Running game a priority
Production cratered last season after Roethlisberger’s elbow injury in Week 2
The running game is enjoying a renaissance in the NFL.
Some teams are embracing an old -school approach on offense, and they’re having success, too. It’s part of the everchanging landscape of the league.
Few pro-style quarterbacks are being produced by colleges, so coaches are taking advantage of the new skill sets of multi-faceted young quarterbacks such as Lamar Jackson, the NFL’s MVP in 2019.
In 2018, after benching Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Flacco in favor of Jackson, the Ravens morphed into a running team midseason, overtook the Steelers in the AFC North Division and made the playoffs. It was a move born out of necessity. The Ravens were 4-5, and there were rumors coach John Harbaugh was going to be fired.
There are other times when coaches simply want to be different and go against the grain. They zig while the rest of the league zags.
Thats’ what the Patriots did at the end of 2018. Late in the regular season and throughout the playoffs, it was the running game and not Tom Brady’s arm that delivered a sixth Lombardi Trophy to Foxborough, Mass.
Now running offenses are everywhere in the NFL. Tennessee rode Derrick Henry to an AFC championship appearance last season. The Bills made a run to the playoffs, too. The 49ers made it to the Super Bowl with an offense that revolved around the running game.
All of those teams proved it’s possible to pivot from passing to running and still contend.
The Steelers are exploring ways to improve their running game, which once again was among the worst in the NFL last season. Just don’t expect a drastic change in philosophy.
“You guys love talking about the running game like it’s the starting point of the offense,” veteran right guard David DeCastro said this week. “I just always try to tell you guys; it is a combination. You can’t have a good running game without a good passing game — without an honest, balanced offense.
“If they can just stack the box and run a safety down and you can’t throw over the top or you can’t keep them honest, then it is easier to stop the run. We just weren’t good at all. So, that running game is obviously going to be a tough spot. It wasn’t even just the run game; just overall not being good.”
DeCastro is right, of course. The Steelers were critically wounded when Ben Roethlisberger went down with a seasonending elbow injury last season in Week 2. Their passing offense could no longer flourish with young quarterbacks Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges, and the running backs could not pick up the slack.
It’s just interesting to hear DeCastro’s tone.
“You guys love talking about the running game like it’s the starting point of the offense.”
Well, it is for some teams; just not the Steelers. That’s crystal clear.
But the Steelers have spent a lot of time over the offseason studying ways to jumpstart a running game that finished 29th in the league in rushing yards per game last season. Running back James Conner and his position coach, Eddie Faulkner, both hinted at changes this week.
“We know that there needs to be an improvement,” Faulkner said. “We have worked on it. Ben’s presence opens up the run game. I also think the run game can help Ben with some things. Obviously, we put an emphasis on improving that way. Yes, health is one concern, but we can all take our piece of the puzzle of how we can improve, what things need to improve, whatever detail that is. Whether it is running a play differently, identifying it differently.
“We have gone through that with a fine-tooth comb. I feel very confident about where it is at, and I feel confident about my room as a whole that whoever is toting the rock can be productive. I am excited because I feel like the run game has progressed and gotten better. Obviously, when you add a Hall of Fame quarterback to the mix, it makes everyone around him better.”
What exactly will change? Faulkner wasn’t sharing details, but he indicated that new quarterbacks coach Matt Canada might have some influence on it. Canada was brought in to help the Steelers keep opposing defenses on their toes with pre-snap motion and different formations.
“Well, I can’t divulge all of that information, but I will say there have been conversations on just things that we can do better and how we can do it better and how we can get in better sets formationally — different ways we can run plays and create plays by motioning guys to a certain spot.
“But it is no different than anybody else in the league or involved in football is really doing. We are just trying to put our best product out. You are right; we realize we do need to improve, and that has been our mission going back to the spring.”