Offensive scheme leaves Harris exposed
by Bo Marchionte
Published September 25, 01:09 AM
Pittsburgh, PA – The Steelers played in front of their home crowd at Allegiant Stadium in their 23-18 win over the Raiders in Las Vegas. The 23-points are being hailed as the pinnacle turn around for Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada who faces more and more scrutiny as his scheme fails to live up the expectations of Steelers Nation.
Sure, Pittsburgh looked like a real NFL offense, but then again shouldn’t they resemble a team capable of getting a first down and making a completion over 10-yards. Any win in the National Football League is huge, look at the collapses of heavy favorites this past weekend in Baltimore, Dallas and Jacksonville who all took one on the chin.
Let’s just curb our enthusiasm before anointing this team the ‘Greatest Show on Dirt’ with 23-points scored. The team in Miami scored 70 as the Dolphins dominated the Denver Broncos.
Are the Steelers out of the woods? I’m not sold on the idea that Canada and company have found the magic elixir and have erased all the demons associated with an offense that has struggled since last season. The idea of feeling comfortable in mediocrity doesn’t fit how I view the Steelers organization.
Rubbing elbows with the elite franchises in the league seems more indicative of where they should reside and allowing anything less seems like an insult to Steelers Nation.
Steelers Week 3 Recap: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The Good: Calvin Austin
The second-year receiver missed his entire rookie season after suffering a Lisfranc injury in the summer of 2022. The former Memphis receiver finally got his first touchdown of his career, when he and Kenny Pickett connected for a 72-yard touchdown pass that tied the game. Austin, one of the nicest human beings on earth, added another element to the offense with his breakout game. While Diontae Johnson misses time and a cap hit over $15 million next season, Austin’s success is a very important story line to the bottom line. Money and winning.
The Good: Kenny Pickett
Pickett threw two touchdown passes for the first time in his career. He finished the game with a career-high 108.5 passer rating, which is 17.6% better than his previous best of 90.9 last season. He didn’t throw an interception for the first time this year, but let’s not forget Raiders Marcus Peters dropped a pick six via Pickett early in the game. It’s progress and Pickett puts in the work and has the tools to grow. Pickett will make his 17th NFL start against the Houston Texans this Sunday, which is equivalent to a full season schedule. With a 9-7 overall record, Pickett has done more than enough to get some leniency.
The Good: Steelers Nation
When the game concluded on Sunday night, T.J. Watt spoke to Sunday Night Football’s Melissa Stark after the win.
“Steeler Nation has been incredible whether we’re at Acrisure or we’re here or on the road or hopefully next week too,” Watt said. “I just want them to know the importance of them to the game.”
The Bad: Steelers Run Game
Two straight weeks the running game falls under the ‘Bad’ category. Twelve players have rushed for more yards than the Steelers, who have combined for 201 rushing yards as a team in the first three weeks of the season. Former Steelers now in Arizona running back James Conner has 266 yards rushing for the Cardinals.
It was another week of a heavy non-productive workload for Najee Harris. He had 19 carries for 65 yards with a long of 17. Without that run to pad his stats, he carried the football 18 times for 48 yards, which results in a 2.6 yards per carry average.
I’m not sold on the idea of Jaylen Warren becoming the featured back, because I think the third-down entries into the game, where Warren gets a lot of snaps, gives him the element of surprise for defenses. Harris’s existence in the Steelers offense leaves him exposed for defenses to know he is running it. Unfortunately, the o-line and Harris haven’t been able to enforce their agenda on opponents.
The Ugly: No 1st Down on last drive
The boo-birds were heard at Acrisure Stadium in the win over the Browns in Week 2, after the offense failed to convert a first down to end the game in ‘Victory Formation’ over Cleveland. A run of 1-yard by Harris on first down, then Warren ran it 8-yards to make it third and one. Pickett would go off the right tackle and lose 3-yards to force a punt on fourth and three.
Pittsburgh’s offense forced the defense to bail them once again and secure the win. Against the Raiders, Pittsburgh could not run the clock out after getting the football back with 2:22 left in the game. They did convert one first down, on their next set of downs, they ran the football three times losing three yards. Fourth and 13 on the final drive.
When the money shot was needed and they could have kneeled in victory, the offense had to punt it back to Las Vegas with 23 seconds left in game. Lucky Levi Wallace grabbed his second interception of the game to seal the second win of the season for Pittsburgh.
Photo Credit Frank Hyatt/College2Pro.com
