Pittsburgh Steelers: Ground game key to making a run

The Pittsburgh Steelers have stumbled out of the gate and are minus Ben Roethlisberger. It’s time for the running game to make a reappearance.

It was 15 years ago, more specifically Week 2 of the 2004 season, that then-Pittsburgh Steelers’ rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger entered a game after starter Tommy Maddox suffered an elbow injury. The team would go on to lose to the Baltimore Ravens that day. But the 11th overall pick in the draft that year would help lead his club to an eventual 15-1 record and a berth in the AFC Championship Game.

There’s been a lot of nostalgia about that moment over the last few days after Roethlisberger suffered an elbow injury in the team’s eventual 28-26 home loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Second-year pro Mason Rudolph came in and made a strong account of himself, hitting on 12-of-19 throws for 112 yards and a pair of touchdowns, with one interception

Of course, one has nothing to do with the other. But it makes for a great story. The bottom line is that the Steelers are 0-2 for the first time since 2013. That also marks the last time Mike Tomlin’s club did not post a winning record. That team rallied from a 0-4 start to finish 8-8. One year later, the Steelers made the first of four straight trips to the postseason.

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So as the club prepares for its Week 3 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers, what can be expected from these new-look Steelers? Well, if the team doesn’t change its recent approach when it comes to the offensive side of the football, even a strong showing by Rudolph may not be enough to ensure that the team is ready to turn things around.

Understand that the Steelers had become a very unbalanced offensive football team. It’s hard to believe but dating back to Week 11 of the 2018 season, the club owns a disappointing 3-6 record.

In those nine contests, Tomlin’s club has failed to run the football at least 20 times seven times. That number bears repeating. And for those who feel that’s a product of the team being behind on numerous occasions, think again.

A balanced attack does a lot of things for an offense. It makes a team less predictable and it helps sell play-action. Controlling the football has a very strong effect on the defense in terms of keeping it off the field. And given the way that Keith Butler’s unit has played this season so far, that group could certainly use the rest.

The Steelers feature one of the best offensive lines in the league, anchored by 2018 Pro Bowler in left tackle Alejandro Villanueva, right guard David DeCastro and center Maurkice Pouncey. It may be time to lean on them, as well as running backs James Conner, Jaylen Samuels and rookie Benny Snell.

A little balance could do wonders for a team that has lost seemingly lost its way on offense. All told, there is certainly time to salvage the 2019 season.