On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers committed fully to the run game. 43 rushes for 217 yards is an absolute throwback to the classic Steelers football. It is no coincidence the Steelers beat the New Orleans Saints with this approach and the efficiency of the run game wasn’t missed on tight end Pat Freiermuth.
“When we run the ball and control the time of possession, it helps the defense a lot,” said Freiermuth. “And you could see yesterday, the offense kind of held the time of possession a lot. When we run the ball, we’re a hell of an offense. So we’ve got to continue to do that.”
If the Steelers want to rally and salvage this season, it is going to need more rushing performances like last week. But all those plays and all that time of possession have to amount to more points. Only scoring 20 points against a Saints defense decimated by injuries isn’t something to hang your hat on.
