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The Pittsburgh Steelers had several obvious problems in their loss to the Buffalo Bills in the AFC wild-card round.
The Steelers were unable to force Bills quarterback Josh Allen into making any critical mistakes. Thus, the Steelers lost the turnover battle. The Bills also ran for 179 rushing yards, including 5.3 yards per carry.
But after the 31-17 loss, Steelers running back Najee Harris identified things inside the locker room that need to change for Pittsburgh to get back to winning playoff games.
“If we want to elevate where we are and achieve those goals that we want, we’ve got to change some in-house stuff,” said Harris after the game, via The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo.
“The rules that are in the building. We gotta be more disciplined. We gotta be more committed. I’m not saying that we’re not, but just coming from a place that has structure. Coming and just seeing, we probably could get help in these areas, it might change something.”
The Steelers last won a postseason game in 2016. The seven-year playoff win drought is the longest in Pittsburgh history since the franchise’s first postseason win in 1972.
Najee Harris Calls for More ‘In-House Rules,’ Clarifies He Didn’t Call for Coaching Changes
Harris admitted that he’s just one player on the team and that others may not have the same opinion as him. But in so many words, he argued the Steelers locker room lacks the structure it needs to win a championship.
It’s important to note, though, that Harris made it very clear that he was not calling for any changes to Pittsburgh’s coaching staff. In fact, the running back wasn’t addressing the team’s coaching at all with his comments.
“I’m not saying nothing about coaches or anything like that,” said Harris. “I’m just saying more of in-house rules. That’s all I’m saying.”
Harris isn’t the first Steelers player to comment on the organization’s locker room structure. In a December 2023 interview with Steelers Takeaways, former Steelers linebacker Joe Schobert said that when he played in Pittsburgh, the organization relied heavily on its veteran players, and was thus less structured.
“With all of those veteran players, players were expected to be professionals on and off the field and the coaches didn’t take all of their time checking on them every day,” Schobert said. “They were expected to do everything the right way without all of that governance by coaches.
“It could get lax at times, but you were expected to do the work. It wasn’t like other places that were more structured.”
Najee Harris a Key Leader for Steelers Going Forward
Harris played college football at Alabama. Under Nick Saban, Alabama likely had one of the more structured programs in the country.
It sounds like Harris would prefer the Steelers to move more in that direction. But he’s not calling for Tomlin to be Saban. What Harris may be requesting is Steelers veterans being more like they were 10-15 years ago.
Tomlin was younger than some of his players when he became head coach in 2007. The team had also won the Super Bowl with Bill Cowher two years prior. So, it’s not surprising that Tomlin didn’t emphasize discipline upon his arrival.
With Tomlin’s “reliance on veterans” locker room structure, the Steelers won another Super Bowl in February 2009.
But obviously, the veterans who lead the locker room culture early in Tomlin’s tenure are long gone. Based on the comments from Harris and Schobert, though, the team’s structure has remained the same.
If Harris is right and the Steelers need more locker room structure, then the team will need its leaders to step up and hold other players more accountable. Perhaps Harris is just the leader to do that, particularly for the Steelers offense, which features a lot of young players.
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