The Pittsburgh Steelers had plenty of issues throughout their game against the Indianapolis Colts. They lost 27-24 due to multiple problems, including bad coaching decisions, terrible plays that should have never happened, and plenty of other factors in and out of their control. Injuries played a little bit of a factor in this game as well, as right guard James Daniels and running back Cordarrelle Patterson both left early. The Colts lost their starting quarterback, Anthony Richardson, to injury as well.
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Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris hasn't proven that he should be the lone feature back in Pittsburgh
One of the other problems was Najee Harris's lack of production. While Colts fans had some fun at his expense, Zaire Franklin popped onto social media to talk a little trash about his Week 4 opponent as well.
Kid is soft. 84 run harder https://t.co/lwsytZkzxS
— Zaire Franklin (@ZiggySmalls_) September 29, 2024
Harris only had 19 rushing yards on 13 carries, which came out to an average of 1.5 yards per carry (YPC). Those are abysmal numbers for any running back at any level, let alone a consistent 1,000-yard runner like Harris. He had 54 receiving yards on three receptions to help make up for it, but if the Steelers want to establish the run game, then he has to make sure that kind of game on the ground never happens again.
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Steelers Cordarrelle Patterson is ready to do whatever it takes to get on the field in 2024.
While filling in for Jaylen Warren, Patterson got plenty of reps until he unfortunately went down. In his limited amount of snaps, he had six carries for 43 yards with an average of 7.2 YPC. He also had two receptions for 19 yards to add on to that. While Harris and Warren are more of power backs, Patterson is a pure speed guy. If teams refuse to let him show off his talents on kickoffs, then he will just have to run through defenses.
Franklin had nine total tackles, including six on his own. The linebacker played a big part in shutting Harris down, although he and the defense clearly had no answers for Patterson. He saw first-hand exactly how the two guys played in the game. While stats don't always tell the whole story, Franklin confirmed that they did this time. Patterson worked hard to get his yards while Harris did not show enough effort.
AP
Steelers Najee Harris gets tackled by San Francisco defenders during their Week 1 loss.
Steelers Should Use Franklin's Post As A Challenge For Harris
It's never a good thing when your opponent talks about how weak you are after the game. The Steelers should remind Harris of that post and use it as bulletin board material. Even when he starts running harder and proving his worth again, they should keep drilling that quote into his brain. If he can get back on track and run as hard as he can, defenses will have issues stopping the run game again.
With Warren out, Harris proved that he needs a change-of-pace back, as opposed to being the three-down bell-cow running back that he was hyped up to be when he was getting drafted. When Patterson went down, the only source of running the football was Justin Fields on either designed quarterback keepers or scrambles. Actual run plays were not working with Harris, and he needs to get better about that immediately.
What do you think about Franklin calling out Harris on X? Let us know in the comments.
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