It’s been almost a week since the Pittsburgh Steelers season came to a crushing end, as their late-season heroics all culminated to finishing just short of a playoff berth. It’s even tougher knowing they’re probably better than a couple of teams playing this weekend. However, there were certainly things that the team put on tape this year that we can be excited about moving forward, one of those being the improved run game.
Since the end of the 2020 season, Head Coach Mike Tomlin has stated he wanted this team to get back to what it’s known for; ground and pound smashmouth football. The team reflected that sentiment last year when they selected Najee Harris in the first round.
Harris has rewarded the team with the first back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons from a player in team history. The team has certainly tried to commit to the run since finishing dead last in rushing yards per game in 2020. 2021 was a slight improvement when they finished 29th overall.
It looked as if it were going to be more of the same in 2022, when the team got off to a rough 2-6 start in which they averaged 94.9 rushing yards per game. After the bye week, that would all change.
The run game got off to a scorching second half in which they averaged 146 rushing yards per game. They finished the season 16th overall in rushing yards per game, finally making the jump they envisioned.
Harris was an absolute stud down the stretch, in fact according to PFF, since week 13 he was the 2nd highest graded running back in all of football:
Harris got off to a rough start to the year. He failed to reach over 80 yards in any of the first 8 games. He also seemed to be hampered by a foot injury that he had gotten in camp and re-aggravated in Week 1. He seemed timid and would often try and dance instead of hitting the hole or lowering his shoulder.
Once the bye week hit, he emerged a man possessed. He hit 80 yards or more in 6 of the final nine games and was an absolute force with stiff arms and hurdles galore. However, he wasn’t a one man show. There were other factors that can be credited for the dramatic increase in rushing prowess.
Steelers’ Improved Offensive Line
The biggest thing was the highly increased play of the starting five up front. The signings of Mason Cole and James Daniels may be the biggest of the off-season looking back. Although it wasn’t pretty to start, there was definitely noticeable improvement in this unit to start the year. As it went on, they got better week in and week out. The group is young and got a good feel and continuity with one another.
Cole ranked as the 12th best center in all of football, while Daniels and Kevin Dotson both were ranked inside the top 30 for guards. Both tackles Chuks Okorafor and Dan Moore Jr. also showed improvement. This is a unit that if they continue to gel, can also continue to ascend. They are all under contract for next season, and 4/5 are under contract for at least the next two.
Legit RB2
One of the other contributing factors was the emergence of Jaylen Warren. Warren is a UFA that started out as a camp body. He slowly worked his way into the RB2 position all of camp and didn’t look back. He was the perfect complement to Harris and made the most out of every touch averaging 4.9 yards per carry. He also carved out a role for himself in the passing game, adding 28 catches for 214 yards.
Warren was the 3rd down back often times, and was a large reason the team had a high 3rd down conversion percentage, finishing 7th in the NFL. Adding Warren to the offense adds not only an explosive backup for Harris, but another legit offensive weapon as well.
Put this altogether and it looks like the Steelers really are heading back to being a run first team. With all of these players returning and with the improved quarterback play of Kenny Pickett, there’s no reason to think this offense won’t have defenses on their heels next season.
The only question that remains is if the team will stick with Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada or not. We will likely find out in the coming days. Regardless, this team looks to be heading in the right direction offensively, and towards the team they want to be.
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