The Pittsburgh Steelers offense remained a rusted, decaying operation in Sunday’s 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns.
In the game, Pittsburgh managed to secure 12 first downs, accumulate a total of 249 yards, and only had two drives with more than one first down. They also went three-and-out on four occasions.
The frustration surrounding the Steelers’ inability to move the offense boiled over for a dejected Najee Harris.
“There’s just a lot of stuff that just goes around that you guys don’t see,” the running back said, via ESPN. “I guess I’m trying to say it’s just, I’m just at a point where I’m just tired of this s—.”
This issue is the Steelers’ complete inability to move the ball with any consistency. Pittsburgh’s performance was especially poor in the first half of Sunday’s game.
In the first half of Week 11, the Steelers failed to score any points and only covered a total of 64 yards, with a net pass yard of 15. This marked the second game of the season where Pittsburgh didn’t score and made less than 70 total yards in the first half, the most such games in the NFL this season. Only three other teams have one game like this. This was also the lowest net pass yardage in the first half for Pittsburgh since Week 15 of 2020 when they achieved only 7 yards with Ben Roethlisberger as the starting quarterback.
In total, Kenny Pickett generated 77 net passing yards in Sunday’s loss, the fewest by the Steelers since Week 17, 2019, at Baltimore, when undrafted quarterback Devlin Hodges made the start.
The 6-4 Steelers remain in the No. 7 seed in a bunched AFC playoff race, but that’s on the strength of the defense, with rare glimpses of help from the offense.
“On Sunday, Harris suggested two perspectives,” he said. “One could interpret our current record as being satisfactory. Alternatively, one could question, based on our current style of football, how sustainable our success will be. My personal viewpoint veers towards questioning our sustainability. Despite our good record, this is the NFL and winning the way we have been, won’t get us far.”
Harris is battling his own challenges. He managed to achieve 35 yards from 12 carries on Sunday, resulting in a meagre average of 2.9 yards per carry. As is the case most weeks, the Steelers’ running game had little room for advancement. Next Gen Stats indicates that Harris produced a +12 Rush Yards Over Expected, implying that his performance could have been even worse.
Harris shared his difficulties in making progress, stating, “It felt like the defense was always ready for my moves, effectively minimizing my role. I just couldn’t gain any momentum. Fortunately, we had Jaylen who was performing well, which was a great asset. They anticipated my moves, even setting up screens for me. They were highly aggressive, disrupting even the run game.”
Fellow running back Jaylen Warren was the only bright spot in an otherwise dreary Steelers offense, earning 129 rushing yards on nine carries, including a 74-yard touchdown run, the only time Pittsburgh hit pay dirt on the day. Even if you take out the big run, Warren still averaged 6.88 yards on his eight other carries.
Warren amassed 145 scrimmage yards, while the rest of the Steelers players collectively achieved 133 scrimmage yards. The standout running back has proven to deserve more opportunities. However, the truth remains that there won’t be any significant improvement until the offense begins to consistently accumulate first downs and improve their overall performance.
“Can it be fixed? Yes. Will we fix it? No,” said Harris, shaking his head and trailing off.
He continued, “I’m at a loss for what to do. I’m trapped in this predicament with no solution in sight. I don’t have any answers. All I can do is ride it out.”
For 58 consecutive games, the Steelers have failed to achieve more than 400 total yards, marking the longest active streak. In 2023, Pittsburgh recorded a league-low of 19 red-zone drives, with only one red zone drive in Week 11.
