The Steelers' epic failure to run the football in 2020 cost them a No. 32 ranking in a 32-team league and, ultimately, cost a few people their positions: Offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner and line coach Shaun Sarrett were fired and, of course, running back James Conner was cast into free agency to sign with the Cardinals.
Turns out the lack of "commitment" to the run was purged, too.
Anyone paying attention to Art Rooney, Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin in the speaking they've done this offseason will have picked up on multiple references to the C-word in that context, with Tomlin taking it further in his pre-draft meeting with us media types at Heinz Field last month by saying, "Let's be clear: The improvements in the running game go beyond just the acquisition of additional players. We're capable of performing better than we have, players aside. Schematics, formations, the things that we do to give ourselves a strategic advantage need to be improved."
All of which sounds good but means nothing if it isn't accompanied by the C-word. And not just from the coaches but also from, you know, the guy at the line of scrimmage charged with choosing between run/pass options right on the spot.
That prompted me to poke around a bit this past week to see if I could gauge: Who was most responsible for this lack of commitment, the coordinator or the franchise quarterback?
And wow, the answer that came back was emphatic.
According to two sources within the team, Ben Roethlisberger had been eager and enthusiastic to resume running the ball with gusto right around the season's midpoint when that facet of the offense had begun to nosedive. And within that, Roethlisberger had made this known to Fichtner. But Fichtner, per those same sources, had already pulled the ripcord by then. He'd focused all this energy into the passing game -- primarily short -- and viewed that as the way out. And he took that stance to the extreme, the sources said, of not even bothering to brainstorm new schemes to get the run going.
"Someone got lazy," was the way one of the sources worded it.
The sources also shared this: Roethlisberger, who's yet to speak this offseason, is all-in on the Najee Harris pick, as well as the zone-blocking schemes and other intricacies Matt Canada will bring to bolster the running game, and he'd embrace the offense regaining more balance.
MORE STEELERS
• While much of the focus has been on the strength of the Steelers' schedule, the travel portion of their schedule is actually pretty easy. The Steelers will travel the second-fewest miles this season, with only the Bengals having less travel. The Browns (3rd) and Ravens (5th) also are high on that list. The Steelers also go from Sept. 13 to Nov. 20 getting on a plane just once, that being to Green Bay Oct. 3. Their only other road game during that stretch -- compared to six home games -- is at Cleveland Oct. 31. Yes, the teams the Steelers play figure to be tough -- at least on paper. And the final six games of the season look difficult. But leaving your home stadium just twice in a two-month period is almost unheard of in the NFL. -- Dale Lolley on the South Side
• There have been a lot of questions regarding what Canada's offense will look like in 2021. I would love to tell you I have a great idea of what that will be, but because of COVID-19 restrictions, Canada has only spoken to the media once -- since being named quarterbacks coach last year. He hasn't spoken a single time since becoming the offensive coordinator, not even on draft weekend. But teams tell you what their plans are based on the moves they make. And the Steelers obviously went with a run-heavy draft, taking Harris and offensive linemen Kendrick Green and Dan Moore with three of their first four picks in the draft. Green and Moore also both have extensive experience in the outside zone running scheme. And Harris has experience doing that, as well. Of his 252 carries last season at Alabama, 123 were on zone runs and 128 were on straight gap runs -- ie. power. I would expect something similar from the Steelers. Yes, they'll run some zone. But they'll also run power schemes. We'll start to figure that out, however, this weekend at the Steelers' rookie mini-camp, based on what the coaches are teaching. -- Lolley
PENGUINS
• The Penguins will enter Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Islanders Sunday at 12:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena with abundant confidence, and understandably so. After all, they used a late-season surge to nose out Washington for first place in the East Division -- their first division title since 2014 -- and there's a pretty good chance they will have their lineup of choice intact for the first time all season in the opener.
Still, it will be interesting, and possibly revealing, to see how they react once they experience some significant adversity, which is pretty much inevitable at some point. The Penguins are a veteran, accomplished team, but the same things were true in each of the past playoffs, when they were swept by the Islanders and lost a best-of-five to heavy underdog Montreal in four games. Factor in two losses at the end of their second-round series against Washington in 2018, and the Penguins have lost nine of their past 10 playoff games. That's why it's fair to wonder if the mindset will become "Here we go again," if they fall behind the Islanders after a game or two, or whether Mike Sullivan and his staff, along with the Penguins' locker-room leaders, will be able to keep the players' focus on short-term objectives and simply taking one step at a time on what they hope will be a very long journey through this postseason. -- Dave Molinari
• No two players are the same -- well, except maybe for Daniel and Henrik Sedin -- but the level at which 36-year-old Jeff Carter has performed since being acquired from Los Angeles at the trade deadline might bode well for a couple of other centers who are on the back nine of their careers. Evgeni Malkin will be 35 and Sidney Crosby 34 when the 2021-22 season begins, and it wasn't so long ago that most players in that age group would be well into retirement by that time. However, considering both Malkin and Crosby are more gifted than Carter -- not that Carter ever would have been mistaken for a standard-issue journeyman -- his effectiveness makes it plausible the other two might have a few more highly productive years in them. No guarantees, of course, but plenty of reason to think that it's possible. -- Molinari
• It seems as if everything written or said about Finnish forward Valtteri Puustinen, a seventh-round draft choice in 2019 who signed his entry-level contract with the Penguins last week, mentions his speed. That obviously is a good quality to have, especially in the system coached by Sullivan, but being effective at this level requires a lot more than simply being able to get around the rink quickly. No player in Penguins history might have proven that more than Jim McGeough, a forward who was with them in the mid-1980s. He could get from Point A to Point B is less time than anyone else on the rink, but usually accomplished nothing along the way. And he once crashed into the boards while skating so fast that it was a surprise that he didn't burst into flames. -- Molinari
PIRATES
• Oneil Cruz is off to a strong start with the Curve, going deep a couple times this week. But it was a different type of swing that struck a chord with his manager, Miguel Perez. It came in the ninth inning with two outs, down a run, and he shortened up his swing to line a game-tying hit to the opposite field. “As we continue to talk to Cruz and trying to make him understand this is part of the process, this is the Cruz that we’re actually looking for anytime. Every situation,” Perez said. “... It’s gonna take a while. He’s 22. He’s young.” Cruz is one of the Pirates’ top, and most important prospects, and somewhat surprisingly is starting in Altoona. There’s still a chance he reaches the majors this season, but the Pirates are stressing for him to not press. He’ll get his chance in the majors, but no good will come from trying to rush the process. “He’s a work in progress,” Perez said. “He’s a guy who has a lot of eyes on him, so he’s going to try to do more and more more.” -- Alex Stumpf
• Yes, the plan is still to give Cruz every opportunity to stick as a shortstop. The outfield experiment isn’t over, and the safe bet is Cruz will eventually wind up in the outfield, but the team feels his bat becomes even more valuable if he is a shortstop. It’s harder to find a high-OPS shortstop than outfielder, after all. The franchise has plenty of young shortstops in the upper-levels, including Kevin Newman and Cole Tucker, but it hasn't done much offensively this year to secure the job long-term. That could play into Cruz continuing to get a look at his natural position. -- Stumpf
• After telling me in spring training that hitting triple-digits was one of his goals for this season, David Bednar did just that Wednesday against the Reds. (Ok, it was 99.6 mph, but round it up.) He said back in Bradenton, Fla., he felt his delivery and mechanics have been more consistent, which explains why he’s been in the upper-90s more consistently, and why his splitter (.222 opponent batting average) and curveball (.143 average) are getting better results. The Pirates have a solid late-inning duo in Richard Rodriguez and Kyle Crick, though the later is on the injured list at the moment. But with both expected to draw interest during the trade deadline, Bednar could be one of the guys who steps into a leverage role if the Pirates trade a reliever. -- Stumpf
