The Pittsburgh Steelers are running early. They’re running often. Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith thinks they just need to be better. Though not for a lack of trying, Smith believes the run game needs to get off to faster starts going forward instead of warming up and finding its groove later in the game.
Per the PPG’s Brian Batko, that was the point Smith made Thursday during his weekly media session with reporters.
“Steelers OC Arthur Smith says the run game has to be better early in games than it was Sunday against the Chargers in Week 3,” Batko tweeted of Smith’s commentary. “But he thought the players did a good job adapting, not panicking and settling down to break it open in the second half.”
“We got to be better early,” Smith said via a team-provided transcript. “There is always stuff you got to work on regardless of the outcome of the game. Clearly that was not good enough for us. We were able to adapt and settle into the game. That’s the big thing. It’s just a long game. They’re going to have a new plan, you know, how it’s going, adapt to the situation. Our guys did a good job. We preach about don’t panic.”
That was evident in the 20-10 win over the Los Angeles Chargers last Sunday. Most of Pittsburgh’s rushing success came late in the game and at one point, RBs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren had more carries than yards. As Dave Bryan noted, the vast majority came in the fourth quarter.
It’s been the theme of the season. In the first half, the Steelers have 158 yards rushing. In the second half, that number spikes to 236. While their yards per carry isn’t substantially different, it is better in the second half (3.8) versus the first half (3.7). And late in the second half of some of those games, teams were selling out to stop the run late as Pittsburgh looked to run out the clock.
In fairness, the Chargers game was always going to be tough sledding. A physical and tough front, the Steelers had to wear them down before busting off big runs on their final drive that ate up the final five minutes of the game. During his Tuesday press conference, Mike Tomlin acknowledged that it wasn’t going to be easy early.
“When you play good defenses, particularly the early stages of the game, it’s going to be tough. You better maintain your commitment to it and the effort to win the war of attrition,” Tomlin said. “And so that was our mindset. You’re not always going to have efficient runs early on, particularly when you’re playing good people.”
Still, a run-minded coordinator like Smith wants to set the bar high. And a faster start means more points which hopefully means playing with a lead and making the Steelers’ elite defense even better. They’ll look to get rolling early against an Indianapolis Colts defense that’s had problems against the run and will be without stud DT DeForest Buckner.
