In recent weeks with their backs against the wall, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has leaned into a popular saying that has resonated with his players: scared money don’t make money.
The Steelers have embraced that mindset and are playing a bit more aggressively in recent weeks. That has led to two big wins which saw the Steelers score 30 or more points in both wins, putting them right back in the AFC playoff picture entering Week 18 against the Baltimore Ravens.
But while that saying from Tomlin is generating a lot of attention, Steelers running back Najee Harris says there’s a lot more to it than just words. It’s about being aggressive, as the Steelers have to do that offensively, considering the way some defenses play against them.
“There’s a lot more to that than what he said, but he’s right. We have to be aggressive,” Harris stated to reporters Wednesday, according to video via the Post-Gazette’s YouTube page. “We have to be aggressive against these teams. They wanna play certain defenses against us expecting something like a run or something? You go throw a deep shot, you know? It’s part of being aggressive.”
The Steelers, to their credit, have been much more aggressive in recent weeks with quarterback Mason Rudolph in the lineup compared to how they played previously when Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky were under center. There seems to be more of a trust in Rudolph and a belief in his ability to throw an accurate deep ball that can hit for an explosive play.
Those types of calls were in the game plan when Pickett was healthy but too often the second-year quarterback was hesitant to take the shots and didn’t hang in the pocket long enough. That’s not the case with Rudolph, which has unlocked a new part of the offense for the Steelers and given them much more balance.
That aggressive mindset has paid off as the Steelers have hit on a number of explosive plays through the air the last two weeks, which has opened things up greatly for the run game. That led to a terrific game from Harris and fellow running back Jaylen Warren Sunday in Seattle as the Steelers rushed for 202 yards and three touchdowns against the Seahawks’ run defense.
With the success on the ground, the Steelers were able to take more shots down the field, especially in play-action. They even had the confidence late in the game to be aggressive and put the game away through the air, which Tomlin called for.
As Harris stated, that aggressiveness is part of the sport. You can’t play scared; you can’t be conservative. The Steelers had an issue with that earlier in the season, but in the last two weeks they have been much more aggressive, and it’s paid off in a major way.
