Pittsburgh Steelers’ Offensive Line Showing Signs Of Progress

The Pittsburgh Steelers remain one of the worst running teams in the NFL this season.

The Steelers are 22^nd among the 32^nd teams in rushing yards a game with an average of 108.4. Pittsburgh’s 4.2 yards a carry average ranks 23^rd.

The lack of a consistent rushing attack is one of the primary reasons the Steelers are 3-6 even after beating the New Orleans Saints 20-10 last Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.

However, there is hope for that aspect of the Steelers’ offense. Pittsburgh has a combined 361 yards rushing in its last two games.

The Steelers had a season-high 217 yards on the ground in the win over the Saints. Najee Harris finished with 99 yards on 20 carries, rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett had eight attempts for a career-high 51 yards and rookie Jaylen Warren added 37 yards on nine carries.

The Steelers had the ball for nearly 39 minutes and were 9 for 17 in third-down conversions.

“I thought Naj ran well,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday during his weekly press conference. “I thought our line ran off the ball. “I thought we got hats on hats. I thought Jaylen was solid, as well. The prudent use of quarterback mobility added to that. Kenny did a nice job running and extending while taking care of the football while doing so.

“That teed up possession downs. At times, it kept us out of third-down situations, just being able to possess the ball. Time of possession reflected that.”

The Steelers’ offensive line continues to have its problems. Pickett has been sacked six times in each of the last two games, though some of that has to do with his reluctance to throw the ball away at times.

However, the run blocking is clearly getting better. And three of the Steelers’ five-highest graded players in the win over the Saints were offensive linemen – left tackle Dan Moore (89.6, 1^st), right guard James Daniels (74.9, 4^th) and center Mason Cole (71.9, 5^th).

Daniels and Cole were signed as free agents in the offseason to join Moore and fellow holdovers left guard Kevin Dotson and right tackle Chuks Okorafor.

Tomlin has seen the improvement.

“Just the nature in which they put four hands on people,” Tomlin said. “The movement we’re getting when we choose to double (team), and the understanding of the timing of when to come off and when to not come off double teams.

“That’s just born out of cooperative work, one man working with another. It’s been fun to watch the cohesion come together between (James Daniels) and Chuks, for example. But that has to happen for a right guard and right tackle. Oftentimes, they’re double-teaming B-gap players, come together and deal with the linebackers, however they show themselves. I just see collective growth and development in some of the work at that position.”

The line has been maligned much of the season by a large segment of the media and fans. Not that the criticism hasn’t been warranted. The Steelers’ 3-6 record has left all aspects of the team open to ridicule.

Offensive linemen realize that usually only get recognized when something goes wrong. It’s just part of the job.

“They’re not a group that looks for acknowledgement,” Tomlin said. “They understood the type of attention that was going to be on them because so many of them were knew and because the collective development was going to be a process.

“In the midst of that, we needed to be productive enough and show resolve and collective commitment. They’ve done that. And as long as they continue to do that, it’s reasonable to expect the growth and development to continue in all areas, not just the run game.”