When the Pittsburgh Steelers had Ben Roethlisberger at the height of his abilities, they were willing to throw the football all over the yard. Barring the odd Tommy Gun offense, they have rarely deviated from a run-first mentality otherwise. In the post-Roethlisberger years, they have looked to recapture that mindset. The only problem is they have yet to secure the personnel, scheme, or ability to capitalize.
That is Gerry Dulac’s diagnosis, at least, and he believes the Steelers must identify the problem sooner rather than later. Their run-first mentality is only leading them to run into the wall over and over, and it’s starting to give people a headache.
“They better junk that run-oriented mentality”, Dulac said in a recent chat session about the Steelers. “It’s OK to be able to run the ball, but you better have the people to be able to throw it. Bill Cowher: Throw early to run late”.
During the 2024 season, the Steelers were one of a handful of teams to run the ball more than pass. They recorded 533 rushing attempts against 499 passing attempts. Granted, that doesn’t account for plays designed as runs, such as sacks and scrambles. But they finished the season with the fourth-most rushing attempts, yet also outside the top 10 in yards. They also ranked 19th in rushing touchdowns and 25th in yards per attempt.
It’s fair to question whether the Steelers are really a “running team” or merely a team that runs a lot. The results suggest that they’re not very good at it. Sure, they had stretches in which they were successful, and sometimes attrition paid off by the fourth quarter. But they often put in too much work for too little production.
“Stop thinking you are a run-first team because 1) You’re not good enough to do that, and 2) That isn’t the way the game is played in the NFL”, Dulac implored the Steelers during another portion of the chat. While teams like the Eagles, who had 621 rushing attempts this season, can make it work, it’s still the outlier. And the Steelers have shown nothing to indicate they have the exceptional qualities of an outlier.
Of course, when you don’t have a franchise quarterback, you have to try to run more. As I started this piece, the Steelers will gladly put the ball in the air if they have what it takes to do that. But it seems they are overcompensating in the wrong direction at this point.
Let’s get something clear here. The Steelers, on the whole, were a piss-poor running team last year. They almost always started off slow and often finished slow, too. Despite having the fourth-most rushing attempts, they have the fourth-worst expected points contributed on run plays. According to Pro Football Reference, they finished the season with minus-30.21 expected points added from the run game.
Only the Cowboys, Dolphins, and Raiders were worse. While more than half of the league was in the negative, only four teams, including the Steelers, were 30-plus points in the negative. Maybe a healthy offensive line will help next season. But if they want to be a run-first team, they can’t keep doing the same thing over and over.
