The Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. This ended an impressive run that the team had been on. Before Sunday, Pittsburgh had won six out of seven. Those wins were coming from big performances from Russell Wilson, Najee Harris, and other key players around the roster.
However, Pittsburgh’s performance in this loss was a far cry from how good they looked during that stretch. The offense was quiet. The unit ran just 41 plays on the day. Sunday’s game was filled with frustrating moments. One of those came when Najee Harris couldn’t catch a pitch from Russell Wilson, resulting in a turnover late in the third quarter.
That was a brutal mishap for Pittsburgh. It was a tough blunder from Harris, who had a good run during that streak. Steelers’ tight end Pat Freiermuth was quick to come to the support of his teammate, though. Freiermuth shared some advice he gave to Najee during the game on Tuesday’s episode of 102.5 WDVE’s Chalk Talk hosted by Gerry Dulac and Pat Freiermuth.
“I mean, it sucks,” Freiermuth said of the fumble. “Stuff like that happens, but I told Naj [Najee Harris], ‘gotta keep your head up. There’s gonna be a lot bigger games than that game, especially this one on Saturday.’ We’re gonna need Najee big-time in these next couple of games. He’s moved past it, mistakes happen, and he’s gotta keep going.”
Najee Harris is an important member of the offense. His fumble hurt the Steelers, though. Pittsburgh had started to grab some momentum for the first time. They had the ball inside the Eagles’ 30-yard line, trailing 20-13. A touchdown there ties the game. Instead, Harris fumbled, and the Eagles scored on the next possession, extending their lead to 27-13.
As Freiermuth said, though, that kind of stuff just happens sometimes. On the road, against one of the best teams in the league, a result like Sunday’s could have been expected. It’s good to hear that Harris is bouncing back mentally.
Pittsburgh needs him to, with a tough couple of weeks looming. Their matchups against the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs over the next two weeks will heavily influence the playoff seeding in the AFC. If Najee Harris has some strong performances, the Steelers should be in good shape.
