The Pittsburgh Steelers, at their core, want to be able to run the ball effectively every game. However, they struggled to do so in training camp and the preseason, prompting insider Ray Fittipaldo to express that people shouldn’t have confidence in the run game once the regular season rolled around.
And, for at least the first game against the New York Jets, Fittipaldo was correct. The Steelers didn’t quite give up on the run, rushing the ball 20 times. But they only gained 53 yards against the Jets. So, what did offensive coordinator Arthur Smith think about the performance?
“Average, at best,” Smith said Thursday per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Brian Batko on X/Twitter. “But it doesn’t make you panic. This week, or maybe it’s the next week depending on what the total strategy is, we’ve got to keep working.”
On the Steelers run game, Arthur Smith says they have to improve from Week 1 to Week 2. “Average, at best. But it doesn’t make you panic. This week, or maybe it’s the next week depending on what the total strategy is, we’ve got to keep working.”
— Brian Batko (@BrianBatko) September 11, 2025
Calling the run game’s performance average at best is, at minimum, flattering. The Steelers managed just 2.7 yards per carry against the Jets. That’s not average, that’s bad. RB Jaylen Warren carried the ball 11 times for 37 yards, just a shade under 3.4 yards per carry. He fared better in the passing games with two catches for 22 yards and a touchdown. RB Kenneth Gainwell had seven carries for 19 yards, only 2.7 yards per carry. It was an ugly rushing performance all around.
Thankfully for the Steelers, it didn’t cost them last Sunday. QB Aaron Rodgers threw for four touchdowns in the 34-32 win with K Chris Boswell nailing a career-long 60-yard field goal for the deciding points. The Steelers could struggle down the road if they don’t get their run game going, though.
OT Troy Fautanu doesn’t feel like the offensive line is very far away from getting the run game going, though. He said that the linemen were getting where they needed to be. However, they need to get the details right when it comes to blocking.
Part of that could be that this was the first time these five linemen played together in a regular-season game. The three interior offensive linemen have experience together from last year. But Fautanu missed the vast majority of his rookie season. And the Steelers played OT Broderick Jones mainly at right tackle the last two seasons.
Whatever the shortcomings are, the Steelers need to fix their run game soon. Arthur Smith isn’t panicking over it yet. But fans certainly could start panicking if things don’t get rolling soon and the offense struggles as a whole.
