Steelers come out running vs. Saints, finish with their best rushing game in 6 years

Najee Harris had more rushing yards in the first quarter Sunday than he’d had in the entire previous full game he’d played. The Pittsburgh Steelers, on whole, had more rushing yards in the first quarter than they’d had over the first 15 minutes of a game since 2018.

Over four quarters, the result was a rushing day the Steelers haven’t had since Barack Obama was president.

“When you traditionally look across the NFL, if teams shut the run off early they usually abandon it,” guard James Daniels said after the Steelers’ 20-10 victory against the New Orleans Saints. “That’s all across the league, just not us. That’s every team in the league. And so you when you are able to establish the run early it really allows your offensive coordinator to lean on his playsheet and what he’s comfortable with.”

More on the Steelers' win over the Saints:

• Steelers right ship with win over Saints
• Returns of T.J. Watt, Damontae Kazee contribute to Steelers’ dominant defensive effort
• Steelers injury report: Myles Jack cleared, but held out of Steelers’ victory as precaution
• Minkah Fitzpatrick underwent appendectomy soon after Steelers’ Saturday walkthrough

The Steelers did that against the Saints, accumulating 217 rushing yards. That’s the most they’ve had in a game since a Dec. 11, 2016, win at the Buffalo Bills. Le’Veon Bell had a franchise-record 236 of the Steelers’ 240 rushing yards that day.

Sunday’s effort was much more balanced, with Najee Harris gaining 99 on 20 carries and Jaylen Warren 37 on nine carries. Quarterback Kenny Pickett added 51 on eight carries, and a George Pickens’ 22-yard jet sweep also contributed to the outing.

“The runners ran hard, and we came off the ball as bigs up front,” coach Mike Tomlin said.

Najee Harris credits the Steelers OL for the ream’s big rushing day pic.twitter.com/HstiikNs3C

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) November 13, 2022

The Steelers’ 60 rushing yards in the first quarter were the Steelers’ most since a Oct. 7, 2018, home win against the Atlanta Falcons. Harris’ 56 first-quarter yards not only dwarfed the 32 yards he’d had in the Steelers’ most recent game, Oct. 30 at the Philadelphia Eagles (32 yards), it also was a career-high for Harris for yards in the first quarter (previously, 39).

“The O-line, man,” Pickett said in giving credit. “The O-line was unbelievable. Those guys stuck with it. They worked hard on the bye week and obviously this week getting prepared for it. Najee and Jaylen do what they do best. We have two really talented backs. We lean on those guys.”

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