Steelers' Offense Hinges on Pittman and Metcalf | NFL News

0:00It's September 7th. This is NFL News today, AI-powered stories from around the league. I'm Cory with the story. Yo, so the Steelers are heading into this new season with a lot of unknowns, right? But one thing that's got people talking, like Ray Fittapaldo, is their running game. They haven't really had a chance to see how it holds up under pressure during training camp or the preseason. See, the practices weren't full contact, and the preseason gains were mostly about figuring out who the backup quarterback would be. That's a big deal, because Aaron Rodgers isn't going to be scrambling out of the pocket like he used to. They need that ground game to keep defenses honest and take some pressure off him. The offensive line has already shown some shaky moments, struggling with both past blocking and run blocking in those preseason games. Now they've got to face the Atlanta Falcons in their opener, and that's going to be a real test for those big fellas up front. It's not just the line, though. The running backs behind them need to step up and complement Rodgers, not have him carrying

1:00the whole load. The team thinks they've built something special, but a weak run game could make competing in the AFC a whole lot tougher. Even the AI, Gemini, is projecting them to win 11 games, but a lot of those wins depend on them controlling the clock with their defense and their running game. If that ground attack isn't ready to go, those predictions might not look so solid. They don't need to be the best, just consistent enough to move the chains, and that's something they haven't really proven yet.