Steelers’ major issue on offense is on pace to receive some help following expected return of critical starter to practice
Pittsburgh needs his help in a major way.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ run game is the migraine that just won’t go away. There is a clear recipe to success for the Steelers on the ground, and it has come from their jumbo personnel package.
Simply put, it’s when the Steelers utilize their starting offensive line, but add guard Spencer Anderson as the sixth offensive lineman, and insert Darnell Washington as the primary tight end.
But in order to run that personnel grouping, you obviously need to be healthy. That wasn’t the case for the Steelers against the Los Angeles Chargers, but the team could see the return of the straw that stirs the drink up front against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Steelers could see the return of Isaac Seumalo this week
“Isaac Seumalo is expected to participate in some capacity and then kind of build and go on from there, but we’re optimistic about his return. Scotty Miller has been cleared to practice with his broken finger, and we have some other bumps and bruises associated with play that may limit some people, and there may be some veteran players, et cetera, that we manage at the early portions of the week this time of year, but none of those we expect to be significant in terms of player availability.”
“Cole Holcomb is still working his way back to us. He’ll be a limited participant to start the week and we’ll see where that participation goes in terms of the amount and the quality of it. [Darius] Slay is in the concussion protocol, and so we’ll let the protocol determine his availability. [Jabrill] Peppers was running in a limited capacity the latter part of last week. I’d imagine that’ll make him a limited participant tomorrow, and we’ll kind of go from there.”
The loss of Semulao was felt against the Chargers as the Steelers’ rushing EPA per play was significantly worse without him in the lineup. It suggests, as did the game and the tape, that the team is much more efficient and effective at running when 73 is in there.
Last week saw Seumlao miss all three practices so even if he’s back in a limited capacity, that bodes well for his return to action against the Bengals. So it might not be a lifeline for an offense that looked DOA on Sunday night, but it’s a step in the right direction for Pittsburgh.
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