 2023 season. Pittsburgh finished 2022 on a roll in the run game department, adopting run-heavy offensive attack as the team aided rookie QB Kenny Pickett by taking more of the pressure off his shoulders. The combination of RBs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren finished the season strong down the stretch, having the offensive line come together as well as Pittsburgh rushed for over 100 yards as a team in eight of its final nine games.
However, the Steelers just recorded their first 100-yard rushing performance as a team Sunday night against the Las Vegas Raiders after totaling 96 rushing yards in their first two contests. The offense has struggled to get much going on the ground as Pittsburgh has had the highest percentage of negative runs in the NFL through Week Three. Still, we saw Pittsburgh’s rushing offense nearly double its previous output from the week before, something that Harris credits to continued work behind the scenes.
“Just get better about how we are doing things every week,” Harris said to the media via video from Jeff Hathhorn’s Twitter page. “It just takes time. As long as we’re trending upwards, that’s all that matters. The run game is starting to help open up a lot of stuff. Play-action starting to help create those big plays.”
We hoped for Pittsburgh to be in a better spot regarding its offense after what we saw during the preseason, but Harris, as well as the rest of the team acknowledges that the team is getting better after a shaky start. Mike Tomlin mentioned the same thing in his weekly press conference, stating that his football team is showing signs of growth despite still being in development in the early stages of the season.
The step forward in the running game Sunday night did open up Pittsburgh’s offense in the passing game, allowing the Steelers to utilize play-action more. Pickett has proven to be quite effective in play-action in 2023, completing 12-of-16 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions, coming out to a passer rating of 145.6 according to Pro Football Focus. As the running game continues to improve and starts creating more explosive runs, that will only help the Steelers’ play-action passing game become more effective as defenses must play them honest.
With the Houston Texans up next, Pittsburgh will look to keep momentum going against a defense that ranks 17th in the league against both the run and the pass this season.
