Run game inexplicably absent in loss
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Ben Roethlisberger rightfully took the blame for the Steelers losing to Jacksonville Sunday afternoon. Anytime the quarterback throws five interceptions and two of them are returned for touchdowns the blame is going to fall at his feet.
What will be lost in the rubble of Roethlisberger’s worst performance in his 14year career is the fact that the Steelers were just as miserable in the running game.
It wasn’t a secret the Steelers might have a hard time throwing against a Jaguars defense that entered the game first in the NFL in pass defense.
But not being able to run against the league’s worst run defense?
That’s just another sign that the offense is lost five games into the season. One week after rushing for 144 yards against the Ravens, Le’Veon Bell was held to 47 yards on 15 carries by a defense that was giving up 166 yards per game on the ground.
“We knew they’d load up the box and play man with their really good corners,” left tackle Alejandro Villanueva said. “Their game plan was to make us throw the ball and create turnovers, and that’s what they did. I thought they played great defense. They created a lot of turnovers. They didn’t let us run the ball. They executed their game plan. They stopped the run and forced us to throw the ball the entire game. They played better than us in the end.”
It’s difficult to run against stacked fronts, but the offensive line had a hard time against a front seven that had been manhandled by the Tennessee Titans and New York Jets. It was just last week that the Jets rushed for 256 yards against the Jaguars.
And all the Steelers could manage was 70 and for a measly 3.5 yards per carry? Here’s how bad of a day it was for the running game: Bell had 10 rushes for 2 yards or fewer. He was held to no gain three times and had negative plays of minus-2 and minus-5 yards.
“Coach Tomlin talked all week about how they’re built for ball control and their defense makes plays,” right guard David DeCastro said. “They did that. We got behind. That’s what happens when you get behind against a good front. I wish we could have run the ball. We never got the opportunity.”
DeCastro and others put blamed that on the problems in the red zone. The Steelers were 0 for 3 in the red zone and had to settle for three field goals. They entered the game 16th in the league in red-zone touchdown percentage. They’ll fall below average when the new redzone statistics are calculated Monday.
“If I had those answers we wouldn’t have these problems,” Roethlisberger said of the struggles in the red zone.
The running game struggles factored into the inability to score when the Steelers penetrated the Jaguars 20-yard line. Roethlisberger was faced with a third-and-8 from the 11 on the first drive of the game after Bell was dropped for a 2-yard loss on second down. His thirddown attempt was high and wide to Bryant near the pylon.
On the opening drive of the second half, after Bell rushed for 21 yards on the carries to help the Steelers drive to the Jacksonville 5, Roethlisberger threw three times. The first was incomplete to JuJu Smith-Schuster, the second was complete to Bell for 3 yards to the 2 and the third attempt to Antonio Brown fell incomplete.
“We have to find a way to get points when we’re in the red zone,” Brown said. “Three points isn’t going to get the job done. We have to find a way to get in the end zone. We had some opportunities in the red zone. If we got some points on those guys early … the game took a turn. Anytime we’re playing that type of football [in the red zone] it’s going to be hard to win.”
It’s also going to be hard to win when Bell isn’t more of a factor. He has been held to 87 yards or fewer in four of the first five games. He is averaging just 3.7 yards per carry.
Bell averaged 4.9 yards per attempt in each of the past two seasons. The Steelers’ problems go well beyond the red zone. They go well beyond Roethlisberger playing poorly.
The Steelers returned their offense nearly intact from last season. This is the same unit that gouged opponents in the second half of the season in a nine-game winning streak. This is the same offensive line that paved the way for Bell to rush for 100 yards or more seven times in the final nine games he played.
The Jaguars managed to win a game Sunday when their quarterback, Blake Bortles, completed eight passes for 95 yards. He did not complete a pass in the second half.
The Jaguars won because they rushed for 231 yards. The Steelers have to figure out a way to win games in that kind of manner because it doesn’t look like Roethlisberger is close to figuring out what ails him.
“We had some decent runs,” DeCastro said. “We had some good plays. We didn’t have a chance to stick with it. That’s football. They made plays. We have to be more efficient in the red zone. I sound like a broken record, but if we get the red zone where we want it, maybe scoring a touchdown or two, it’s a whole different game. We’re not sitting back and throwing the ball and letting those chances happen. We’ll be more balanced and in control of the game.”