There's no doubt the Steelers' finding success in the run game with Najee Harris gaining 122 rushing yards on 23 carries was a big deal. It was the first time since James Conner ran for 101 yards against the Browns back on Oct. 18 of the 2020 season.
But if anyone wants to see whether the performance from Harris and the Steelers' offensive line was reflective of that group's chance to become a consistent threat this season, it takes a look into the details of that success.
Mike Tomlin's description of the Steelers' run issues over the first month of the season was simply put into the one word he kept using to describe it:
"Popcorn."
It's a term used in football to describe when a group struggles because of various problems that pop up at random. Often that involves a play where ten of the team's eleven players on the field fill their assignments, but one player failed in their job and the entire play was blown up.
That's what had been happening for the Steelers in their first few weeks running the ball. Sometimes it would be Kevin Dotson missing his block, or Dan Moore Jr. not finishing his man, or Kendrick Green not establishing leverage, or Chukwuma Okorafor losing a hand battle, but it kept coming from different directions.
This happens with young offensive lines regularly in the NFL. It's why the Steelers put every effort into maintaining their offensive line with Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, Ramon Foster and Alejandro Villanueva for so many years. Sure, age became a factor, but the group knew how to play to their assignments and for years was a consistently technical unit that could beat opponents regularly to open up running lanes and protect Ben Roethlisberger.
But for a younger offensive line with two rookies in Green and Moore, as well as a second-year player in Dotson and a still developing tackle in Okorafor, it's been an uphill climb. Often times with some members of the group taking steps forward with others, sometimes even just one player, missing one fundamental aspect of their assignment that foiled the concerted efforts of the others.
Here's an example where most of the Steelers' offensive line and Pat Freiermuth did their jobs to open a hole for Harris. But that hole was closed when Green got to his man but failed to lock his hands inside his frame to maintain leverage and keep the gap open:
But those issues have lessened over the last two games for the Steelers, as the offensive line has grown together.
When looking for improvement within a young offensive line, momentum is important to building confidence and showing those young players how positive results can stack on each other if they stick to their assignments and fundamentals.
Here's an example from the first run of the game when Harris gained six yards. You can see each of the linemen push their man forward, with Turner and Dotson getting to the second level. That gave Harris the space to pick up momentum and fall forward to start the drive off with a good gain:
Harris was feeding off their success and, even as a rookie, could express appreciation for how that group is working while he adjusts to the NFL.
"I’m more than excited about what everybody is doing in the offensive line, especially Coach [Adrian] Klemm and KG [Kendrick Green] and Dan [Moore Jr.] because they’re rookies and they really stepped up," Harris said Sunday after the Broncos game. "From Week One all the way to now, you can see the improvement on tape. I said a lot that the stat sheet doesn’t look like it, but all of us running backs can tell the difference of how much they’re improving. To come out here and for them to do as well as they did, I feel like this whole press conference should be more just about them other than me because they did an amazing job. And I told them that every time we got on the sideline, even in the game, how well they were doing."
Harris is exceeding expectations on and off the field as a performer and a vocal teammate. He hasn't stopped providing soundbites that are either entertaining or enlightening since the night he was drafted by the Steelers.
But to his point about what the offensive line has done, they've begun to win the battles that impact the rest of the offense, including third down success. The Steelers are converting third downs at 43.9 percent, eight-best in the NFL headed into week six.
That number got a big boost when the Steelers went 7 of 12 on third downs, the first time the offense converted more than half of their third down attempts in a game this season.
"We were on schedule," Tomlin said when asked about the offense's third down success. "If you look at the down and distances of those conversions, they were very manageable ones."
Those third downs were manageable because of the success in the run game. Matt Canada finally got to see some of the power and aggression we've heard about in the offensive line from line coach Adrian Klemm throughout the offseason. But along with that power, he got to see their ability to finish.
Here was a run play where the Steelers pulled Dotson to be a lead blocker for Harris along with Derek Watt. Dotson not only met his man, but used his hands to establish, then maintain leverage. Watt then followed with a solid block in the hole to open the path for Harris:
That's finishing a play.
It's also a formation I pointed out the Steelers might want to use in the penultimate paragraph of my Carter's Classroom on getting Harris more opportunities in the passing game. Watt can simultaneously be a pass protector and a run blocker for Roethlisberger while the Steelers deploy three wide receivers with Watt and Harris in an effort to keep them guessing if it's a run or a pass.
In this case, Watt was the run blocker. But if the Steelers wanted an extra pass protector, he could be that as well while the Steelers' receivers and Harris get open for Roethlisberger.
Plenty of examples from earlier games had Steelers offensive linemen getting to their assignments and even putting their hands on their man, but putting their hands in the wrong places or not keeping that leverage long enough for Harris.
That was a lot less of an issue against the Broncos. And when those successes started to come, Canada calling different run concepts began to wear on the Broncos' defense.
Watch how this unbalanced line with Moore lined up outside of Okorafor was able to open a gap for Harris to the right for a 20-yard gain. You can see each man putting their heads on the correct sides for their blocks and win leverage to open the gap:
But as the Steelers have often preached over the years, it's not just about the offensive linemen.
The Steelers' tight ends and receivers needed to get into the act too, and did that against the Broncos. Watch how Freiermuth helped seal Von Miller inside just long enough for Harris to attack his gap, while Cody White, called up from the practice squad, cut into the point of attack and delivered a crucial block to spring the 18-yard run:
The young guys are getting it.
They've got a long way to go and have to build on that consistency. But as they face the NFL's second-worst run defense in the Seahawks Sunday night at Heinz Field, there's a chance their performance against the Broncos gets another good showing on top of it. That could be the confidence building momentum this young group needs heading into the bye week before they match up with the Browns in a few weeks.
