It’s been a very tough, unpleasant four weeks for the offense of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Steelers have struggled to generate yardage and most importantly points. After the rather disappointing showings we’ve heard a number of players talk about the lack of execution on their part and about they need to be better at running the plays that are called, taking the onus on themselves.
That certainly sounds good and all and is the right move from a public relations standpoint, refusing to say anything negative about the play caller who is very much maligned within the city and the fan base at this point, that being Matt Canada.
Sunday though, in a disheartening 30-6 beatdown at the hands of the upstart Houston Texans, the Steelers started to show some cracks in the armor of that united front offensively. Specifically, those cracks are coming from veteran center Mason Cole and running back Najee Harris. Cole with some pointed comments and body language and Harris from body language on the sideline.
Harris was rather frustrated with a call in the second half that saw the Steelers take him off the field on third and 2 and then run the ball with Jaylen Warren, especially after Harris had been running well to that point. He was seen on the TV broadcast coming to the sideline seemingly questioning the decision to head coach Mike Tomlin.
Then, after the game, Cole made some interesting comments to reporters regarding the offense getting “scared” away from running the football after one negative play, and that the offense is too often waiting on splash plays, and when they don’t come then they’re not converting stuff.
“There’s times when we’re running the ball really well, then one bad or negative run will scare us away from it,” Brian Batko of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette quotes him as saying, via Twitter. “We’re behind the chains, we’re trying to catch up, and you get in bad situations. We just have to be more consistent across the board.”
“We’ve had these spurts where we look good and we’re not doing this soon enough in games. We’re not functioning efficiently. I think we’re waiting on splash plays and when we don’t get ’em, we’re not converting third downs and it’s just inefficient. bad ball,” Cole added to reporters following the loss, according to video via the Steelers’ Twitter page.
Upon first hearing those comments, they felt rather sharp regarding the frustration that Cole is having. But then, when reviewing the All-22 tape from the loss to the Texans and seeing some of the body language from Cole and pairing those with his comments, it’s starting to feel like he’s rather frustrated with the play calling and overall decision making.
Following the failed fourth-and-1 play in the fourth quarter that saw Kenny Pickett run into a sack, Cole can be seen on the All-22 ripping his helmet off and stalking to the sideline. Rather irritated, he makes a sweeping motion with his hand that appears to be about running the football downhill, rather than going shotgun and passing on fourth and 1.
Earlier in the game the Steelers converted a third and short with a nice quarterback sneak. Then at that point in the game in which Canada called the mind-numbing play on fourth and 1, the Steelers were chewing up the Texans on the ground. Running back Najee Harris had 55 rushing yards on nine carries in the quarter and was really getting going.
Then, Canada inexplicably went away from him.
Seeing Cole’s body language and then matching them up with his postgame comments, it’s not hard to connect the dots. A few plays prior to the failed fourth-down call, Warren was hit in the backfield on a perfectly timed safety blitz by Houston’s Jalen Pitre. The second-year man read the condensed formation perfectly from Pittsburgh and knifed home, popping the ball free from Warren.
Pickett recovered the fumble, but after that the Steelers didn’t run the ball again on the dive. That’s where Cole’s comments about being scared off by one negative play in the run game come into focus. The tape and the body language line up with the comments.
Even going back to the failed third-and-2 run from Warren earlier in the third quarter in which Harris was not happy to be taken out of the game, after that play was a negative, Canada called just two runs in the next seven offensive plays. There’s definitely a lot of truth to Cole’s comments.
So far Pittsburgh has been united offensively, aiming to keep improving, keep getting better every week and focusing on better execution.
Sunday was the first sign of the crack in the armor, starting with Cole and Harris, two leaders offensively.
It’s hard to blame the two, and it’s never a good sign when that starts so early in the season. This has a chance to snowball if the offense doesn’t improve and changes aren’t made. There’s frustration that continues to boil under the surface for all involved.
