The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense was built to revolve around the running backs and the offensive line. Injuries have put that identity at risk. They have yet to start the same combination of offensive linemen in back-to-back weeks, which will continue in Week 5 with the season-ending injury to James Daniels and the possible return of Isaac Seumalo. They are also now down to just one of their top three running backs with Jaylen Warren dealing with a knee injury and Cordarrelle Patterson suffering an ankle injury on Saturday though Mike Tomlin did not rule out either playing Sunday night against the visiting Dallas Cowboys.
Charlie Batch appeared on DVE’s Morning Show with Randy Baumann and was asked if Harris is capable of carrying the load alone.
“No. No, he cannot,” Batch said Tuesday. “He was already coming into this game banged up, and now all of a sudden Cordarrelle Patterson, he’s out. Jaylen Warren, we’re not sure if he’s gonna be available this week.. And right now, you can see the frustration mounting because Najee wants a big year because the contract. The organization decided to decline his fifth-year option. So he’s playing for a contract extension, so he wants to go out there and I’m sure he’s questioning himself as he’s scratching his head saying, ‘Why are my holes not as big as what Cordarrelle Patterson or Jaylen Warren[‘s] when they’re in there?'”
Harris had a brutal stat line of 13 carries for 19 yards against the Indianapolis Colts, who entered the game as the 32nd-ranked rushing defense in the league. Meanwhile, Cordarrelle Patterson rushed for 43 yards on six carries before exiting the game with an ankle injury.
Harris pointed to the defense packing the box as a reason for his lack of success after the Steelers’ 27-24 loss. He said there were too many free hitters and that the Steelers weren’t getting hands on the people they were supposed to.
Batch was asked why the holes may have looked different for Patterson than Harris.
“They play him differently. Because the inability in the pass game,” Batch said. “And those are things that when they put him on the field, it’s probably a strong sense of a run play or a play-action pass. If he’s in the game, it’s a heavy percent run.”
So some of the reason is likely because of the Steelers’ tendencies when Harris is in the game, and likely the other part of the reason is the constant shuffle along the offensive line. We knew that the young o-line was going to need time to jell. It is hard to jell when there are new people next to each other every single week.
If Warren and Patterson are unable to go on Sunday, I would imagine they call up Jonathan Ward from the practice squad instead of, or in addition to, Aaron Shampklin. Ward was the better runner in training camp and in the preseason. Harris is a north-south runner who isn’t known for his ability to bend runs back into cutback lanes. That puts the onus on the offensive linemen to execute their blocks on the play side to give Harris an opportunity to get to the second level.
It could be tough sledding for Harris and the identity of the offense in general if he is asked to carry the entire load over the next game or two.
