Coming off Pittsburgh’s humiliating 30-6 defeat on the road to the Houston Texans, there’s very few positive takeaways, if any, that one can walk away from that game. However, while watching that beatdown on Sunday afternoon, one positive I walked away with was the heart and grit that RB Najee Harris showed in a losing effort.
As Alex Kozora mentioned in a piece he wrote this morning, Pittsburgh has looked lifeless at times, lacking the fire on the field needed for highly competitive settings as a lot of guys look to be going through the motions. That wasn’t the case for Harris on Sunday as the third year back normally is quite the passionate guy on the field and hates to lose, doing whatever he possibly can to try and elevate his team.
The Film
Starting the game, Harris looked to be in for quite the long day at the office, as has been the trend for Pittsburgh’s running game this season. He was initially met with strong resistance on his first couple of carries as you can see below with his first carry. He sees the offensive line surge halt after just passing the line of scrimmage, falling forward for four yards. In the second clip, we see Harris get knocked backward as C Mason Cole gets pushed back into the backfield. That allows the whole defense to rally to the ball and bring Harris down behind the line for a loss on the play.
However, in the second half after Pittsburgh likely received a strong pep talk from head coach Mike Tomlin, Harris came out like a man possessed. Watch his first carry of the second half. Harris is immediately met in the backfield after taking the handoff on the inside zone run as TE Darnell Washington can’t get to DE Jonathan Greenard in time. However, Harris manages to step out of the tackle attempt and then steps out of another tackle attempt by S Jalen Pitre, making it past the first down marker as he fights for extra yardage while being wrapped up by multiple defenders, including S Jimmie Ward, who takes him down by the legs.
Pittsburgh goes right back to Harris the very next play. Taking the handoff up the middle as TE Connor Heyward comes across the line of scrimmage to cut DE Will Anderson Jr., Harris gets wrapped up by both DL Sheldon Rankins and LB Christian Harris, taking a shot by the latter as he reaches the second level to pick up four yards on first down.
Harris’ next splash play came with 7:16 left in the third quarter. After looking to help pass protect on third-and-three, he releases in his route, running the scramble drill as Pickett leaves the pocket, catching a contested pass on LB Henry To’oTo’o. Harris rolls over, gets up, and is hit by Ward flying in toward the sideline. He manages to stay up and starts charging ahead, running through an arm tackle by CB Steven Nelson and carries Christian Harris for another five yards before finally being brought down after a 32-yard catch and run.
Harris’ final explosive play of the game came with 4:43 left in the third quarter on a run where he looked like an inmate escaping from prison with the burst and urgency displayed on the carry. When you watch the play, you see Harris get up to speed quickly on the inside handoff with LG Isaac Seumalo quick pulling to kick out Rankins. Harris leaps over Pitre as he crosses the line of scrimmage, evading multiple arm tackles as he stiff arms and hurdles one defender attempting to tackle him at the first down marker. He works his way to the sideline before finally being tripped up after an explosive run on first down.
Conclusion
Harris finished the game with 14 carries for 71 yards (5.1 yards per carry) and one reception for 32 yards, totaling 103 scrimmage yards. There were several carries where Harris failed to get positive yardage or get more than a couple of yards past the line of scrimmage, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. Pittsburgh’s blocking scheme was flawed throughout the game, having defenders constantly getting in the backfield, making Harris and RB Jaylen Warren must fight just to make it back to the line of scrimmage on top of trying to get positive yards on the play.
Despite having defenders consistently on him, Harris managed to rip off several explosive plays on the day and had the team’s longest reception of the game. We saw a sense of urgency and determination from Harris as whatever was said at halftime noticeably struck a chord with him, and he tried to spark Pittsburgh’s stagnant offense. He showed more burst and juice than we’ve seen from him this season, managing to attack the line quickly after taking the handoff while breaking multiple tackles, fighting forward for every single yard possible.
Harris’ valiant efforts ultimately didn’t make much of a difference as Pittsburgh still got blown out, but that doesn’t discredit the effort he put on display. It would have been easy for Harris to accept defeat, especially after he’s seen his role slowly decrease to start the season. That’s not how Harris is wired, though, as he’s a competitor who’s been taught to fight until the end. Hopefully Harris’ efforts will be pointed out to the rest of the team on film this week as Pittsburgh needs its entire team to play with the same fire and determination that Harris displayed against Houston.
