polamalubeast
11-06-2012, 11:04 AM
The Steelers turned their season around by turning back to what has worked so well for them for so long.
Only a few games after the Steelers couldn’t run the ball much worse, they couldn’t be running it much better.
Check out the running-game numbers from the past three games: Isaac Redman, 147 yards against the Giants; Jonathan Dwyer, 122 yards against the Bengals and 107 against the Redskins. As cornerback Ike Taylor said, it’s the Steelers being the Steelers.
“You see our running backs, man?” wide receiver Mike Wallace said. “It doesn’t matter who you plug in, they run for 100.”
An envious Larry Foote noticed.
“I want to get back there and play running back, see how many yards I can get,” said Foote, an inside linebacker who is in no danger of being shifted to offense. “We got no-name backs, but I knew from training camp how good those guys are.”
The Steelers’ problem early on was their no-yardage backs.
The team that has outrushed every other in the NFL by at least 5,000 yards since the 1970 NFL merger got off to a historically bad start, averaging 65 yards rushing in the first three games. Something had to change, and it did.
Offensive coordinator Todd Haley slimmed down the playbook, tossing out a lot of running plays that had been in the weekly game plan. The offensive line stabilized, even as rookie Mike Adams was replacing the injuring Marcus Gilbert at right tackle. And Dwyer and Redman began running with authority rather than hesitation.
“I think the key is we’re keeping it simple,” left guard Willie Colon said. “Early in the year, we were doing a little too much maybe. We’re keeping it extremely simple and starting to be repetitive and really owning in to what we’ve got to do.”
Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/2895185-74/steelers-running-game-yards-redman-backs-colon-games-offensive-run?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tribunereviewsteelers+%28Stee lers+Stories%29#ixzz2BSlkY500
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- - - Updated - - -
The Steelers are averaging 155 yards rushing over their past three, or 90 yards per game more than they did in their first three.
Only a few games after the Steelers couldn’t run the ball much worse, they couldn’t be running it much better.
Check out the running-game numbers from the past three games: Isaac Redman, 147 yards against the Giants; Jonathan Dwyer, 122 yards against the Bengals and 107 against the Redskins. As cornerback Ike Taylor said, it’s the Steelers being the Steelers.
“You see our running backs, man?” wide receiver Mike Wallace said. “It doesn’t matter who you plug in, they run for 100.”
An envious Larry Foote noticed.
“I want to get back there and play running back, see how many yards I can get,” said Foote, an inside linebacker who is in no danger of being shifted to offense. “We got no-name backs, but I knew from training camp how good those guys are.”
The Steelers’ problem early on was their no-yardage backs.
The team that has outrushed every other in the NFL by at least 5,000 yards since the 1970 NFL merger got off to a historically bad start, averaging 65 yards rushing in the first three games. Something had to change, and it did.
Offensive coordinator Todd Haley slimmed down the playbook, tossing out a lot of running plays that had been in the weekly game plan. The offensive line stabilized, even as rookie Mike Adams was replacing the injuring Marcus Gilbert at right tackle. And Dwyer and Redman began running with authority rather than hesitation.
“I think the key is we’re keeping it simple,” left guard Willie Colon said. “Early in the year, we were doing a little too much maybe. We’re keeping it extremely simple and starting to be repetitive and really owning in to what we’ve got to do.”
Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/2895185-74/steelers-running-game-yards-redman-backs-colon-games-offensive-run?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tribunereviewsteelers+%28Stee lers+Stories%29#ixzz2BSlkY500
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook
- - - Updated - - -
The Steelers are averaging 155 yards rushing over their past three, or 90 yards per game more than they did in their first three.