Tim Benz: Steelers insist rush attack has more to give

Given the lack of precipitation in Western Pennsylvania in recent weeks, the timing may be a bit off for rookie tackle Troy Fautanu’s analogy about the Steelers’ offense.

But you’ll get the point.

“The dam is ready to break,” Fautanu said Wednesday. “We’re right there. We’re right on that edge. It’s just the details. The details are what will take us to the next level.”

While we haven’t seen much volume in terms of rain around here to threaten any dams lately, we sure have seen volume in terms of the Steelers’ run game. No team in the NFL had more rushing attempts (77) through the first two weeks of the season than the 2-0 Steelers.

Granted, it’s a small sample size. Some of those runs are scrambles from plays that started as designed passes for quarterback Justin Fields, and the Steelers haven’t had to play a lot of catch-up football.

Still, as advertised when the Steelers hired Arthur Smith as the team’s new coordinator this offseason, the franchise has followed through on plans to be committed to the run game.

Now it just needs to pay off more frequently.

For as much as the Steelers have been leaning into the ground attack, they are only a modest 12th in rushing (278 yards), and average just 3.6 yards per carry (28th in the NFL).

On an individual level, running back Najee Harris is a microcosm of the larger conversation about the run game. He’s drawn extensive praise (and rightfully so) for how hard he has been running. Harris has been punishing defenders with his effort and demeanor. He is tied for sixth in the NFL with former Steeler James Conner in rushing attempts at 37 a piece.

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Yet the former first-round draft choice is only netting 3.8 yards per carry. Conner is at 4.6. Bijan Robinson, who the Steelers faced in Week 1, is at 5.2. Their opponent this week, J.K. Dobbins, leads the NFL in rushing at 266 yards and is averaging 9.9 yards per carry. Those last two backs have fewer carries than Harris does.

“It’s about being consistent,” Harris said. “For me, being consistent with the tracks. Keep hitting it. For the line, being consistent on knowing who to get to, and when they do it, just finish.”

Harris has one 20-yard run. Unfortunately, that’s as explosive as it has gotten for him. Jaylen Warren, who has battled a hamstring injury, posted an 11-yard carry last week against the Broncos. On his other 10 attempts this year, he has accumulated just 38 yards.

“Sometimes it’s easy to get frustrated, but you’ve got to look at the process — what’s really going on on the ground,” Smith said Thursday. “The most encouraging thing. Are they getting the intent?… There’s been some impressive stuff by the line, especially in the run game, with our intent. Wearing people down. It hasn’t been perfect by any means. I’ve just been through this enough (as coordinator in Tennessee) where you felt like you’re getting close.”

Tackle Dan Moore Jr. echoed his coordinator’s message.

“It’s about playing the attrition game. Hopefully, when we get into the third and fourth quarter, those guys start wearing down and we start hitting some of those bigger runs,” Moore said. “You see so many runs on film when we are just so close to breaking a 4-yard run into a 40-yard run.”

That better be the case. Because for as much scrutiny as the thin wide receiver group is getting, and for as much analysis that is being foisted on the quarterback position, this is supposed to be a run-first offense.

Thus far that aspect of the unit has been decent as best.

Decent at best has been good enough to win in Atlanta, 18-10, and in Denver, 13-6. But it may not be good enough to beat the Los Angeles Chargers this weekend. They are allowing just 80.5 rushing yards, sixth best over the first two weeks in the NFL, just one spot behind the Steelers at 76.5.

If you listen to coach Mike Tomlin talk about the moderate amount of yards yielded by the high volume run total, it sure sounds like he is acutely aware of that reality — and may be inclined to tweak the approach.

“I like what we’ve done thus far, but we got a new agenda this week — a new challenge this week,” Tomlin said on Tuesday. “At the early stages of the year, I’m always hesitant to paint with a broad brush and talk about personality. Personality is revealed over time with circumstances and situations and how you perform and how you respond to certain circumstances.”

Tomlin said the heavy run-volume approach might be the residue of those circumstances happening so early in the calendar.

“The newness of all the people (on offense) coupled with the environmental components (playing on the road twice) and the lack of development that we all share in September, really dictated that we play a certain way,” Tomlin added. “But that is probably subject to change as we grow and as the venue changes.”

The venue is changing to Acrisure Stadium this week. The crowd there is just going to want to see a few touchdowns. And it’s not going to matter how they are scored, just so long as there is more than one in the game on offense … for the first time this year.

LISTEN: It’s our weekly Fantasy Football podcast with Tim Benz and Jeff Erickson of RotoWire. They discuss how to set your lineup around the slew of injuries to skill position players in the NFL.