Najee Harris Frustrated With Steelers Offensive Struggles

Najee Harris blames the Pittsburgh Steelers' lack of success on execution.
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PITTSBURGH -- On the heels of a tight 17-14 loss to the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers were a little deflated. Their defense was once again exceptional, holding their opponent under 20 points while the offense managed just one touchdown. 

Starting running back Najee Harris thought the unit improved on some things from Weeks 1 to 2 but said the amount of talent the Steelers have on offense makes their struggles that much more difficult to come to terms with.

"It's really frustrating, especially when you see the talent there," Harris said postgame, "It's part of the process. ... The outcome wasn't what we wanted but I thought we did some good things on third down, better than the last game."

Harris said credit for the offense's ineffectiveness fell mostly to their own execution. It's as simple as playmakers making more plays. 

"We just have to execute better and that's on our end. I have to make more plays. I got to do better. The o-line, the receivers, the running backs, we all as a team have to find a way to get in the lab and just find ways to get better and execute."

At certain points, New England adjusted their looks to force the Steelers into plays they preferred but Harris thought that the Steelers should have been able to move the ball regardless. 

"Stuff like that is going to happen," he said. "They're going to crowd the box. Sometimes they'll back off to play our receivers and now I have to be better running the ball. And when they crowd the box, now our receivers got to be better. Just a team effort."

The offense found some success playing fast and moving quickly to the line of scrimmage but used it sparingly. While those were some of the bright spots, Harris again said speed is not a cure-all if they cannot successfully complete the catches and runs in front of them. 

"I think when we play with pace, we do pretty good. I don't know exactly what it is that made us do that but ... We just got to find ways to execute our plays."

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Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper. He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press. During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.