Steelers 4 Downs: Most rushing plays gain 1 yard or fewer, but George Pickens delivering YAC

1. Running backward

The struggles in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ running game have been well noted. After all, through two weeks of the season the team had the second-fewest rushing yards (96) and sixth-worst yard per attempt (3.1) in the NFL. But it is actually via a superlative that perhaps the run-game’s relative ineptitude is best exhibited.

Through two games, Najee Harris has three carries of 17 or more yards. That matches his output for all of last season. Harris’ two carries of 20-plus yards is double the number the 20-yard-or-more rushes he had in 2022. So, in some senses, Harris has been as “explosive” as he’s ever been since turning pro.

But when considering that Harris has runs of 39, 21 and 17 yards this season, that illustrates just how inert the Steelers’ running game has been on whole.

The stats say the Steelers have had 31 rushes this season, including a 2-point conversion and end-of-half kneeldowns by Kenny Pickett.

That leaves 28 meaningful running plays. And on 16 of those plays, the Steelers netted 1 yard or less.

Put a different way, if you erase Harris’ three longest runs from the record (no other Steelers running play has gained even as many as 10 yards), the Steelers have netted 19 yards on 28 carries, an average gain of 0.7 yards.

2. Gorgeous George

Among 139 qualifying pass-catchers in the NFL last season, Steelers receiver George Pickens ranked 139th in average yards after catch (2.0). Pickens managed a total of just 102 yards after his 52 receptions in 2022.

Through two games this season, though, Pickens is turning that upside down. He already has accumulated 79 yards after his catches, the seventh most of any NFL wide receiver through two weeks. The Miami Dolphins’ Jaylen Waddle is the only wide receiver who entered the weekend with a better average “YAC” than Pickens (8.8).

During his career-long 71-yard touchdown catch against the Cleveland Browns on Monday, Pickens ran 57 yards after the catch. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, the analytics say 35 of those yards were over expected, based on the positioning of the defense when Pickens caught the ball.

Incidentally, Next Gen Stats also noted that Pickens reached 20.56 mph as he was accelerating through the Browns’ secondary on that play, the fastest measured speed of his career.

3. Picking on Pickett

Pickett’s poor start to the season is largely attributable to problems with accuracy. Next Gen Stats reports that based on its analysis of plays, Pickett’s 50% completion percentage against the Browns was 12.5% lower than expectation. That was the worst of any NFL quarterback in Week 2.

Some other Next Gen tidbits of note for Pickett: Colts rookie Anthony Richardson and the much-maligned Zach Wilson of the Jets are the only starting quarterbacks in the league who have not had a completion as far downfield as Pickett’s longest (31.1 yards).

Also, only two starting quarterbacks (Arizona’s Josh Dobbs and Green Bay’s Jordan Love) have a higher “aggressiveness percentage” than Pickett so far this season. Next Gen defines that metric as “the amount of passing attempts a quarterback makes that are into tight coverage, where there is a defender within 1 yard or less of the receiver at the time of completion or incompletion.”

That leaves a question: Why is Pickett’s rate so high? Is he taking the proverbial “gunslinger” mentality? Are his receivers just not creating any separation? Or, as a corollary of that, is the scheme not allowing the receivers the ability to get open?

4. Under pressure

Pickett is not without justifiable excuses for his early-season struggles. He was pressured at a higher rate (41.7% of dropbacks) than any NFL QB over the first two weeks, according to accounting by Pro Football Focus. No quarterback has been “hurried” more often (17 times), and only one has been hit more often (11).

In PFF’s subjective evaluation, the Steelers have the worst collective pass-blocking grade in the league.

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