Najee Harris was far from the only Pittsburgh Steeler to struggle in Saturday’s blowout loss to the Indianapolis Colts. But he certainly contributed to the loss in a significant way. Part of a running game that faltered and with a costly second-half fumble that immediately led to a Colts’ score, interim OC Eddie Faulkner said Harris has to elevate his game the rest of the season.
“Bad day at the office,” Faulkner told reporters Wednesday via a team transcript. “He needs to play better. We’ve had that discussion.”
Harris’ fumble came on the Steelers’ first offensive play of the second half, feeding the Colts’ momentum. Indianapolis took the lead in the final seconds of the first half and got the ball back right after going three-and-out to start the third quarter.
The turnover was a disaster across the board. The Steelers ran their “Crunch” concept, a play they’ve leaned on throughout the season, but strangely tasked TE Pat Freiermuth with down blocking the defensive tackle, a job usually held by rookie TE Darnell Washington. Predictably, Freiermuth struggled and got pushed back by Pro Bowl DT DeForest Buckner, closing the hole Harris was supposed to run through and forcing him to bounce wide outside the structure of the play.
Harris ran tough to get what he could but was hit from behind and lost the ball on his way to the ground. It was recovered by the Colts at the Steelers’ 18.
Despite the Steelers’ questionable personnel decisions, there’s no excuse for Harris fumbling. Ball security is job security and Harris’ turnover was critical. The following snap, QB Gardner Minshew II hit TE Mo Alie-Cox on a corner route, beating LB Mark Robinson, for an 18-yard touchdown to put the Colts up 21-13. From there, Indianapolis controlled the game and tacked on three more field goals to win 30-13.
Beyond that, Harris seemed to pick the wrong lane on a draw play, cutting right instead of left to what looked like clear daylight.
Harris finished the game with 12 carries for 33 yards as the Steelers’ running game managed barely more than three yards per carry, only over that number thanks to a meaningless run in the final minute as Pittsburgh ran out the clock. For the last two weeks, the run game has done nothing. The Steelers can’t win when they do what they did last Saturday. When they’re unable to run the ball and turn it over, they lose.
Harris’ fumble was his second of the season and fifth of the past two years. He began his career showing excellent ball security, not fumbling once on his league-high 381 touches as a rookie, but he has regressed since. He’s also in danger of missing out on rushing for 1,000 yards for a third-straight season. Currently, Harris is on pace to finish with just 877 yards on the ground, though his 4.0 YPC is tracking to be a career-high.
There’s a chance for Harris to heed Faulkner’s words and have a better performance Saturday against the Cincinnati Bengals. In Week 12, Harris rushed for 99 yards, briefly surpassing 100 before a negative play bumped him back down. The Bengals will be without interior plugger DT D.J. Reader, lost for the season last weekend to a severe quad injury.
