When he stepped to the podium for his weekly news conference, Mike Tomlin was up front about the need for the Pittsburgh Steelers to play better, well, up front.
Despite the Steelers coming off a third consecutive victory, they allowed too many rushing yards and didn’t gain enough — at least in the fourth quarter — to suit Tomlin’s tastes in a 26-24 victory against the Indianapolis Colts.
“We’ve got to run the ball better on offense, particularly in the waning moments of the game,” Tomlin said at the outset of his media session. “We weren’t able to maintain possession of the ball. I thought they won the line of scrimmage. We’ve got to be better in those areas. We’ve got to be better also at stopping the run.
“I thought, largely, Indy was able to do the things that they wanted to do, in regards to the run, and control the game in a lot of ways. Particularly with our current makeup and the things that we’re trying to get done on both sides of the ball, winning on the line of scrimmage is significant.”
That message resonated with defensive captain Cameron Heyward on Wednesday as the Steelers began preparations for their game Sunday against the defending NFC champion Los Angeles Rams at Heinz Field.
The defense, playing its second game without defensive end Stephon Tuitt, allowed 139 yards rushing, the fifth time in eight games an opponent has gained at least 99 against the Steelers. And it came after the Steelers held the Los Angeles Chargers and Miami Dolphins to a combined 92 yards rushing.
“It’s going to have to be an ever-growing process,” Heyward said. “There were instances where we played well, instances where we didn’t. We’re lucky enough that we got the ‘W.’ We get to absorb that and move on.”
A year after the Rams finished third in the NFL in rushing and yards per attempt while advancing to the Super Bowl, they have backtracked to No. 20. That largely is attributed to the modest production from Todd Gurley, who has 355 yards rushing after gaining 1,251 in 2018. He has missed a game this season because of a quad injury but is healthy coming off the Rams’ bye week.
Malcolm Brown and rookie Darrell Henderson have helped pick up the slack for the Rams, who have won two in a row and are 5-3.
“They keep everybody fresh,” linebacker T.J. Watt said. “That’s a tough thing as a defense to stay fresh with them.”
The Steelers have rotated their running backs this season, also because of injuries. James Conner could return after sitting out against the Colts with a shoulder injury. Jaylen Samuels missed two games after undergoing knee surgery and returned to start against Indianapolis. Rookie Benny Snell will miss his second consecutive game after also having knee surgery.
Without Conner, the Steelers had 90 yards rushing against the Colts but averaged just 3.6 yards per carry. Trey Edmunds, who began the year on the practice squad, had a team-high 73 yards, but he was ineffective in the fourth quarter when the Steelers held their first lead.
Edmunds had four carries for 7 yards in the final quarter, and Jaylen Samuels lost a fumble on a pass that led to the Colts’ final touchdown. When the Steelers got the ball back with 3:58 left while protecting a two-point lead, Edmunds gained two and zero yards on consecutive carries.
The Steelers rank No. 26 in rushing despite having three Pro Bowl players on the offensive line. The only starter missing against the Colts was guard Ramon Foster (concussion).
“We need it,” guard David DeCastro said, referring to the running game. “The way we’re winning games, the defense is leading the charge and giving us a big boost. If we can run the ball, control the game and not give it away, that’s the biggest thing. We have no margin for error and room to do that. The running game is key in that aspect.”
The Steelers also need to improve — on offense and defense — inside the red zone. While the Colts got touchdowns on three of their four trips inside the 20, the Steelers got one in four chances. They also were 1 for 3 in goal-to-go situations.
That left kicker Chris Boswell to pick up the slack with chip-shot field goals of 21, 33 and 26 yards.
Heyward said that needs to change, on both side of the ball, against the Rams.
“We’ve really got to attack the trenches,” he said. “To win this game, you have to have really good trenches. They’ve got a good O-line, D-line, and we pride ourselves on that as well.”
Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
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