If there was one thing that everybody thought the Pittsburgh Steelers would be able to do against the Indianapolis Colts, it was run the ball. The Steelers entered the week with the 12th most rushing yards in the league. It hasn’t been overly efficient, but they were still managing 130.7 yards per game, and the Colts were allowing the most rushing yards per game in the league with 179.0.
Najee Harris in particular was rushing for 69.7 yards per game. Not the greatest totals, but also much better than his first three games a season ago. That all changed in Week 4 with 13 carries for 19 yards for Harris. The team as a whole was only slightly below its per-game average with 30 carries for 122 yards, but most of that came from QB Justin Fields and one solid drive by RB Cordarrelle Patterson before he exited the game with an injury.
Harris explained his lack of success after the game.
“They packed the box,” Harris said in a video on the Steelers’ YouTube channel. “They had a free hitter every time, and we didn’t put hands on the guys that we needed to. That’s what happened.”
Harris was getting swallowed up at or behind the line of scrimmage more often than not. The only success he really found in the game was through the air as a checkdown target for Justin Fields.
Part of this was because of how the game played out. The Colts jumped out to a 17-0 lead pretty quickly, and the Steelers never had the opportunity to commit to the run. But Harris also did very little with the opportunities he had.
In the first half, Harris had six carries for five yards. Only one of the plays, a three-yard run on 2nd and 6, would be considered a successful running play.
The offensive line is in rough shape overall. Only two of the intended starters are currently playing. OT Troy Fautanu is on IR, OG Isaac Seumalo has been unavailable due to a pec injury through the first four weeks of the season, and OG James Daniels exited the Colts game with an ankle injury early. Their replacements are all young players, including two who are making some of their first career starts. C Zach Frazier is the intended starter and has been playing well, but he is also inexperienced at the NFL level.
With the Colts loading up the tackle box with defenders, that stressed the communication of the offensive line. Upon first watch, the unit struggled with allowing too many “free hitters,” as Harris suggested.
Colts LB Zaire Franklin took some shots at Harris on social media after the game, calling him soft and saying that Patterson was running harder.
The game flow, injuries along the offensive line, and an unimaginative run scheme by Arthur Smith today led to an abysmal performance for Harris.
