The Pittsburgh Steelers' offense has been bad to start the 2013 season, and offensive coordinator Todd Haley did not hesitate to call out his players, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Steelers have scored just 19 points through their first two games of the season, good for the third-worst total in the league, and are second-to-last in total offense. Haley made no mistake that he is "not happy," and laid blame at the feet of an anemic running game:
Todd Haley calls out Steelers’ offense, running game
Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley is not happy with his offense’s performance through two games, particularly in the running game.
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sport
“When you hand it off 14 times in the first half for a 3-yard average, I don’t care what you call it, it has to be better,” Haley said. “Those guys know it, our guys up front know it, our receivers know it. To have an efficient run game, we need to do a better job across the board. Because one breakdown will cause you to get 3 yards a carry instead of 4, 4.5, 5 or more.”
A running attack that was supposed to be led by rookie Le'Veon Bell before he suffered a Lisfranc injury has been averaging 2.4 yards per carry through two games. The Steelers have gained just 75 total yards on the ground, and are one of nine teams who have yet to score a rushing touchdown.
Isaac Redman was projected to be the team's workhorse after Bell went down and Jonathan Dwyer was released. Redman has been ineffective, however, with just 12 yards on 10 carries this season. Felix Jones has been better by a wide margin, gaining 37 yards on his 10 carries, and is expected to play a much larger role going forward. The hope is that, with Heath Miller returning to the lineup, the offense can get back on track this weekend against the Chicago Bears.
If not, and the Steelers drop to 0-3, the heat will be turned up much higher on Haley's seat. The offensive coordinator has not been well-received since taking over the offense last season. Last week, he got into a confrontation with wide receiver Antonio Brown over how the wideout was being used. Haley has also butted heads with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger over play-calling.
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