At the end of an NFL regular season, there are always teams on the bubble that people say no one wants to face if they make the playoffs. It can be that the team has perhaps found a new way of utilizing a player, a quarterback gets hot, or even a struggling offense finds its footing.
On Friday’s episode of ESPN NFL Live, former NFL DE Marcus Spears said that the Pittsburgh Steelers are one of those teams that the rest of the league is not going to enjoy being in the playoffs if they make it. That’s due in large part to the offense getting back to Steelers football.
“When you look at Pittsburgh, the identity has become the run game,” Spears said. “And then defensively, we know what they can do from a pass-rush standpoint. I’m gonna tell you this right now: If the Pittsburgh Steelers get to the playoffs with this brand of football that they’re playing right now, if they’re able to stay true to that, it won’t be about Mason Rudolph. It’ll be about the run game and it’ll be about T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith. And that is a scary proposition for everybody in the NFL.”
In nine of their last 11 games, the Steelers have rushed for at least 100 yards. They’ve won seven of those nine games. They rebounded the last two weeks from two sub-100-yard efforts, putting up 113 rushing yards on the Cincinnati Bengals before eclipsing the 200-yard mark for the second time this season against the Seattle Seahawks.
Historically, teams value the running game as the weather gets colder (and worse) come the end of the regular season and into the playoffs. Obviously, teams that play in domes don’t have to worry about the inclement weather. However, the Steelers are traveling to Baltimore to take on the Ravens with the threat of bad weather looming over the must-win game. Oh, and the Ravens have the first seed in the AFC playoffs, so bad weather could very well be a reality for the entirety of the AFC.
Not that the Steelers wouldn’t be running the ball against the Ravens anyway. First, it’s a part of the rivalry, the physical nature of the matchup. Secondly, a successful running game will only make life easier for QB Mason Rudolph, the Steelers’ third different starting quarterback this season. Thirdly, it’s what the Steelers have been doing as they’ve clawed back into playoff contention.
“They’ve gotten back to having an identity,” Spears said, “This is what we relate to the Pittsburgh Steelers, being a physical team up front and making people respect the fact that they can run the ball successfully enough to win football games. And we’ve seen it for the last couple weeks.”
If the Steelers want to play football games on their terms, it’ll be by running the ball with RBs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. If they can do that well, they’ll have a chance on Saturday to take down the Ravens.
If the cards fall the right way, the Steelers will have a shot to continue to do that in the playoffs. As Spears said, a Steelers team that is running the ball at will and bringing Watt and Highsmith after opposing quarterbacks is something to be feared.
You can watch the entirety of NFL Live’s conversation about the playoff picture below.
