The Pittsburgh Steelers run game has been abysmal through eight weeks of the 2023 season. The team is averaging just 0.97 yards before contact, the third-worst mark in the league, and has a league-high 28 percent of runs going for zero or negative yards according to TruMedia. It's been tough sledding for the tandem of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, who have combined for two touchdowns and are both averaging under four yards per carry.
%202023%20Camp%20Final%20with%20Logos/2L9A5557-544x306.jpg "Steelers Najee Harris")
Jordan Schofield / SteelerNation (Twitter / X: @JSKO_PHOTO)
Steelers running back Najee Harris during a 2023 training camp practice at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.
Steelers center Mason Cole talked to Mike DeFabo of The Athletic about the struggles the team has had running the football in 2023 and how it's putting added tension on quarterbacks Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky.
“We’re not executing well enough,” center Mason Cole said. “It’s putting a lot of pressure on the quarterbacks. We’re not running the ball well, so then we’re throwing the ball all over the place. That can be a recipe for disaster at times.”
So far, it's been a formula that has Pittsburgh trotting out one of the worst offenses in the league. The team ranks 29th in points scored, 30th in yards, and 29th in passing touchdowns. Pittsburgh is in 31st place for average time per drive and points per drive, and 30th in yards. (All stats per Pro Football Reference).
Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada told the media on Tuesday that the failures in the run game haven't been from a lack of trying. The numbers don't exactly support it, as they place 21st in rushing attempts, but with such little time of possession and the amount of negative runs, it's hard to stick to it.
“We certainly have not made any bones about it: We want to run the football,” Canada said. "We have to continue to try to be better in the run game, establish the run game, [make it] be something that we feel good about.”
One of the squad's best offensive performances of the season against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Steelers didn't have the most yards on the ground, but a commitment to the run allowed for an effective play-action game. The 25-year-old Pickett was able to post his first career game with two touchdowns, while putting up 235 passing yards and no interceptions.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers QB Kenny Pickett tries to throw against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 3 of the 2023 season.
While Canada said they're pushing to try and commit to the run, Cole wondered earlier this season about how serious that commitment is. He told the media that it felt like they would have some success running the football and then abandon it after one negative play. Part of committing to the run is understanding that there will be some negative plays and sticking with it, as Cole alluded to.
Steelers Offensive Line Needs To Step It Up If Offense Is Going To Improve
While there is plenty of blame to be shared for the offensive failures in 2023 between Pickett, Canada, the running backs, and the receivers, the play of the offensive line has left a lot to desire. As the stats from TruMedia indicate on the percentage of negative run plays, the line isn't getting much of a push, which creates more of a challenge for Harris and Warren.
Jared Wickerham / Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers offensive line needs to do a better job in both the running game and the passing game for the team to have any success going forward.
The line hasn't faired much better statistically in the passing game, either. Pickett and Trubisky have faced pressure on an astounding 43 percent of drop backs per TruMedia for the fifth-highest rate in the league. As Cole said, a lot of this, and improving on it, involves better execution. It starts with the offensive line.
The predictability of the offense hasn't helped either, as DeFabo points out. The Steelers use play-action on run downs (1st-and-10, 2nd-and-10 or shorter, and 3rd-and-2 or shorter) just 27.6 percent of the time. That ranks 30th. So, if Pittsburgh looks like they're going to run, they probably are.
As Canada said on Tuesday, it's going to take everyone to help solve this mess, but getting a run game rolling is essential to helping out their quarterbacks. That was the formula that helped Pittsburgh crawl back to a winning record in 2022. Now, they need to find a way to implement it again to save the season in 2023.
What do you think Pittsburgh can do to fix the offensive mess? Comment below!
#SteelerNation
