Najee Harris doesn’t want to hear about blaming Matt Canada, Mike Tomlin, or any of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ coaching staff. To him, the problem with the team’s struggling offense rests with the 11 players on the field, not what the play call is or should’ve been.
Speaking to reporters after Wednesday’s practice, Harris said coaches are being blamed by the media too often.
“I see everybody talking about this coaching stuff, about play calling,” Harris said via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “But bruh, do you all know how football works? Coaches coach but we gotta execute the plays. We’re not trying to point the finger at all. This is not the time to do that either.”
The offense has struggled throughout the Steelers’ first four games. With just four touchdowns this season and two blowout losses, the most recent one Sunday against the Houston Texans, offensive coordinator Matt Canada has become the most well-known assistant in football. Most in the media are calling for him to be fired, a move many would argue is long overdue.
But Harris is owning the issues the players have, too. Execution has also been a big problem of the offense. Poor technique, not enough physicality, and mental errors have hurt this team throughout the first month. Pittsburgh ranks near the bottom in every statistical category and when things are that bad, rarely does the blame fall on one person or unit.
“That has nothing to do with coaches,” Harris said of the team’s poor execution. “It’s just players. We have to play better, you know what I mean? We can’t just keep looking at the coaches as an outlet or whatever y’all putting out there as outlets. It’s just stupid what you all are doing, really.”
Harris is coming off one of his better games of the season even if it came in a losing effort. He ran hard and broke six tackles against the Texans as the Steelers used the third quarter to try to climb back into the game before the team’s failed fourth-down call shifted momentum back Houston’s way. Still, the run game has not been good enough overall, a consistent theme over the last several seasons.
More specifically, Harris said the reason for the offense’s poor showings is a lack of a killer instinct.
“I think that we’re just not playing right with that edge right now. And that’s what we need to do better.”
It’s admirable for Harris to shift the blame from the coaches to the players. In a sense, the coaching staff has taken too much heat for the offense’s woes. The Steelers’ problems run deeper than just Canada. But as we broke down this morning, it’s a “both/and” problem. It’s not just players. It’s not just coaches. Everyone has to be better. That’s the only way Pittsburgh gets on track.
