Ben Roethlisberger has dropped back to pass 110 times in the first two weeks of the 2018 season, an average of 55 times per game. Not surprisingly, the Steelers haven't won either of those two games.
Not surprising?
One would think the Steelers might want to put more on the plate of their future Hall of Fame quarterback, especially without having Le'Veon Bell to run the ball. But over Roethlisberger’ 15-year career, the Steelers are 17-31-1 when he attempts 40 or more passes. That record was 4-1 in 2017, but only led to another playoff failure. He attempted 58 passes in a 45-42 loss to the Jaguars last January, dropping his playoff record to 0-6 when he attempts 40 or more passes.
So even though Roethlisberger is coming off a game in which he threw for 452 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-37 loss to Kansas City last Sunday, the Steelers (0-1-1) want to find some balance with their rushing game.
"You need balance," offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner said. "No doubt, balance, and you know, we talked about before – it’s never going to be about a statistic, it’s never going to be about: you rushed this amount, or you threw it this amount, or you threw it for that many yards, or you threw that amount of touchdowns. We don’t talk that way. We’re never going to talk that way. That’s just not going to be my approach, and they know that already. Whatever it takes to win the game."
James Conner had a great first game in place of Bell in a 21-21 tie in Week 1 at Cleveland, rushing for 135 yards on 31 carries. But he had just 27 yards on 13 carries in the fourth quarter and overtime of that game, then gained just 17 yards on eight rushing attempts against the Chiefs as the Steelers ran for just 33 yards.
When they've needed to run the ball, to help protect a lead or get them started in a game, that portion of their game has let them down.
"The run game is huge for us," guard Ramon Foster told me. "As offensive linemen, we determine a lot off of that. The guys on the other side are always faster than us, so to beat them down in the run game is important. Moving forward, we have to be able to run the ball. It might not be 150 yards a game, but we have to be efficient doing it on third down. We have to be able to get four yards a pop on first down. That will open up other things. We have to be consistent with it."
The Steelers were forced to abandon the run early against the Chiefs after falling behind 21-0 in the first quarter, then continued to throw the ball despite tying the game at 21-21 at the half.
But part of the reason they got down is because they weren't able to establish a running game early and went three-and-out on their first two possessions.
"Obviously, a faster start is key to us offensively and we’ve got to find a way to do that," Fichtner said.
They'll face a Tampa Bay defense that could look awfully inviting for Roethlisberger and the passing game to attack this week. And they could do so with backups on the right side of their offensive line.
All-Pro guard David DeCastro and right tackle Marcus Gilbert both missed their second consecutive day of practice Friday. With only one day of practice remaining Saturday before the team leaves for Tampa Bay, the Steelers could be looking at B.J. Finney at right guard for the second consecutive week, and Matt Feiler at right tackle beside him.
Only the Chiefs have given up more passing yards through two games than Tampa Bay's 377.5 yards per game. And while Tampa Bay's Ryan Fitzpatrick is off to a ridiculously hot start, completing 78.7 percent of his passes, opponents have completed 77.4 percent of their attempts against the Bucs.
The ball hasn't hit the ground often in Tampa Bay's first two games.
"Yeah, but that's been because they've been up in those games," Foster told me. "Look at the game situation. They're going to give up more because teams have been forced to throw against them. Look at us last week. We had to throw the ball. I didn't know until after the game that Ben had thrown for 450-plus yards. It's ebb and flow of the game."
To Foster's point, opponents have attempted to run the ball just 37 times against the Bucs, gaining 134 yards. It's a reason why Tampa Bay's rushing defense ranks second in the league, even though the Bucs have already allowed four rushing touchdowns and have given up a rushing score in each of their last eight games.
"It's a mentality, because you can't just say that we're going to bash our heads against the wall because they're putting nine in the box," Foster said. "You have to do other things of supplementing the run in those situations. But we have to do a better job of establishing the run."
