Through the first five weeks of the 2023 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ running game has been bad… and that’s putting it nicely.
They officially set a franchise record by not scoring a rushing touchdown in their first five games, putting them with the Minnesota Vikings as the only two teams without a rushing score this season. The team ranks 30th in the league in rushing with the offensive line ranking near the bottom of the league as well, according to Pro Football Focus, failing to live up to the expectations that this team had to start the season.
Kenny Pickett was asked about the running game woes on Tuesday and how this same team managed to bounce back and produce a successful running game after their bye week last season, really finding its groove down the stretch. When asked what the Steelers could change to see a similar turnaround this year, Pickett kept his answer short, pointing to a factor outside of his control when addressing the underperforming rushing attack.
“I mean, I’m not going to get into the X’s and O’s and scheme and what we could be or should be doing,” Pickett said to the media Tuesday, per official team transcript from the Steelers. “That’s up to the coaches and we follow their lead on what they say is best.”
Pickett mentioned in the same press conference that everything is on the table in terms of plays and concepts getting scrapped during the bye week that aren’t working as well as building off what is working in hopes of jump-starting the offense. When it comes to the running game, OL Coach Pat Meyer has a big say in its success or failure as the team’s run game coordinator. After adding IOL Isaac Seumalo and Nate Herbig in free agency and drafting OT Broderick Jones, many expected the running game to take a step forward from last season as Pittsburgh finished 16th in the league in rushing and 11th in rushing scores.
That hasn’t been the case so far this year. The offensive line has regressed and both RBs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren haven’t been able to put together a full game due to inconsistent running lanes and poorly blocked up schemes. One big issue the Steelers have had is that they’ve been running a lot more zone blocking concepts this season when their bread and butter down the 2022 stretch was power/gap schemes, utilizing their guards on pulls to get them leading up the way to pick up key blocks for their runners. Pittsburgh has hardly pulled its guards this year in the running game, getting away from what worked well last season.
If the Steelers want to make some positive changes to their running game during the bye, going back to what served them well a season ago could be a good place to start. Meyer must realize the changes that he tried to incorporate this season aren’t working to this point. It’s time to get back to the basics and play smashmouth football on the ground, the type of football everyone thought Pittsburgh was going to play to start the 2023 season.
