In 2021, the Pittsburgh Steelers made Najee Harris the 21st overall pick in the NFL Draft. Now, three years into his young career, he’s losing grip of his grasp of the starting role, ceding more touches to undrafted second-year pro Jaylen Warren. If the Steelers’ offense was flourishing, who would care where the touches go, right?
While the Steelers may have a winning record at 6-4, the offense is nowhere near successful, having been outgained by their opponent in every game they’ve played.
That streak continues after Sunday’s 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns, where Harris finished with just 35 yards on 12 carries. We can’t act like he was the only issue. We mentioned the Steelers scored just 10 points, which included Kenny Pickett completing just 15-of-28 passes for 106 yards, for a meager 3.8 yards per attempt. He also took three sacks.
While the Steelers managed to put up 10 points by the time the final whistle blew, they got shut out in the first half. After the game, Harris voiced his frustration in what’s been a challenging season for everyone involved with Pittsburgh’s offense.
“Do I think everybody is team-first on this team? I’d rather not talk about them, I’ll just talk about me and my performance. There’s just a lot of stuff that just goes around that you guys don’t see. I’m just at a point, where I’m just tired of this s–t.”
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris after team’s 13-10 loss
Offensive coordinator Matt Canada has long been the subject of criticism from the local fanbase, and there have been some changes, such as moving him to the sideline instead of up in the booth. After averaging 21.5 points per game in the team’s past two wins, the old Pittsburgh woes returned on Sunday, leading Harris to express his disappointment.
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