G Willie Colon taking some responsibility for poor running game...

Steelers Notebook: Running game remains just a bit out of step


September 17, 2012 12:28 am
By Ray Fittipaldo / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Steelers improved to 1-1 after their 27-10 victory against the New York Jets Sunday at Heinz Field, but after two games they're still searching for a running game.

After rushing for 75 yards on 26 carries in the opening-week loss at Denver, the Steelers rushed for just 66 yards on 28 carries against the Jets.

The Steelers are averaging just 2.6 yards per carry this season. The leading rusher Sunday was Jonathan Dwyer, who had 28 yards on 12 carries.

The Steelers had six negative run plays, including four on their first two drives when they settled for field goals.

"I take some responsibility for that," said Willie Colon, the starting left guard who is making the transition after playing right tackle for the past six years. "I wasn't clean on a lot of my pulls. We have to be a lot more efficient mechanically up front. Those are all things that will come."

The alarming aspect of those negative yardage plays was the amount of yardage lost. Isaac Redman was tackled for a 7-yard loss on the second play from scrimmage. Later in the drive on second-and-four, he was tackled for a 3-yard loss. The Steelers had to settle for a field goal.

In the third quarter, Dwyer was tackled for a 6-yard loss on second-and-10. That play did not hurt the Steelers because quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace on third-and-16 to make the score 20-10.

The line did go out on a high note when the offense possessed the ball for a 14-play, 75-yard drive that ate up 10:13 in the fourth quarter. That drive culminated with a Redman 2-yard touchdown run that made the score 27-10.

On that drive the running backs accounted for 29 yards, nearly half of the game's total rushing yards.

"When it came down to it the offensive line played a good game," Dwyer said. "We had some big plays in the passing game that helped us have holes. At the end of the day, that's when it counts. You want to close the game out. We made it count. We stepped up to the challenge."


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DiehardSteelersfan wrote:Steelers Notebook: Running game remains just a bit out of step


September 17, 2012 12:28 am
By Ray Fittipaldo / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Steelers improved to 1-1 after their 27-10 victory against the New York Jets Sunday at Heinz Field, but after two games they're still searching for a running game.

After rushing for 75 yards on 26 carries in the opening-week loss at Denver, the Steelers rushed for just 66 yards on 28 carries against the Jets.

The Steelers are averaging just 2.6 yards per carry this season. The leading rusher Sunday was Jonathan Dwyer, who had 28 yards on 12 carries.

The Steelers had six negative run plays, including four on their first two drives when they settled for field goals.

"I take some responsibility for that," said Willie Colon, the starting left guard who is making the transition after playing right tackle for the past six years. "I wasn't clean on a lot of my pulls. We have to be a lot more efficient mechanically up front. Those are all things that will come."

The alarming aspect of those negative yardage plays was the amount of yardage lost. Isaac Redman was tackled for a 7-yard loss on the second play from scrimmage. Later in the drive on second-and-four, he was tackled for a 3-yard loss. The Steelers had to settle for a field goal.

In the third quarter, Dwyer was tackled for a 6-yard loss on second-and-10. That play did not hurt the Steelers because quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Mike Wallace on third-and-16 to make the score 20-10.

The line did go out on a high note when the offense possessed the ball for a 14-play, 75-yard drive that ate up 10:13 in the fourth quarter. That drive culminated with a Redman 2-yard touchdown run that made the score 27-10.

On that drive the running backs accounted for 29 yards, nearly half of the game's total rushing yards.

"When it came down to it the offensive line played a good game," Dwyer said. "We had some big plays in the passing game that helped us have holes. At the end of the day, that's when it counts. You want to close the game out. We made it count. We stepped up to the challenge."


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:::SNICKERz::...::BUFFS HIS NAILS:::....

Agree with Slick Willie ... the Line will eventually gel and be good enough to get things done this year ... the injuries are causing the slow start .. but they did drive 75 yards and opened holes in the 4th qtr against the JETS .. see, already coming together as we speak

DonnieSteelers wrote:Agree with Slick Willie ... the Line will eventually gel and be good enough to get things done this year ... the injuries are causing the slow start .. but they did drive 75 yards and opened holes in the 4th qtr against the JETS .. see, already coming together as we speak

I see way too many errors to have your confidence right now. But still, I expect things should improve quite a bit...especially after Decastro comes back.

DiehardSteelersfan wrote:

DonnieSteelers wrote:Agree with Slick Willie ... the Line will eventually gel and be good enough to get things done this year ... the injuries are causing the slow start .. but they did drive 75 yards and opened holes in the 4th qtr against the JETS .. see, already coming together as we speak

I see way too many errors to have your confidence right now. But still, I expect things should improve quite a bit...especially after Decastro comes back.

WHEN IS HE COMIN' BACK?...

DaRKMuMMySauRuS wrote:

DiehardSteelersfan wrote:

DonnieSteelers wrote:Agree with Slick Willie ... the Line will eventually gel and be good enough to get things done this year ... the injuries are causing the slow start .. but they did drive 75 yards and opened holes in the 4th qtr against the JETS .. see, already coming together as we speak

I see way too many errors to have your confidence right now. But still, I expect things should improve quite a bit...especially after Decastro comes back.

WHEN IS HE COMIN' BACK?...

According to Mike Tomlin, he expects him to be back before week 8 but he said that it really depends on how fast he heals. Since he's young, it should be sooner than that.