The Steelers won’t be able to fully address their deficiencies in the running game until they commit to personnel along the offensive line that is more adept at run-blocking. And there are no guarantees they will reshape their offensive line with Ben Roethlisberger set to return next season.
This line was built to protect him, not to mash the opposition in the running game.
The Steelers are built to pass, and reshaping the line — even if that is their desire — won’t be easy over one offseason.
In the meantime, there is a playoff berth to be won, and coach Mike Tomlin knows his offense has to run the ball better over the final two weeks if they’re going to be the team to grab it.
The Steelers have run the ball well on a few occasions this season, but it’s been downright bad in others. It was a huge problem against the Bills, and one of the main reasons they came up short in the 17-10 loss Sunday night that put their playoff hopes in jeopardy.
“We have to run the ball better,” Tomlin stated matter-of-factly at his weekly news conference Tuesday afternoon.
The Steelers are 6-0 when running for 90 yards or more this season. They are 2-6 when running for 81 yards or fewer. The only two victories came against the Rams and Bengals.
But a closer look at the opponents in those six victories suggests the Steelers merely took advantage of some bad teams with bad run defenses. They ran for 159 yards in the second meeting against the Bengals, who have the NFL’s worst run defense. Three more wins came against the Dolphins, Browns and Cardinals, all of whom are ranked 25th or lower against the run.
The better defensive teams have been able to take the run away from the Steelers and put the game in the hands of their young quarterbacks. That’s exactly what the Bills did. They held the Steelers to 51 yards on 15 rushing attempts.
And once the Bills shut down the run, they pressured rookie quarterback Duck Hodges, made him uncomfortable and forced him into four interceptions.
It wasn’t the first time the Steelers faced that game plan, and it won’t be the last. The Jets, Sunday’s opponent at Met Life Stadium, are the No. 1 team in the NFL against the run.
The Steelers have had a revolving door at running back in the second half of the season due to James Conner’s shoulder injury. He returned to the lineup against the Bills after missing most of the previous six games and played 34 of the team’s 59 offensive snaps. Reserves Jaylen Samuels had 17 snaps, Kerrith Whyte six and Benny Snell, who led the Steelers in rushing in the previous three games, had just two snaps.
The unique rotation against the Bills caused more problems in the passing game because Tomlin pointed to some mistakes his backs made in pass protection.
“We have to divide the labor up more decisively,” Tomlin said. “We had some question marks about James and Jaylen’s availability. Buffalo was able to apply more pressure than we would like. A more stable division of labor will allow us to be more stout in that area. If you look at what the Jets have done, I think their ability to get after young quarterbacks have been a catalyst for that. They’ve gotten after some young quarterbacks.”
The Bills sacked Hodges five times, but he was under heavy pressure for most of the game. Tomlin would prefer a more defined workload this week, and he wants to find out early which backs will be in those roles.
“It’s important we give the guys the work during the week to guys who are going to get it in the game,” Tomlin said.
Conner is the team’s most experienced back and best pass protector when he is healthy. The others are in their first or second year and are still trying to pick up the nuances of the NFL passing game.
Whomever Tomlin and offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner choose this week better be able to handle the responsibilities in the passing game as well as the running game given the way the Jets like to play defense.
In a perfect world, the Steelers would be able to line up and run against any defensive front. But that’s not the way they’re built.
Until they are, it’s going to be a weekly adventure finding ways to win without their franchise quarterback.
First Published: December 17, 2019, 9:23 p.m.
