For an old-school owner like Art Rooney II and old-school franchise like the Pittsburgh Steelers, there’s still two primary ways to have success. Run the football and stop the run. After offering his take on needing to improve the defensive line, Rooney switched gears to getting the offense’s ground game going.
“We’ve got to build on the strengths that we can put together in our room,” Rooney told reporters during a Monday media scrum as shared by 93.7 The Fan later that day. “And I still think that running the ball is a route to success, particularly when you’re playing in the north and outside.”
Pittsburgh is set to enter its second season with Arthur Smith at offensive coordinator. He has a reputation as one of the NFL’s most run-minded coordinators, his teams consistently finishing top five in rushing attempts. That held true in Smith’s first year with the Steelers. Pittsburgh finished fourth in rushing attempts with 533, its most in a season since 2005.
It’s a drum Rooney has beat for years. Run the ball more effectively. It was the main headline of his post-2020 meeting, leading the team to draft RB Najee Harris in the first round. The following year, he offered nearly an identical analysis as he did yesterday.
The success of the top teams in 2024 only reinforces Rooney’s idea. The Philadelphia Eagles are Super Bowl bound, boosted by the addition of RB Saquon Barkley in free agency. They finished first in rushing attempts and were far more efficient on the ground than Pittsburgh, generating 4.9 yards per carry. The AFC North-winning Baltimore Ravens benefitted greatly from adding RB Derrick Henry, chewing up the Steelers’ defense in the Wild Card round. Even the Kansas City Chiefs aren’t as wide open as they used to be, running more than they threw in Sunday in their AFC Championship Game win over the Buffalo Bills.
Rooney believes the Steelers’ goal is to dance with who brought them.
“I think the bottom line is you gotta try and win with the talent you have in the building,” he said.
That means winning the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Those are two areas where the team wasn’t strong enough throughout 2024, The run game failed to ascend and sputtered by season’s end, hindered by a young offensive line that tired down the stretch. The defense faded after a red-hot start and looked a shell of itself by year’s end.
Rooney’s goals are admirable and important. But the worry is that even if accomplished, the Steelers’ ceiling might not be high enough to beat the AFC’s true Super Bowl contenders. Monday, Rooney repeatedly acknowledged the importance of finding the right quarterback but that’s most likely to be Justin Fields or Russell Wilson returning. Which begs the question how far the Steelers can truly go should they face Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes in the Wild Card round, as they did in 2021 and 2023.