As the Pittsburgh Steelers try to use what few chances they have left in the regular season to improve their running game, coach Mike Tomlin might be turning away from his bell cow.
Although starter James Conner has been cleared to return from a quad injury that kept him out the previous game, Tomlin is contemplating giving more snaps to backup Benny Snell Jr. on Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts.
Filling in for Conner in the Steelers’ 27-17 loss at Cincinnati on Monday night, Snell rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries.
“You have to admit, Benny was an awesome element of play for us in that last game where we didn’t have a lot of awesome elements of play,” Tomlin said. “His efforts were appreciated, so I’m sure he will have an opportunity to be impactful in this one regardless of James’ availability.”
Such talk from Tomlin is a departure from the norm. When Conner returned from other injuries in his three seasons as a starter, Tomlin was quick to return him to the role of featured running back.
When he returned from a two-game stint on the reserve/covid-19 list, Conner gained just 18 yards on 10 carries before being injured against Buffalo. And with the Steelers muddling along at No. 31 in the NFL in rushing, there isn’t much to lose by giving Snell a more featured role before the playoffs begin.
Despite some difficulties in short-yardage and goal-line situations, Snell has shown when given an ample number of carries, he is more productive than when he plays sparingly.
Consider in the three games Snell has gotten at least 10 carries, he has rushed for 257 yards on 53 attempts, a 4.8 average. In the other 10 games — he didn’t get any snaps in another — Snell has gained 101 yards on 49 carries, a 2.0 average.
Offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner wasn’t surprised that Snell, who was limited to 5 yards on eight carries in his start against Washington, rebounded in the Steelers’ loss to the Bengals.
“I saw it coming a little bit in the practice week,” he said. “I saw it coming because Benny Snell is a competitor. He didn’t want to be denied. He brought a lot of energy and juice to that game, and I felt like we were more consistent running the ball.
“We still had our pitfalls. We had a third-and-1 and didn’t make it. When we can hit situational football at 100 percent, then you are going to be more times than not winning games. Situationally is where the run game has to really keep coming whether it is the red zone, whether it is short yardage, whether it is goal line, that type of thing.”
The running game hasn’t clicked consistently since October. The Steelers exceeded 100 yards in each of their first five games, earning a No. 9 ranking. They have topped 100 yards just one time since and were held below 50 yards five times in a seven-game span.
The deficiencies were masked by a winning streak that reached 11 games. But now that the Steelers have lost three in a row, the lack of a running game looms as a major issue with the playoffs approaching.
It hasn’t helped that the offensive line has been depleted because of injuries to David DeCastro, Kevin Dotson and Matt Feiler, and Maurkice Pouncey missed two games because of covid-19. That could be a contributing factor to Pro Football Focus grading the offensive line as one of the worst run-blocking units in the NFL.
Everyone but Feiler, who remains on injured reserve, will be available Sunday against Indianapolis. And the Steelers will have two healthy running backs.
It’s just a matter of whether the Steelers decide to go with Conner, who leads the Steelers with 663 yards and is averaging 4.3 yards per carry, or Snell, who had the hot hand against Cincinnati.
“I know it means an awful lot to him,” Fichtner said about Snell. “I say that because I see him. I see the time and the effort and the things he does to be a professional. I’m excited about him right now, but I’m also excited that it looks like James might be coming back to us. Two of those guys being healthy might be just what we need to help pick up our run game.”
Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe by email at jrutter@triblive.com or via Twitter .
Categories: Sports | Steelers/NFL
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