There is no secret the Pittsburgh Steelers running game has been bad this season. No matter if it’s RB Najee Harris or RB Jaylen Warren, the Steelers just can’t seem to move the ball on the ground. However, since Harris was drafted in 2021, he has starred in post bye week games, seeing a bunch of carries and playing big roles in helping the Steelers securing victories. Tomorrow against the Los Angeles Rams, will this trend continue?
In Harris’ two games coming off a bye week, he’s totaled 190 yards on 46 carries and one touchdown. That’s good for 4.1 yards per carry. Throughout his career, Harris averages 3.86 yards per carry, so he sees a nice little jump in efficiency coming off of a bye week. And while offensive line play does have a big impact on running the ball, the running back plays a role too. Harris, a bruiser, plays the part well.
In a way it makes sense that Harris is so good after the bye week. Standing at 6-foot-1 and weighing at a listed 242 pounds, he is a physical back who after a week off likely feels rejuvenated. Last year off the bye against the New Orleans Saints, Harris sparked the rushing attack for the rest of the season as he carried the ball 20 times for 99 yards as Pittsburgh ran for a total of 217 yards on the ground that day. After his 2021 bye, Harris barreled ahead for 91 yards and a score as the Steelers beat the Browns in a physical affair.
While Harris has not been great this season, we have seen some flashes. Against the Houston Texans, he was the lone offensive bright spot as he carried the ball 14 times for 71 yards in the Steelers’ blowout loss. Now, after a week off, will the Steelers let him run wild against DT Aaron Donald and the Rams?
If I were to guess, so long as the Steelers don’t fall behind early, they will. All offseason the Steelers talked about their desire to be a hard nosed, ground and pound football team, yet so far this season it hasn’t happened. It parallels last season as the Steelers desired to run the football after a poor start to the season and preceded to run the ball 43 times against the Saints. While the Rams are a different beast upfront, they aren’t impenetrable.
Through six games Rams’ opponents are averaging 4.3 yards per carry and the Rams have allowed over 100 yards on the ground four times. And when looking at those games more closely, the lead back has run for an average 70.8 yards against them.
It’s also no secret that Harris is the lead back, despite many calls for increase usage of Warren. Harris has seen twice the carries Warren has this year and both are averaging similar yards per carry (Warren 3.6 and Harris 3.9), so it is not like Warren is more efficient than Harris. Given a week off, and the Steelers’ desire to run the football, it would make sense for them to lean into the ground attack tomorrow.
Another aspect which could help Harris, and the running game as a whole, is the health of the offensive line. After missing two weeks due to injury, OG James Daniels is returning to the lineup this week and with the likely return on LT Dan Moore Jr. the offensive line will be fully healthy for the first time since the Las Vegas Raiders game. To note, Harris ran for 65 yards in that game.
With the offensive line getting healthy, a week off to recharge and iron out mistakes, and the likelihood of the Steelers to try and commit to the run, Harris could see his trend of strong games after the bye week continue. He will likely see the bulk of the carries so long as Pittsburgh doesn’t fall too far behind, and with the Rams lack of success in shutting down lead backs Harris could be poised have his best game of the season.
