Mark Madden: Steelers need more from running game to be legit contender

The Steelers have to run the ball more and better.

They’re not forced to be one-dimensional. They do so voluntarily. It makes them predictable and easy to defend.

If the Steelers feel they can’t run, they better figure out how to. Perhaps revisit how they did it earlier this season. The Steelers had a 100-yard rusher in four of their first five games.

The simple explanation might be Ben Roethlisberger wants to pass on every down. He pretty much is.

Against Washington on Monday, Roethlisberger threw 53 times despite the Steelers not trailing until 2 minutes, 7 seconds remained. Against Baltimore the previous Wednesday, Roethlisberger threw 51 times despite trailing for a total of 5:17 and not after 4:10 into the second quarter.

Those games didn’t dictate throwing 104 times. But Roethlisberger did.

It’s a good thing Roethlisberger isn’t on a pitch count. He needs to learn to pitch to contact. If Jameson Taillon threw that much, he’d need a third Tommy John surgery.

When they led Washington, 14-0, in the second quarter, it seemed a good time for the Steelers to run the ball, manage the clock and keep their wounded defense off the field.

Instead, the Steelers kept passing. While tied or leading, the Steelers threw on 12 straight plays, eight straight plays and nine straight plays.

The Steelers don’t give their running game a chance to succeed and abandon it at the first opportunity. They lined up in the shotgun on 87% of their snaps against Washington. Derek Watt played just three snaps at fullback. The offensive linemen rarely assume a three-point stance. The backs don’t get the ball with forward momentum.

It’s not a terrible offensive line. Roethlisberger has been sacked a league-low 10 times and not once in the past five games despite throwing 238 times in those contests. (Full disclosure: Roethlisberger getting the ball out uber-quickly has plenty to do with that.)

Short passes don’t substitute for running the ball, especially in short-yardage situations and especially deep in the red zone where there’s less room to work with. In the second quarter, the Steelers couldn’t score a touchdown on five straight cracks from Washington’s 1. (To be fair, that was passing twice and rushing thrice.)

It’s an extremely short passing game. Shots downfield are minimal. The opposition basically has to defend a 10-yard field.

The passing game has been sabotaged by lots of drops: Seven against Washington and a league-high 31 on the season, 10 more than anybody else. Less dancing on TikTok and more practice with the JUGS machine seems advisable.

The more Roethlisberger throws, the worse he does. In the Steelers’ first five games, he averaged 33 throws. He has averaged 46 since, and his passer rating since is almost 20 points lower.

The running game was terrible Monday. The Steelers ran the ball 14 times for 21 yards, an average of 1.5 yards.

But if the Steelers’ rushing attack can’t reach a level the opposition defense respects, they’re not a legit contender. You won’t win a Super Bowl if you can’t get a tough yard on the ground.

Full disclosure: Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes has thrown the ball 40 or more times on seven occasions this season. But Roethlisberger isn’t Mahomes, and Roethlisberger doesn’t have Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce to work with.

At any rate, the Chiefs are outrushing the Steelers by 14 yards per game and .7 yards per attempt.

The Steelers need to be careful. Their offense is one-dimensional. Their defense is overwhelmed by injuries. If Myles Garrett’s Monday night tweet means what it appears, Cleveland (9-3) seems to think the Steelers can be caught for the AFC North title. Maybe they can be.

In recent years, December is the cruelest month for the Steelers. Last year, the Steelers went from 8-5 to 8-8 and out of the playoffs. In 2018, they lost four of their last six to drop from 7-2-1 to 9-6-1 and out of the postseason. What can the Steelers fritter away this December?

The Steelers haven’t often put together a solid 60 minutes. Despite their incredible record, doubt remains about what they can do over 16 games.

The Steelers visit Buffalo on Sunday night. The Bills won the second half of Monday’s doubleheader, triumphing at San Francisco, 34-24. Not a bad victory after flying west. Steelers-Bills will tell a tale. If the Steelers pass over 40 times, they lose.