In the Pittsburgh Steelers' 20–13 opening-week win over the Atlanta Falcons, the ground game sputtered out of the gate. While offensive line pushes and early-game script factored into the modest stat line, a subtle tactical issue surfaced - Pittsburgh’s rigid, series-by-series running back rotation prevented Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle from finding an operational groove.
Discussing the backfield dynamic on the “North Shore Drive” podcast, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette beat writers Ray Fittipaldo and Christopher Carter criticized the team’s mechanical approach to distributing snaps.
"They're so married to that every other series thing that I don't know that it allowed either player to really get into a rhythm," Fittipaldo noted. "Like I remember Jaylen
making some nice catches and runs, some nice runs. And I look at the box score at the end of the game, just 73 yards from scrimmage and 37 of those came in the fourth quarter."
Fittipaldo argued that despite an early fumble, Warren clearly displayed higher big-play potential and deserved to be ridden while hot. Carter echoed the concern, comparing the current setup to past Pittsburgh offenses that allowed featured backs to build momentum over consecutive drives.
"Jaylen Warren really didn't have those opportunities to kind of feel things out," Carter explained. "I think he had 10 carries on the day and I think three of them came in the last couple of minutes. So like how much of that is stuff that you can glean off of if you are a player trying to get a feel for a game?"
Distributing workloads evenly makes financial sense when paying both backs comparable salaries. However, running behind an offensive line still establishing cohesion requires feel and timing. If Pittsburgh wants a dynamic rushing attack, the coaching staff must abandon predetermined rotations and ride the hot hand.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Why Pittsburgh's RB rotation is harming Jaylen Warren
