The Pittsburgh Steelers’ run game was slow to get going in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Chargers and never really took off with RB Najee Harris in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts. Harris ran for just 19 yards on 13 carries last Sunday, and he said that the offense has to just have a dawg mentality to win
“People gotta understand, defense is there to stop the run too. So it’s not gonna just be like we can do our blocks and it’s gonna be five, eight yards. A team knows, heavy run, so they’re doing everything they can to stop the run. So we just gotta have a mentality of they know what we doing, we know what we’re doing, let’s just play football. Have a dawg mentality,” Harris said via Steelers Live on Twitter. “It’s just a dog fight and whoever wins it, wins it.”
Harris said that the mentality can’t change from play to play.
“Even if you lose this down, the next down gotta be, try to win that one. Just dominate your box.”
Harris’ comments come on the heels of Mark Schlereth saying he talked to Mike Tomlin, who told Harris he can’t try to break every run and that winning ugly with shorter runs is better for the health of the offense. Harris’ words align with that thinking, and the key for him and the Steelers is just going to be to stay on schedule and limit negativity in the run game.
As he said, teams know the Steelers want to run the ball and are a run-heavy team. With Harris in the game, the Colts stacked the box and brought run blitzes that made things difficult for Pittsburgh. The Cowboys could look to do the same, especially if Jaylen Warren and Cordarrelle Patterson don’t play on Sunday. If that’s the case, the Steelers just have to have the right mentality to move forward on the ground, even if they’re only picking up a few yards on every play.
Justin Fields also has looked good throwing the ball the last two weeks, so that could discourage teams from stacking the box as much, as Fields has proven he can beat teams with his arm and by scrambling. That added threat could make teams more cautious about attacking the run game, but Harris’ point is that no matter what the defense is doing, the Steelers just need to have the mindset of getting a hat on a hat and winning every matchup, and if they don’t, wipe it and move onto the next down.
It’s what a good running football team does, and the Steelers were solid on the ground through the first three weeks. We’ll see if they can get back on track against the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.
