The Pittsburgh Steelers were not able to play their style of football in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Colts. While the overall rushing totals look good, the stats are very deceptive. Cordarrelle Patterson's great running plays all came on one drive, and some of Justin Fields' numbers on the ground came from scrambling on pass plays. The real story was that Najee Harris, the starting running back, had just 19 rushing yards on 13 carries for an average of 1.5 yards per carry (YPC). That is unacceptable for any team, especially a run-first unit like the Steelers.
Eric Christian Smith / Associated Press
Running back Najee Harris tries to elude a Houston Texans defender during a Pittsburgh Steelers game in 2023.
During a mid-week interview, Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith explained what happened in that game and why Harris could get nothing done on the ground.
Obviously, Smith has no control over the offensive line suffering major injury after major injury. James Daniels tore his Achilles during the game, which forced Spencer Anderson to slot in at right guard, even though he had been mainly working on the left side along with Mason McCormick. That's a major problem, but Smith did mention something else that is very concerning about the team's approach.
The Herald Star
Steelers' offensive leaders Justin Fields and Arthur Smith during warmups.
During the game, the Colts put an emphasis on stopping the run, since they have struggled with it all season long (not to mention that that style of offense is Pittsburgh's bread and butter). They changed up their defensive scheme to counter the Steelers, and it worked very well. They forced Fields to win the game with his arm, which he almost did, but it wasn't enough to undo all the stalled drives from the first half.
The Colts entered their Week 4 game against Pittsburgh with the second-worst run defense in the NFL. Smith watched the tape from their previous games and planned to attack that. There is nothing wrong with that, but the problem was that he had no answers for their adjustments, as he said. The Steelers failed to make a counter-adjustment, which resulted in their usual power run game being nonexistent.
Steelers Have Had Similar Issue For Years
Throughout Mike Tomlin's tenure, one of the main complaints about him and his staff was their unwillingness to adapt or adjust. Tomlin himself had previously acknowledged that issue and said that those days are in the past, but actions speak louder than words. They kept trying the same approach over and over again until they were down 17-0 and were forced to start passing the ball to try and make a comeback.
Steelers.com
Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin and Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith working in their first training camp together.
With Patterson and Jaylen Warren out for Week 5, Smith will have to change up his gameplan somewhat. Harris hasn't shown that he can be the three-down bell-cow back that he was hyped to be during the NFL Draft, and their current backup running back is a guy with one career carry over his three-year career. Smith will have a nice little challenge during the practice week.
The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. In the NFL, if your gameplan fails, you have to either have a Plan B, or be ready to adjust and adapt on the fly. That problem continues to haunt the Steelers, and the Colts feasted on that. Smith didn't and it resulted in a loss, as well as Harris getting repeatedly clowned on X by Zaire Franklin. Hopefully, he learns from that and keeps an ace up his sleeve in case opposing coaches stop his base offense.
What do you think about Smith admitting that he and his players were not prepared for the Colts using a new defensive scheme against them? Let us know in the comments.
