The Pittsburgh Steelers executed precisely nine designed runs on 61 plays against the San Francisco 49ers in their season opener. Only a third of them were successful plays—all of them by Najee Harris, three of his six—but it goes without saying that’s not how the Steelers envisioned the game unfolding. Nor must it be representative of the future, particularly going up against the Cleveland Browns and their running game.
“Obviously playing Nick Chubb, we’ve got to be able to run the ball at a high level and not have our defense out there for so many reps”, TE Connor Heyward told reporters on Saturday, via the team’s website.