The Pittsburgh Steelers are locked in a battle with the New England Patriots in Week 2, and it's not going particularly well, to say the least. To add injury to insult (yes, you read that right), running back Rico Dowdle was sent to the locker room late in the first half due to an apparent lower-body injury.
The injury occurred on the wild sack-fumble play that ended with the Steelers facing a 4th-and-43, taking points off the board and ending with multiple injured Patriots as well. The latest update is that Dowdle is questionable with a toe injury, but it seems unlikely that he would return given the position he plays.
If he doesn't make his way back out on the field, Jaylen Warren figures to handle most of the carries, while Travis Homer and Eli Heidenreich spell him when needed. Not exactly ideal for a Steelers team looking to improve its rushing attack after a terrible Week 1.
Rico Dowdle injury makes the Pittsburgh Steelers running game even less threatening
As of writing, the Steelers' run game has struggled again in Week 2 after putting up just 58 yards on 21 attempts against the Falcons last week. They ended the first half with 50 yards on 14 carries, averaging just 3.6 yards per attempt.
That is an improvement over the 2.8 they averaged in Week 1, but still far below average for an NFL team. Dowdle was essentially rendered useless against the Falcons, and the story was similar in the four carries he earned before going down with the toe injury. He managed just 11 yards on those four attempts, while chipping in one reception for nine yards.
Even if Dowdle wasn't having the impact that the Steelers were hoping for coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons for the Cowboys and Panthers, losing him to injury is still a blow for an offense desperate for a spark. While not a burner, Dowdle had 10 runs of over 15 yards last season, which the Steelers could really use right now to get something going.
Warren is still the better overall back, in my opinion, and that showed in Week 1 especially. Perhaps a bigger workload and more focus on him as the top back will help get the running game off the ground, but so far it's not looking good for the Steelers' offense against New England. Here's hoping the Dowdle injury doesn't make things even worse.
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