Players bemoan losing 'balanced attack' on offense taken on the South Side (Steelers)

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Najee Harris celebrates his rushing touchdown during the second quarter against Cleveland on Thursday.

Somehow, and for some reason, the Steelers' flickering offense's dial was turned to a dimmer direction as Thursday night's game went along in Cleveland.

And, now, at 1-2 and with a quasi-bye week ahead of a matchup against the Jets, it's back to the film room and the drawing board to try and fix some of what can necessarily be fixed after the 29-17 loss to the Browns.

From an at-best competent first half and into a paltry second half, it became more apparent by the play that Mitch Trubisky wasn't the only cause-and-effect to the lack of execution by the offense. Matt Canada remains under judgment in the court of public opinion for his play-calling, and especially in the second half, as the Steelers failed to reach the end zone and settled for three measly points.

But, the court of public opinion doesn't include judges from within the Steelers locker room, which -- to our pleasant surprise -- was open access for 45 minutes on Friday afternoon on the South Side.

A relatively quiet locker room, at that.

The Steelers opened the first half on Thursday with a balanced attack, led by strong efforts from Najee Harris and a complementary Jaylen Warren, but the play-calling somehow and some way found reason to go away from them.

As illustrated by tight end Zach Gentry:

"I think we were a more balanced attack in the first half. We were able to run the ball really well. Najee was ripping off for some chunks in the first half. The game kind of got away from us in the second half, and so play-calling had to be changed a little bit because we had some points we had to make up for, but the first half was really nice, really balanced."

Harris and the rookie Warren combined for 76 rushing yards and Harris' touchdown in the first half, but the duo disappeared in the second half in accumulating five carries for 10 yards. Warren rushed it four times for 30 yards in the first half, but his fumble (recovered by a nearby Diontae Johnson) to cap off a strong 10-yard carry midway through the second quarter the put him inside of Mike Tomlin's dog house for the rest of the game. 

Warren did not receive a carry from that point, and the only look he got in the second half didn't technically exist, as a pass from Trubisky was negated by an ineligible man downfield penalty on Chuks Okorafor.

"I just had the ball in a bad spot," Warren said on Friday of his fumble. "Was focusing more on the guy rather than keeping the ball tight, and he caught me."

But the lack of presence of a running game went beyond Warren not receiving another carry in the second half. Game script and situational football surely came into play, as Canada dialed up more pass plays for Trubisky in an effort to come from behind their deficit.

Warren certainly received a welcome-to-the-NFL moment with his fumble, which could have been prevented with a little more awareness and, as he illustrated, better technique on his part.

"That's the thing about the league," Warren said. "Whatever you put on tape, it's out there for all 32 teams to see, and you've just got to be prepared to take what they give you."

Warren had also noted that he was told he would be put back into the game, but "just don't do it again."

The lack of execution and, once again, a shying away from the middle of the field until it was absolutely necessary made it nearly elementary for the Browns defense to stop down the stretch.

"There were a lot of things as a team," Gentry said of the second-half changes. "We weren't able to run the ball maybe as well, and we let them run the ball pretty successfully. Like I said, when you get down to a two-score game, you've got to start trying to push the issue a little bit."

Pat Freiermuth wasn't looked at until the fourth quarter, and three of his four targets came on the same drive in which the Steelers ultimately settled for a Chris Boswell field goal with 1:51 to play. Per NFL Next Gen Stats, Trubisky attempted just four passes inside or just outside of the hash marks and beyond the line of scrimmage on Thursday. Each completion was after the other, of 26- and 15-yard gains to Freiermuth in that aforementioned drive.

After his Odell Beckham-like, one-handed catch toward the end of the first quarter, George Pickens registered just one catch for 5 yards. Johnson dropped what was likely Trubisky's best downfield ball of the night, which further complicated things and helped build some of the visible frustration from the pass catching corps.

Despite all of their shortcomings, there is still optimism from within of building upon the bright spots the offense showed in the first half.

"I've barely been in the building (on Friday), but I'd imagine the confidence is still high," Gentry said. "We know for a fact that we're a good, talented group. You see it every year, a lot of it is just teams make runs and stuff, and you come together and figure out exactly hat to do and how to do it. It's just one of those things -- it's a long season, and I know that this locker room's definitely not lacking any confidence."

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