Swiss Cheese defense
Godwin Igwebuike had a 42 yard rush for a touchdown. It’s the 4th play at home to exceed 42 yards plus in which Steelers’ opponent scored in the 2021 season. In 2020 they gave up five such plays at home. The most plays to go more than 42 yards for a score? Fifteen in the 2015 season. Oddly the only season since 1994 they did not give up a score traversing more than 42 yards occurred in 2019 when Big Ben was out for the season.
The Flip Side
Now let’s look at the Steelers’ offense and long rushes. The last Pittsburgh running back to have a rush for more than 42 yards was James Conner on 9/20/2020 when he ripped off a 42 yard rush against Denver. Since 2017 the Steelers have had only three rushes above 42 yards. You have to go back to the 2015-2016 season to find multiple rushes that long, and the Steelers had five between 2015-2016. So far, Najee Harris’ longest rush has been for only 20 yards.
Despite that dismal stat, there is still a silver lining in the Steelers rushing game. It all starts with Pittsburgh’s star rookie Najee Harris. Over the first four games in 2021, the Steelers had a 1-3 record, and they rushed the ball 27% of the time and passed 73% of the time. Since then, the Steelers have gone 4-0; while rushing 48% of the time and only passing 52% of the time. There’s little doubt that the drafting of Najee Harris to reinvigorate the rushing game has paid dividends. Additionally, when Harris has rushed 16 plus times, the Steelers are 5-0-1; when he has had 15 attempts or less, they are 0-3.