Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris received a shot that temporarily knocked him out of the Week 4 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. He received another big shot on X (formerly Twitter) from Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin after the game.
In response to an Indianapolis fan tweeting about the fact the Colts defense “owned” Harris on September 29, Franklin applied an adjective to the Steelers running back that no football player ever wants.
“Kid is soft,” Franklin wrote of Harris. “84 run harder.”
The No. 84 Franklin was referred to was veteran running back Cordarrelle Patterson.
Patterson only had 6 carries before exiting Week 4 with an injury. But he ran for 43 yards, averaging 7.2 yards per rush.
Patterson’s longest run of 12 yards wasn’t far behind what Harris totaled for the entire game. Harris had 19 yards on 13 carries versus the Colts, running for under 1.5 yards per attempt.
Steelers’ Najee Harris Has Terrible Day vs. Colts
Expectations were pretty high that Harris would have at least a solid day against the Colts. Indianapolis came into the matchup with the No. 31 run defense in the NFL.
The Steelers finished Week 4 with 122 rushing yards, which is a respectable amount. But Patterson accounted for about one-third of that total, and quarterback Justin Fields led the team with 55 rushing yards.
One thing working against Harris was a banged up Steelers offensive line. Pittsburgh was still without their best lineman in left guard Isaac Seumalo in Week 4, and right guard James Daniels exited during the first half with an ankle injury.
But behind the same banged up offensive line, every other Steelers ball carrier averaged at least 5 yards per carry versus the Colts. Former undrafted free agent and practice squad elevation Aaron Shampklin had 1 rushing attempt, which was the first of his career. He gained 5 yards.
Harris’ 1.5 yards per carry average tied the lowest mark of his career. He also posted 1.5 yards per rush as a rookie in Week 15 against the Tennessee Titans.
Harris Makes Costly Mental Mistake Against Colts
Despite the poor rushing day, Harris was still able to make an impact as a pass catcher. He hauled in 3 of 6 targets for 54 yards.
In the second half, Harris had a 32-yard grab that he mostly created after the catch. That led to the Steelers’ second touchdown.
Harris actually suffered an injury on the play. He returned two plays later.
After his last catch of the afternoon, though, Harris made a costly blunder.
The fourth-year running back gained 11 yards on a short reception on third-and-22 with under two minutes left in regulation. The Steelers trailed by 3, so the catch allowed the team’s offense to face a more manageable fourth down.
The issue, though, was Harris failed to get out of bounds when he had the opportunity at the end of the run. Instead, the Colts dragged him down in bounds to ensure the clock continued to run before the fourth-down try.
The Steelers had one timeout remaining. But head coach Mike Tomlin elected to save the timeout to use just before kicking the potential game-tying field goal.
So, the Steelers semi-rushed to the line of scrimmage to run the fourth-down play. Fields was unable to find an open receiver on fourth down, and his pass fell incomplete.
Harris’ toughness wasn’t the problem when he failed to get out of bounds. But it was a lapse in the mental side of the running back’s game.
Steelers fans might not agree with Franklin that Harris was soft in Week 4. But it’s obvious Harris didn’t play well in the Steelers’ defeat.
With the status of Patterson and Jaylen Warren, who missed Week 4 because of an injury, unclear for Week 5, the Steelers will likely need a lot more from Harris to bounce back on October 6.
