The Steelers are now back at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex, facing down a long regular season that looks a lot more promising given how things have gone leading up to it. Finishing just above .500 last year, they anticipate being able to compete with any team in the league this season with second-year QB Kenny Pickett leading the way.
They’ve done a great deal to address what they identified as their shortcomings during the offseason, which included addressing the offensive and defensive lines as well as the secondary and the inside linebacker room, which is nearly entirely different from last year. The results have been positive so far.
Even well into the regular season and beyond, there are going to be plenty of questions that need answered. When will the core rookies get to play, or even start? Is the depth sufficient where they upgraded? Can they stand toe-to-toe with the Bengals and the other top teams in the league? We’ll try to frame the conversation in relevant ways as long as you stick with us throughout the season, as we have for many years.
Question: Can the Steelers once again get the run game going on the other side of the bye week?
The Steelers went through a second-half resurgence in 2022 due to three principle factors: an improved run game, the return of T.J. Watt, and a more favorable schedule.
This year, we’re not at the halfway point of the season, but we are at the bye week all the same. It is the time at which teams have the opportunity to take a breather, assess where they are and where they want to be and figure out ways to get there.
Pittsburgh obviously wants to run the ball better than the offense has managed, even if there have been signs of improvement. But can they turn it into a unit that they can lean upon for extended stretches? There’s no reason, on paper, that it shouldn’t be as good as it was a year ago.
The running backs are the same, only healthier and more experienced. The offensive line should be improved, in theory, with Isaac Seumalo at left guard, and perhaps now rookie Broderick Jones planted at left tackle, not to mention James Daniels going into his second year in the system. He missed the last two games due to injury.
But nevertheless, we sit here looking at the 29th-ranked rushing offense for the season, managing all of 402 rushing yards over five games, at just 3.4 yards per carry, without a single touchdown on the ground. Najee Harris has 247 yards at 3.9 yards per attempt. Jaylen Warren has 124 yards at 3.6 yards per attempt.
Both of them are recording a run success rate just above 44 percent, which is on the lower end of mediocre. I think most would agree that it’s hard to envision a path forward for this season without a more reliable run game. And if we don’t see if after the bye week, when will we?
