Given all the public scrutiny the Pittsburgh Steelers have received over the course of the first month of the 2023 NFL season, you’d think the team has yet to win the game. However, the team is 2-2 and tied for second place in the AFC North. With that said, it hasn’t been pretty for the Steelers thus far. The offense has been stagnant which has led to plenty of criticism directed towards offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
Steelers running back Najee Harris addressed the media on Wednesday to discuss the ongoing situation and how the Steelers can improve moving forward. During this time, he made it clear that the team’s struggles go beyond coaching: “The coaches can only coach,” Harris told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Brian Batko.
“I see everybody talking about this coach stuff, about play-calling… we’ve got to execute the plays.” Harris feels as though it is on him and the players of the team to do a better job of doing what the coaches expect from them. There is only so much a coach can do from the sidelines, it is on the players to make the plays when it matters.
Harris highlighted that now is not the time to direct blame towards anyone. “We’re not trying to point the finger at all. This is not the time to do that.” With a Week 5 matchup against their divisional rival Baltimore Ravens, Harris is right. The team cannot waste any time or energy pointing fingers and focus all of their attention on trying to beat the Ravens on Sunday.
