When the Pittsburgh Steelers hired Arthur Smith as their offensive coordinator, they sent a very clear message that they were going to focus their offense around running the ball. Through the first five weeks of the season, that has been true. Even when it isn’t working, the Steelers are dedicated to running the ball. Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is preparing for that mindset.
“There has to be a tackling plan,” Graham said when asked about Najee Harris via the team’s YouTube channel. “They’re gonna run the ball. It doesn’t matter. I forget what game it was, he had 3 yards rushing in the first half, 70 in the second half.
“They’re not gonna abandon it. That comes from the identity of the organization, the identity of the head coach, the identity of the offensive coordinator,” Graham added.
Graham is absolutely spot on. The Steelers are committed to running the ball until the absolutely can’t. That’s been more than evident over the past two weeks, especially.
Against the Indianapolis Colts, the Steelers rushed for 122 yards, but most of that came from Justin Fields and Cordarrelle Patterson on one drive. Harris had 19 yards on 13 carries. The run game wasn’t working, and yet, the Steelers kept trying to force it. They didn’t adjust quick enough, which is probably part of why they lost. Once they threw the ball more, they looked much better.
The same could be said for the game against the Dallas Cowboys. Harris had a slightly better game, rushing for 42 yards on 14 carries, but it still wasn’t good. The Steelers wouldn’t abandon the run, though. Graham seems to respect that philosophy, but lately, it’s hurt the Steelers more than it’s helped.
Graham continued talking about the Steelers’ offense, describing what he sees from them.
“They’re essentially the same offense, [running] duo, mixing in some stretch from what Arthur [Smith]’s done in the past. But it’s gonna be Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots.”
Graham is correct that this is who the Steelers have been on offense over the past few years. They want to establish the run, grinding away at the opponent’s will. Even with Smith calling plays, that hasn’t changed. Mike Tomlin has a vision for this offense, and he wants to see it become a reality.
It did work over the first few weeks of this season, though. The game Graham is talking about where Harris did nothing in the first half but exploded in the second half is likely Week 3 against the Los Angeles Chargers. Harris had virtually no rushing yards in the first half, but he ended the game with 70 yards, helping close the game out.
That’s an instance where the Steelers’ strategy was successful, but they shouldn’t treat every game like that one. If they go down by multiple scores early, continuing to run the ball with no success isn’t going to help anything. We’ll see how they run the ball against the Raiders. In a perfect scenario, their way works, but they have to be more willing to pivot if the run game isn’t successful. Otherwise, you get the kind of games like they had against the Colts and Cowboys.
