Coming into the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers knew their best chance of being successful offensively would stem from a consistent running game. And yet, they won in spite of that over the first few weeks of the season. It took until Week 4 for the ground game to really emerge, and it’s still been on and off since then. However, the Steelers have a chance to get something established against Chicago this weekend. The Bears are vulnerable against the run, and that’s an area Troy Fautanu is feeling confident in heading into Sunday’s game.
“We gotta get back to what we were doing well for a couple of weeks. These past few weeks we weren’t doing our best, because obviously they were scheming us up in ways,” Fautanu said of the Steelers’ run game Saturday with WMBS Radio. “But I think we’ve got a really good game plan this week, and we’re gonna be able to take advantage of those opportunities that they give us.”
The Bears don’t have a bad defensive line, but it just doesn’t create a lot of havoc. Chicago has 21 sacks this year, just the 21st-best total in the NFL. And against the run, they’ve given up 1,333 yards, an average of just over 133 per game. That’s not good, as they’ve allowed the eighth-most rushing yards in the league.
Things may be even tougher this week with the injuries the Bears are dealing with. They’re missing quite a few linebackers, with Tremaine Edmunds, Noah Sewell and T.J. Edwards all out for Sunday’s game. That presents a big advantage for the Steelers as they try to establish the run.
And if there is any day to run the ball, Sunday would be it. Aaron Rodgers is still fighting a left wrist injury, and we don’t even know if he’ll play yet this week. Mason Rudolph looked good last week, but if he plays, a strong run game would make his job significantly easier.
That run game is due for a breakout. The Steelers were held to just 73 rushing yards in a horrible all-around performance against Los Angeles. They were a little better with 111 yards against Cincinnati last week, but didn’t do as well as they probably should have given how bad that defense is.
The Steelers can’t let that happen against this week. The Bears are a good team, but their defensive front isn’t anything dominant. However, with how inconsistent the Steelers’ offense has been, Troy Fautanu and the rest of the unit need to be strong on the ground.
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