One thing the Pittsburgh Steelers struggled with in their preseason-opener involved their run game. It took them forever to get the ground game going last week, and that was something they wanted to improve coming into Saturday’s showdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. According to Skylar Thompson, Pittsburgh did just that.
“Yeah, I mean it’s tremendous,” Thompson said of the ground game Saturday, via audio provided by the team’s PR department. “Anytime we can get the run going like that, it opens up the play [action] pass, it opens up the drawback, it opens up all that stuff. Makes it a multitude of ways to attack the defense, getting those guys going up front and the guys running the ball hard.”
During the first drive or two with Kenneth Gainwell in the game, it looked like those issues translated to this week as well. However, Kaleb Johnson made a big impact once coming in. Pittsburgh wanted a good look at him, and they got it with 11 carries. He did well, turning those into 50 yards, good for 4.5 yards per carry. Most importantly, he just looked more comfortable with the ball in his hands compared to last week.
That was a big step forward for Johnson, who will likely get plenty of looks against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday. He’ll likely start the season third on the depth chart, but he took advantage of his opportunities against Tampa Bay.
Johnson wasn’t the only back with a good showing, though. For the second-straight week, Lew Nichols made some head-turning plays for the Steelers in the run game.
Nichols stamped his name on the stat sheet as well. He finished with 42 yards, but did so on only three carries. It’s still an uphill climb for him and his roster status, but he is certainly forcing his way into the conversation with two straight productive weeks.
Aside from those two, there was a little more success. Evan Hull had a nice showing, with three carries for 17 yards. Trey Sermon and Gainwell were less than impressive though. Sermon ran three times for four yards, and Gainwell ran twice for two yards.
It’s preseason, so the stats don’t quite mean as much. What’s important for the Steelers is the progress they made in their run game in general. Their backs looked much more dangerous, and the offensive line did a better job creating holes. There’s definitely some positives to build off going forward in this regard.
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