Mueller: Steelers' ground outburst encouraging, but questions remain

For the majority of the Steelers’ first eight games, it was hard to fathom how Mike Tomlin could have arrived at his proposed formula for winning in 2022. The Steelers in no way, shape or form resembled a team capable of grinding teams down with defense, and particularly did not look the part of a group that could run the ball with authority.

T.J. Watt’s injury did explain the former problem, but the latter was more troublesome. The Steelers had topped 100 yards rushing as a team just three times in their first eight games, and their best performance on the ground coming into Sunday’s game, 144 yards against the Eagles, happened while they were getting routed.

What’s more, there were no missing pieces like Watt, at least in the literal sense. Figuratively? That was another story.

Najee Harris, most complete back in the 2021 NFL Draft, was nowhere to be found. To just about everyone other than Tomlin, Harris looked inferior to undrafted free agent Jaylen Warren. The offensive line was being damned with the faintest of praise, specifically that their play was mediocre, and that that qualified as a pleasant surprise.

So it was a shock, then, that everything came together on Sunday against New Orleans, and the Steelers rolled up 217 yards on the ground, in a performance that harkened back to the franchise’s bruising, physical glory days.

Tomlin, since day one of his Steelers tenure a zealot about having a feature running back – a bell-cow, if you prefer – turned the position into a job share against New Orleans and was rewarded for it. Harris played 60 percent of the offensive snaps and Warren 40 percent. Harris had 20 touches, all carries, and Warren had 12, three of which were catches, including a big 26-yarder and a crucial third-down effort to keep a touchdown drive going.

Whether it was a matter of him being fresher, motivated or both, Harris ran with authority, running right through a Saints defender on a 36-yard gallop, his longest of the year, and in a subtler, but equally encouraging development, consistently falling forward and grabbing an extra two or so yards on most of his runs.

Warren did what he’s been doing all year, which is produce. He answered the doubters who suggested his strong numbers were inflated, a product of garbage-time efforts from opposing defenses.

Harris and Warren’s efforts were the main reason the Steelers ripped off six explosive plays (20 yards or more) in the game, two more than they’ve had in any other game this season.

I have two questions in the wake of such a strong performance: Can the Steelers repeat the feat, and even make it a regular occurrence, and if they do, is it going to work?

There’s no doubt in my mind that Tomlin loved the way the game unfolded, with his defense strangling the Saints and holding them scoreless in the second half. His team delivered a physically dominant performance, and Tomlin is an old-school football devotee, the kind of guy who relishes “ugly” wins. That trait was evident again during his weekly press conference. You can tell that he derives a certain level of satisfaction from winning the way the Steelers did over the Saints that isn’t quite the same as, say, a 41-38 shootout.

Having said that, I remain skeptical that this approach – running, defense, protecting the football – is sustainable. The Steelers might run the ball well moving forward, but they probably won’t rack up 200-plus yards every week. They might play very good defense, but they probably won’t hold opponents to 10 points per game. Kenny Pickett might improve, but there’s no way he’ll play mistake-free football the rest of the way.

The whole thing still seems way too razor’s edge to work. New Orleans is a bad football team. Andy Dalton, if he’s being pressured, is a bad quarterback. Cincinnati, even without Ja’Marr Chase, has far more weapons with which to hurt the Steelers. Same thing goes for the Ravens, who the Steelers still see twice, though I will concede that Tomlin’s defense has consistently stymied Lamar Jackson when the teams have met in previous years.

Running the ball the way the Steelers did is nice, and every team in the NFL would want to do it. It’s a passing league, but being able to control the clock and the game on the ground is still important. That said, this sort of performance will only represent the start of real progress if it’s followed by a game where effective running creates more avenues for effective downfield passing. Pickett hit just one deep shot downfield, a 36-yarder to Diontae Johnson, and there was still a smattering of missed throws, or open throws that he didn’t identify and attempt.

The red zone was still a grind; the Steelers scored twice, but it felt like a massive effort each time, and the team’s longest touchdown this year still stands at 8 yards, an almost comical number nine games in.

In other words, it was a nice performance, but I still have questions. Getting rolling on the ground is a good thing, but sooner or later, this offense is going to have to take flight.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Mueller: Steelers' ground outburst encouraging, but questions remain