Behind Najee Harris, Steelers' running game starting to see some daylight

From a big-picture perspective, Najee Harris is treating the Pittsburgh Steelers’ breakthrough running performance last weekend with the same mindset as a straight-ahead back that keeps fighting for extra yards.

He doesn’t want to see his efforts — or the team’s — go backward.

When the Steelers host the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night, they will look to replicate the success they enjoyed last weekend against Denver when Harris rushed for a career-high 122 yards and the Steelers totaled a season-high 147.

The Steelers rode Harris and the running game to a 27-19 victory that snapped a three-game losing streak, during which the NFL’s least effective group gained a combined 146 yards — or one fewer than they totaled in 60 minutes against the Broncos.

Harris believes the Steelers can’t be trapped into thinking that their running game woes — they still are ranked No. 31 — are fixed because of what transpired against Denver.

“It’s a lot of repetition, a lot of us just staying down, and what I mean by that is don’t read too much in the media of how good it was or don’t think what you did was good enough,” Harris said Friday. “We’ve got a lot more games. One game isn’t going to make the running game change just overnight.”

The best way for the Steelers to establish consistency in the running game is by piling up yards against the Seahawks, who have the NFL’s No. 31-ranked run defense. The Seahawks are leaking more than 145 yards per game on the ground as part of a defense that is on pace to set an NFL record for most yardage allowed in a season.

The Steelers’ slow start was attributed to a rebuilt offense line that includes two rookies, one first-year starter and only one player remaining from his starting position a year ago. That player, right tackle Chuks Okorafor, spent most of the preseason playing on the right side, so the Steelers have had just a handful of games to establish the type of cohesion considered vital for any offensive line.

Although the Broncos game represented the watershed moment for the running game, coach Mike Tomlin saw the foundation coming together the previous week in a 27-17 loss at Green Bay in which the Steelers gained 62 yards on 16 carries.

Harris saw a turning point as well, but he was quick to point out that he saw steps being taken in the early weeks of the season.

“I saw transition and how hard they were working back then,” he said about the line. “The stats might not show it, but I saw them improving in practice and I saw them trying to do it on film. One of these games it was going to come together. The Packers was one where it did. The following week got even better. We’re trying to get better and better every week.”

Finally given some holes to run through, the 6-foot-2, 230-pound Harris showed the gritty type of running style that led the Steelers to select him with the No. 24 overall selection in the NFL Draft. He’s also starting to ascend the NFL rushing charts. His 307 yards are No. 15 and his 505 scrimmage yards are 11^th thanks to a team-high 28 receptions.

“He’s got the total package,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “I think he’s just now getting comfortable, getting used to playing in the NFL. I think you’ve seen steps every week. Last week, getting his first 100-yard game and catching the ball out of the backfield and understanding what it takes in the NFL.”

It was an expected adjustment, Roethlisberger said, even though Harris went to college at Alabama and was used to competing for a national championship on an annual basis.

“It was probably easy a lot of the time playing for a semi-pro team in college,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s different, so to have to come to the NFL after having so much success in college and understanding that it’s not always going to be that easy takes some getting used to.

“I think he’s getting that.”

Harris admits that his first month in the NFL has featured its share of “ups and downs.” Not just for him, but for an offense that struggled to generate yards and points.

“What I’m really excited about is we’re really molding together and finding what type of team we have,” he said. “We are seeing some of the stuff we have to work on. … We don’t want to lose games, but I always tell myself there are some things losing can teach you that winning never can. I’m not saying we have to lose, but I look at a loss as a win sometimes because it can be a learning point for a team and a learning point of what we have to work on.

“We really found out a lot about each other the last couple weeks. I think we’re on track to start changing things around.”