Steelers Player of the Game for Week 2 loss against the Raiders

After a less-than-stellar NFL debut, Najee Harris showed Steelers fans why he was a first-round pick, securing the player of the game honors.

While the performance by the team as a whole was disappointing in the 26-17 loss to the Raiders, there were a few positive takeaways, and the main one was the performance of running back Najee Harris.

Coming off an upset win over the Buffalo Bills Week 1, the Steelers came in as favorites against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 2. However, the team lost several key defensive players to injury before and during the game and was not able to get a whole lot going on the offensive side of the ball.

The running game is still not where the Steelers would like it to be; however, Harris is making the most of his opportunities. There has been limited running room the first few weeks, as the Steelers new-look offensive line continues to get used to playing as a unit and is still looking to gel. For that reason, Harris still didn’t get much going on the ground yet again this past week. Like last week, he was held in check for pretty much the whole game but did break open a few nice runs. On the ground, he finished the day with 10 carries for 38 yards, with a long of 14 yards, according to ESPN.

Steelers top RB shined in the passing game

Where Harris showed the biggest step up this week was in the passing game. Harris caught five passes for 43 yards and his first NFL touchdown this week. His work as a receiver is one of the main reasons why he has been on the field for such a large number of snaps and he made that evident this week, particularly on his 25-yard touchdown, which cut the Raiders lead to only two in the fourth quarter.

However, despite his first career touchdown coming in this game, that wasn’t the play that was the most impressive. In the first quarter, Harris caught a nine-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger, after which he stiff-armed Jonathan Abram to the ground and juked two defenders. This play took a lot of work for Harris to get nine yards, however, his stiff arm drew comparisons to Derrick Henry’s on Josh Norman last season, and his juke on two members of the Raiders secondary showed off a skillset that most running backs don’t have.

While Diontae Johnson also had an impressive game, tallying nine receptions for 105 yards on 12 targets, Harris gets the edge due to the touchdown and his involvement in both the passing and running game.

If the offensive line can begin to gel in the coming weeks and open up some running room for Harris, he will only become more dangerous, which will open up so many more opportunities for the rest of the Steelers offense.