Steelers Are Trying to Fix the Run Game Without Addressing the Problem
PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has not been shy when addressing his team's concerns on the football field.
First, it was the poor play on third down when the Steelers allowed the Philadelphia Eagles to manhandle them on possession downs. Then, it was sloppy play on special teams that forced Pittsburgh to go for it on fourth down, in the fourth quarter, against the Baltimore Ravens.
Now, it's the running game.
"As a team, you always go through lulls in the season where components of your play are lacking, and it requires a re-center of energy or attention or focus," Tomlin said on Tuesday. "I believe that is where we are in regards to the run game right now. We will get about that task this week."
That's no secret. Over the last three weeks, the Steelers have failed to eclipse the 50-yard mark on the ground. James Conner's struggles have grown with each game as the once 100-yard rusher struggles to find a rhythm within the ground attack.
What needs to change, though? During Tomlin's Tuesday press conference, he continued to say the team will work on fixing the run game, but he didn't address what the issue is. In fact, he avoided it.
"It's generally usually a combination of all the above, and specifically last week I was not surprised with the commitment that Cincinnati had to packing the line of scrimmage," Tomlin explained. "We stepped into a stadium where we hadn't seen our quarterback all week, and so it's reasonable to expect them to have an agenda to push us toward that in an effort to check his readiness, our collective cohesion and what have you in that area. But, sometimes we just aren't doing good enough as well. It's a combination of all the things that you suggest. We will roll our sleeves up and get about the business of attacking it this week."
At some point, the concern needs to be focused on Conner. Tomlin loves to use the bell cow running back in his backfield. For as long as any of us can remember, the Steelers have lived life under their head coach with a dominant running back and a solid backup.
Right now, the Steelers have two quality backups in Benny Snell Jr. and Anthony McFarland. They also have a fullback that was signed this offseason, who has only played 31 offensive snaps in the five games he was active this season.
Tomlin won't adjust, though.
He made it clear that Conner will continue to be the bell cow runner for Pittsburgh. "We are going to get better," Tomlin said, without any explanation to how.
If the Steelers plan on changing the course of their backfield success without changing rep counts for Conner and the others, it's going to be with the offensive line.
Holes need to be big, and they need to be presentable. Otherwise, this season isn't going to solve anything when it comes to the running game.
"We are not up to snuff right now. We accept ownership for that," Tomlin said. "We are going to roll our sleeves up and solve it. We had a similar discussion a couple weeks ago when you were asking about our third-and-long defense. We did similar things there, and I expect similar results in the run game."
Well, if it's not a change in snap counts, it's not any concern with Conner and there's no explanation as to what is going wrong on the ground, what can it be?
It's hard to say Tomlin knows. He's pulled out impressive turnarounds before. It's not hard to say he's going to do it again. But this time, it's difficult to say anything changes without some new momentum playing running back.
Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.
