Over the last few weeks, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense has taken a drastic step forward. The Steelers still have to be better in the red zone, but they have improved. Russell Wilson has helped, but maybe Najee Harris deserves more credit than he’s getting for this success. Harris has been on a mission over the last three weeks, punishing every defense in front of him. However, much of the spotlight on the Steelers’ offense has been put on their quarterbacks. Kay Adams hopes that changes after his most recent performance.
“Najee [Harris] is being overshadowed, and now he finally got some love on primetime,” Adams said Tuesday on Up and Adams. “So maybe it’ll help the case for what he’s been able to do this season. He was unstoppable last night, rumbling through a Giants front seven that is tough.
“Hurdling his way to 114 yards on the ground, 131 in total. He was the consistent driving force in this offense as he’s been through the entirety of this three-game streak.”
It does seem like all the focus is on the rejuvenated Wilson, not that it shouldn’t be. Mike Tomlin made a quarterback change when his team was 4-2, and most thought it was foolish. In reality, he knew exactly what he was doing. Wilson has done so much to help this offense, including giving Harris better looks to run into.
Wilson’s incredible deep ball is likely giving Harris more favorable matchups to run against, but it’s not like this stretch began with Wilson. Harris really began to elevate his game in Week 6, with Justin Fields at quarterback. Against the Las Vegas Raiders, Harris rushed for 106 yards on 14 carries, also scoring his first touchdown of the season.
All of this has been done with a patchwork offensive line. The Steelers have barely had their complete starting offensive line this year. Even with standout rookie center Zach Frazier out, Harris is still running like a runaway train.
The Giants have some imposing players on their defensive line, and even against them, Harris couldn’t be stopped. He didn’t score a touchdown, but like Adams said, he did put up over 130 total yards. He and Wilson have helped each other, and they should probably get the same amount of credit for the offense thriving. With Harris in the last year of his contract, he’s setting himself up for a nice payday if he keeps this up.
