The Pittsburgh Steelers can't run the ball and have a hard time stopping it. What's wrong?

The Pittsburgh Steelers can’t run the ball.

They’re also not particularly good at stopping the run.

It’s not a sign of the Apocalypse but it's a startling development in the first half of the 2023 NFL season from a franchise that built its identity through those two old-school football traits.

Staying the course: Jaguars coach Doug Pederson talks team's focus, injuries ahead of Steelers game

But there it is. The numbers don’t lie:

• The Steelers (4-2) are 28th in the NFL in rushing, averaging only 85.4 yards per game. They haven’t had a 100-yard game from a running back since Najee Harris gained 111 in Week 17 last year against Baltimore — and that was his only 100-yard game of the season.

• Harris’ high this season is 71 yards against Houston and he has a team-high 300 yards and a 3.9 per carry average entering Saturday’s home game against the Jaguars (1 p.m., CBS-47).

• Pittsburgh has only three rushing touchdowns and three runs of 20 yards or longer. The Jaguars (5-2), behind Travis Etienne, have nine scores on the ground and seven plays of 20 or more yards.

• The Steelers have rushed for less than 100 yards in four of six games.

• Pittsburgh’s defense is 28th in the NFL against the run, allowing 142.3 yards per game. The unit has given up 125 or more yards in five of six games.

"Is it a shock? I would say no because it's the NFL," said safety Andrew Wingard, one of nine Jaguar players who were on the roster the last time they played the Steelers, a 27-3 loss at home in 2020. "Just because you're the Steelers, just because you're the Titans, just because you used to be able to run the ball doesn't automatically mean you can run the ball now. You still have to go out and execute."

Jaguars have run well, stopped the run

Contrast that with the Jaguars, who are fourth in the NFL in stopping the run (80.6 yards per game) and 13th in running the ball (averaging 113.4 yards per game).

“It is,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said when asked if it’s a surprise the Steelers have struggled on the ground so much. “They usually pride themselves a lot on running the football … that's kind of the basis for what they try to do.”

Pederson is obviously leery of what the Steelers might be capable of if their running game rises to the occasion.

“When it hits, it hits big,” he said. “You have to really kind of guard yourself defensively and do a good job ... like our defense has done the last couple weeks.”

It's been a fairly recent issue for the Steelers. They were 24th in rushing last season but they led the NFL with an average of 146.1 yards per game in 2021. It's perhaps no coincidence that it was the final season for future Hall of Famer Ben Roethlisberger and teams couldn't load up against Harris, who was fourth in the NFL with 1,200 yards.

Steelers line has sustained injuries

So what’s wrong with the franchise that had backs such as Franco Harris, Rocky Bleier, Jerome Bettis and Le’Veon Bell, and defenses that made it folly to even try to run?

The offensive line has been battered this season, with right guard James Daniels missing two games and left tackle Dan Moore and right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor slowed by various ailments.

Coach Mike Tomlin has spoken of other injuries that have limited the Steelers’ jumbo packages (such as tight end Pat Freiermuth). Pittsburgh also is trying to develop quarterback Kenny Pickett and wide receiver George Pickens into more of a downfield threat and the jury is still out, with Pickett sitting 26th in the NFL among starting quarterbacks with an 81.3 passer rating, and 23rd in yards with 1,257.

Then there's the nature of the opposition this season. The Steelers have played four teams ranked among the NFL's top 10 in total defense, including No. 1 (Cleveland) and No. 2 (Baltimore).

Steelers fans also have been impatient with the play-calling of offensive coordinator Matt Canada and chants of “Fire Canada,” have been heard at recent home games.

Canada has declined to get into issues about whether the Steelers aren't running the ball enough. During the bye week (two weeks ago) he said the offense needed to improve in all areas.

"Everything ... you know, everything," he said. "We've got to get better at staying on the field, first and second down needs to be better so third downs are not as imperative. We've had too many third downs. Obviously, it's a multitude of different things we've got to be better at."

Steelers are starting slow

One issue has been the Steelers getting off to slow starts — and failing to establish the run at the outset.

In the first quarter of the Steelers’ six games this season, Canada has dialed up 35 passes and 27 runs. That might not seem too out of balance in today’s NFL but Pickett has struggled in almost every game during the first quarter, going 17 of 30 for 178 yards, with three interceptions, five sacks and a passer rating of 45.56.

The Steelers went three-and-out or turned the ball over within three plays on their first nine first-quarter possessions of the season and have gone three-and-out on 12 of their 17 first-quarter possessions.

On five of those nine possessions, the Steelers passed on first down and on 10 of the 17 first-quarter possession, they’ve either passed or Pickett scrambled.

The Steelers have averaged 2.2 yards per run in the first quarter and scored only 14 points in the first quarter.

Eight of the Steelers’ runs from scrimmage in the first period went for 1 yard, no gain or lost yardage.

Steelers have won last two despite running issues

Cole hinted at some impatience on Canada’s part after a recent game.

“I think there’s times when we run the ball really well and then one bad or negative run will scare us away from it,” he said following a 30-7 loss to Houston. “We have to be more consistent across the board. We’re just not good enough, consistently, and it’s killing us right now.”

The Steelers have won two games since then but still ran for only 87 yards against Baltimore and 86 against the Los Angeles Rams.

“The running game is a little bit of timing up front and they’ve had different guys in there,” Pederson said. “But it’s something you’ve got to continue to work.”

Steelers players and coach Mike Tomlin have cited execution as an issue. They believe they've had the right offensive call at the right time but a lapse here or there blows up the play.

"We just need to do routine things routinely at the early stages of games," Tomlin said.

Tomlin also made the case that holding on to a particular identity might not work in today's NFL.

"If you start talking about, 'we're a running group,' then people are going to show up in a goal-line defense and open field on you," he said during his news conference earlier this week. "And so it doesn't behoove you to marry yourself to an identity. All it does is make the sledding more difficult in 2023. There's so much specialization in today's game ... the utilization of people in very specific places on offense and defense. It makes it a matchup game. It makes it a situational game."

Wingard said the Jaguars defense will always have stopping the run first on their priority list

"We're going to stop the run. ... that's the key for us every week," he said. "You can't do anything else if you don't stop the run.

Safety Rayshawn Jenkins said he respects what he sees of Harris and backup Jaylen Warren on video.

"They've got pretty good running backs," he said. "We'll be preparing like they're the best running team in the NFL. They'll catch fire moving forward. Hopefully, not this week.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Pittsburgh has gotten away from its long-time identity in running the ball