For the last two weeks, there was a lot of noise and criticism surrounding Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris. Two tough performances against the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys, some concerns about vision and explosiveness, and general questions about him being the best fit for the Steelers.
Some of those concerns and questions were valid. Others? Not so much.
Hearing all that and needing a big performance, Najee Harris delivered against the Las Vegas Raiders. For one week, at least, Harris looked like the exact running back the Steelers hoped they were getting when they drafted him in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Alabama.
Harris showed off his trademark power, dragging defenders with him throughout the game. He also showed off his elusiveness and explosiveness, leading to his best performance of the season and one of the best performances of his career.
Coming off of that performance against the Raiders in which Harris quieted the noise, I wanted to look at the film.
Let’s dive in.
Entering the game, the Steelers needed to find a way to get Najee Harris into a rhythm. Nobody really expected it to be as a pass catcher.
On the first snap of the game, Harris hauled in a check down from quarterback Justin Fields over the middle and gained 11 yards, dragging a defender with him, putting a heck of a move on linebacker Robert Spillane in the process, creating some of those hidden yards.
It’s nothing eye-opening or earth-shattering from Najee Harris, but it was a simple play that got him into rhythm. He looked fluid getting out into space, too, avoiding some of the traffic in front from the pass blockers slipping into the middle of the field.
To Pittsburgh’s credit, they came right back to him on the next play, leaning into finding him a rhythm.
Nice duo block here from rookies Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick, creating displacement in the trenches and opening up a lane.
Harris reads, gets the ball, and goes, hitting the hole with force. It resulted in a 13-yard gain and was a great sign of the things to come for the Steelers running back on the afternoon.
Outside of the 36-yard touchdown and his 26-yard run in which he sent Raiders’ cornerback Jack Jones to the shadow realm, this 15-yard run was vintage Najee Harris and is what makes him perfect for the Steelers.
In most instances for NFL running backs, early contact like this and in a crowd would send guys to the ground with the decision to live to fight another day.
Not Najee Harris. No chance.
The man has a never-say-die attitude and refuses to go down on first contact, or even second contact, or even third, fourth, fifth, and sixth contact, too.
Harris is a load for defenders to deal with, and this was a great example of that. He should have won the Angry Runs of the week from Good Morning Football’s Kyle Brandt for the run, but he was surprisingly passed over.
This run was demoralizing for the Raiders as they simply didn’t want to deal with him. That led him to roll downhill the rest of the game.
One common criticism of Najee Harris is his inability to make defenders miss in the hole and win one-on-one battles. That’s largely an incorrect assumption, as Harris breaks a number of tackles and makes defenders miss.
But on Sunday, he showed he can shake defenders in the hole, make them grasp at air, and put them on skates.
Poor Jack Jones.
Not only is it tough physically to prepare for a 230-pound running back bearing down on you full speed in the hole as a smaller cornerback, but then you add in that 230-pound running back being able to move and shake like this from Harris?
That’s nearly impossible to defend. Harris made Jones look silly and found himself in open space, resulting in the 26-yard run, igniting the Steelers’ offense.
The run really got Harris going, and a few plays later, he capped off his great day with his 36-yard touchdown.
This is the exact type of play Harris supposedly isn’t capable of making because it was a toss play, with defenders in his face immediately behind the line of scrimmage, and his shoulders not square to the line of scrimmage and working downhill.
Not today, though.
Harris made a great move on Spillane behind the line of scrimmage, read his blocks well, and was able to slip through to the second level. Then, a great block from tight end Pat Freiermuth sprung Harris down the sideline, and the running back did the rest, leaping from the 5-yard line to score.
Harris’s run was very impressive, one that showed that he’s a good running back when he gets some blocks and has some confidence.
Hopefully, Sunday’s performance against the Raiders is a sign of things to come for Harris and the Steelers’ run game. Let him work downhill with a full head of steam and allow him to really take the fight to the defense and wear them down. It was clear late in the game the Raiders wanted nothing to do with him, and that’s the whole point of having a big back and being a football team that runs the rock.
