Better. Not good. That’s how I would sum up the performance of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense in Sunday’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders. It was better and their best outing of the year. But oh boy, is that a low bar.
The Steelers came into the game knowing they needed to run the ball. Mike Tomlin bluntly said it during his Saturday Mike Tomlin Show. Said they had to. They tried. And they…sorta did? Pittsburgh did go over 100 yards for the first time this season. There was a little more traction against the Raiders.
But as Dave Bryan pointed out, there was also a bunch of negativity. You can’t have it in your run game and expect success. Seven of the Steelers’ 28 runs from their running backs, Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, and Connor Heyward’s lone carry, went for zero or negative yardage. That’s 25 percent of them, which in itself sounds way too high.
Relative to the season as a whole, it’s actually an improvement. But hardly one you go out and celebrate. On the season, the Steelers have had negative runs (excluding kneel downs and no plays), defined as runs gaining zero or minus yardage, 31 percent of the time. That’s by far the most in football. Here’s the top five.
Highest Percentage Of Negative Runs
1. Pittsburgh Steelers – 31.0 percent
2. Las Vegas Raiders – 27.1 percent
3. Arizona Cardinals – 25.6 percent
4. Los Angeles Rams – 25.3 percent
5. New York Jets – 25.0 percent
With the Houston Texans (24.3 percent) and Detroit Lions (22.1 percent) close behind. But there is nearly a four-percent gap between the Steelers and the next closest team, Week Three’s opponent the Las Vegas Raiders.
Numbers are always relative. What’s the bar Pittsburgh should be shooting for? Here are the teams with the lowest/best percentage of negative runs.
Lowest Percentage Of Negative Runs
1. Philadelphia Eagles – 8.0 percent
2. Washington Commanders – 9.4 percent
3. Buffalo Bills – 10.4 percent
4. San Francisco 49ers – 10.5 percent
5. Denver Broncos – 12.3 percent
It’s no surprise to see the Eagles with the best mark, the NFL’s best and most creative run game with an awesome offensive line. The 49ers landing in the top five also doesn’t come as a surprise.
The reason for the Steelers rate of negative runs is multiple. Blame isn’t pinned on one person. But they do have an issue of defenses being able to time snap counts and get a jump on plays, especially when Pittsburgh condenses the formation and goes heavy. Of their seven negative runs, four involved motion.
Or here, where splits and alignment of the tight end alerted Cleveland Browns LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah of the play, allowing him to get a jump on it and blow up the end around to WR Calvin Austin III.
These are just killers. They stall drives, prevent you from extending on third and short, or make you unable to grind out the clock late. Nothing good comes from it and they just give juice to the defense.
Negative runs are going to happen. Expecting a flawless performance is obviously unrealistic and in certain situations, especially at the end of games, they’re more likely to occur when defenses are selling out against it. But Pittsburgh can’t be a run-first team and be so miserable at getting stuffed or losing yardage.
For what it’s worth, the Houston Texans have just seven run stops of zero or negative yardage this season, tied for second fewest this year. Statistically, their run defense has been, at best, middling. Of course, so were the Raiders and Pittsburgh still had these issues. It needs to change not just for this Sunday but for the rest of the year.
