The Pittsburgh Steelers need to run the football better. That’s not some kind of open secret. It’s just a statement of fact. They are averaging 3.1 yards per rush and have the 31st-ranked rushing offense by yardage output through the first two weeks of the season.
Granted, they also have the second-fewest rushing attempts in that same time period, and that’s part of the problem, but regardless of the whys, what matters now are the hows. More specifically, how do they get better running the ball? Because that is what the entire offense, the entire team needs.
“I think the big part of that is running the ball, which obviously we haven’t done the first two weeks and will be the point of emphasis now and going forward”, C Mason Cole told reporters on Wednesday, via the team’s website.
That’s nice to hear and all, and it’s not the first time we’ve heard it, either, but it’s the results that matter. All offseason we were given the impression that the running game would be the focus, yet it hasn’t been. Now, in-game factors weigh heavily on that, no doubt, particularly in the opening game when they didn’t pick up a first down through the first 28 minutes, but something’s got to give.
“It’s how we prepare for games, how we prepare in practice”, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quoted Cole as saying, in an excerpt from his locker room interview that was conspicuously left out of the video the team posted. “We have a lot in, schematically. Maybe we need to tone it down a little bit and just run some base stuff, get four hands on guys and get this running game off the ground”.
What is football? Blocking and tackling, at its core, right? How about doing some of those things, or doing it better? Focus on the basics, master those, and then expanded as allowed. Former offensive coordinator Todd Haley had no hesitation running the same basic play over and over again as long as it was working.
The Steelers haven’t run a ton of power football so far this year; when they have, they have struggled to execute it properly, admittedly. One of the team’s best runs so far was on a cutback by RB Najee Harris because the blocking wasn’t there. He reversed field entirely and picked up a nice chunk. That’s not scheme or execution, at least not collectively.
There are always many fingers to blame in a situation like this. Is it the scheme? Yes. Is it the play-calling? Yes. Is it the coaching, including the offensive line coaching? Yes. Is it the players? Of course it is. All of the above. All of these elements have to get better.
The problem is the Steelers are still searching for what works from them. They were not able to pick up where they left off at the end of last season, certainly, when they were actually running the ball with reasonable effectiveness. Now they have to figure out what their rushing personality is for this new season. And they have to get it done in time for Sunday night’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
