Tag: Najee Harris

Giants vs. Steelers: 3 best prop bets for Week 8

The New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers face off this Monday night at MetLife Stadium. Here are three prop bets to consider.

The New York Giants (2-5) will be once again playing in front of the entire nation this Monday night when they travel to Pennsylvania to play the Pittsburgh Steelers (5-2).

The over/under for the game, per BetMGM, is 36.5 total points, so a low-scoring game is expected. That shouldn’t be a problem on the Giants’ end as they are 30th in points per game (14.1) and have averaged just 13.0 over their last three.

There’s always a few bucks to be made in any game, however, and this game is no different. Here are three prop bets for your perusal in this game.

Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Steelers RB Najee Harris OVER 63.5 rushing yards (-120)

Najee Harris has rushed for over 100 yards in consecutive weeks and is heating up. He is the only player in the NFL with 70+ scrimmage yards in all seven games this season. The Giants are coming off a week in which they allowed Saquon Barkley 186 yards from scrimmage, so this number would actually be a win for them.

Sarah Stier/Getty Images

Giants QB Daniel Jones OVER 19.5 completions (-120)

The Steelers have allowed 26.7 completions per game over their last three and with the Giants being held in check on the ground, will have to take to the air. Daniel Jones has completed over 20 passes in five of the Giants’ seven games this season.

Nic Antaya/Getty Images

Giants QB Daniel Jones OVER 50 rushing yards (+300)

Jones has rushed for over 65 yards in each of his last two Monday night games. In this game, with the Steelers concentrating on stopping the running backs with their third-ranked defense, Jones could possibly pile up some yardage of his own between called rushes and scrambles.

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Steelers vs. Jets: Aaron Rodgers must win the time of possession battle

New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers will need to overwhelm the Pittsburgh Steelers pass defense and keep Najee Harris on the sideline in Week 7.

Delegating touches has been an area of interest for quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the New York Jets’ offense.

Rodgers will be looking to get the ball to newly acquired wide receiver Davante Adams, as well as keep wide receiver Garrett Wilson, and running back Breece Hall involved on Sunday night.

The question is; will the Jets have enough time of possession to get the ball distributed on offense?

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is going to start Russell Wilson at quarterback and look to keep the ball away from the Jets offense. Steelers running back Najee Harris will be asked carry the offense so that fatigue sets in on the Jets’ defense.

While, Adams is a huge upgrade from Mike Williams, it won’t matter who the Jets have on offense if their defense can’t get off the field.

The Jets’ offense must therefore capture and maintain the lead early to neutralize the Steelers plan.

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Total first downs are a stat to look for in this game and will be directly tied to the winner of time of possession.

Week 7 matchups to watch: Najee Harris vs C.J. Mosley, Quincy Williams

Steelers’ RB Najee Harris versus NY Jets’ linebackers C.J. Mosley and Quincy Williams is a matchup that will not disappoint in Week 7.

Pittsburgh faces a tough Week 7 defensive unit in the New York Jets.  A major component of what makes the New York Jets’ defense elite is their pair of do-it-all linebackers, C.J. Mosley and Quincy Williams.  However, the Steelers offer one of the best rushing attacks in the league, showcased by Najee Harris’ amazing statistical production in Week 6.

Mosley and Williams make an unstoppable run-stopping and tackling machine for the New York Jets.  Both are playing at elite levels against the run in 2024, with the polarizing PFF giving these players grades of 75.4 for Mosley, and 75.6 for Williams.

Harris is coming off the best game of his 2024 campaign.  On a measly 14 carries, Harris produced an outstanding 104 yards of rushing and one touchdown. It would only be fair to the Steelers’ running back to compare his own elite PFF grade against the New York linebackers—an amazing 90.7 in Week 6.

Fans can look forward to Harris’ physical brand of football versus the run stopping abilities of Mosley and Williams in matchup that epitomizes the ‘unstoppable force’ meeting the ‘immovable object’, on October 20th, at 8:20 PM EST in Week 7.

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NFL power rankings roundup: Where the Steelers stand heading into Week 7

The Pittsburgh Steelers head into the final two games of the 2024 season’s first half at 4-2 after a not-so-convincing Week 6 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. This week, Pittsburgh hosts the New York Jets, a team hungry for a victory after three …

The Pittsburgh Steelers head into the final two games of the 2024 season’s first half at 4-2 after a not-so-convincing Week 6 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. This week, Pittsburgh hosts the New York Jets, a team hungry for a victory after three straight losses.

Here’s where the Steelers stand heading into Week 7.

Link to article

Current ranking: 11 (15)

Author: Brooke Pryor

Author’s take: By hiring OC Arthur Smith in the offseason, the Steelers appeared to signal they wanted to be a ground-and-pound team. But before the Week 6 win over Las Vegas, the offense didn’t consistently move the ball on the ground. Najee Harris’ 106 rushing yards Sunday — part of a season-best 183 team total — could mean the beginning of a running renaissance. Or the tide could turn if coach Mike Tomlin opts to replace QB Justin Fields with a now-healthy Russell Wilson to jump-start the passing game, which ranks 28th with 166.8 yards per game. Still, the team’s offensive identity is yet to be revealed through six games.

Our take: The Raiders’ bad run defense was evidenced by Najee Harris’ season-best performance and a career-best 7.5 yards per carry. Running the ball was working, so the Steelers stuck with it. Time will tell if Harris can repeat against a 14th-ranked Jets run D.

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Current ranking: 12 (13)

Author: Frank Schwab

Author’s take: Najee Harris hasn’t looked good all season. Finally on Sunday vs. the Raiders he had 106 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. The Steelers want to be a run-centric offense and for that they need Harris to be effective.

Our take: The Steelers want to be run-centric, something they made clear this offseason. But it took five rough outings and a bottom-ranked Raiders run defense to make visibly that statement. If Pittsburgh wants to make ground-and-pound their identity, Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren have to be more consistent.

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Current ranking: 13 (15)

Author: Pete Prisco

Author’s take: They won with defense and timely playmaking by Justin Fields against the Raiders — especially with his legs. He has to stay in as the starter.

Our take: Pulling Justin Fields for Russell Wilson is a fool’s errand. Has he made some questionable throws? Sure. But what quarterback doesn’t? Fields is the franchise’s future and Wilson will be donning another team’s colors or retiring in a few months.

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Current ranking: 16 (16)

Author: Nate Davis

Author’s take: Another win, another injured offensive lineman (rookie C Zach Frazier). It’s not a sustainable formula.

Our take: Given the mess that is the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line, the unit could be much worse.

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Current ranking: 10 (14)

Author: Conor Orr

Author’s take: Only two of Justin Fields’s games this year have culminated in a total EPA of less than five for the game, and Fields has yet to cost the team points. While Russell Wilson was similarly consistent during the beginning of the year with the 2023 Broncos, Fields has the Steelers in the top half of the league in most offensive efficiency categories. Oddly enough, it’s rushing success rate that has been flummoxing Pittsburgh. Let’s fix that first before we have a serious conversation about a QB change.

Our take: The Steelers intend to be a running team. Exchanging Justin Fields for Russell Wilson would only detract from that goal.

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Current ranking: 11 (12)

Author: Mike Florio

Author’s take: With the Jets and Giants coming up in prime time, the Steelers could be 6-2 at their bye.

Our take: The Jets and Giants are bad teams — two of the worst the Steelers have faced all season. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh tends to play down to (and lose to) bad teams.

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Current ranking: 10 (10)

Author: Eric Edholm

Author’s take: You can’t say that Justin Fields played a pristine game Sunday, with the shadow of Russell Wilson growing larger by the day now that he’s been cleared to play. It’s hard to gripe too much about a 19-point road win, even against a shorthanded opponent, and it should be noted that Fields ran for two scores and didn’t turn the ball over. That said, he had a would-be INT called back on a roughing-the-passer penalty, went cold in the middle 30 minutes of the game and didn’t always handle pressure effectively. Najee Harris and Fields did enough to grind away at the Raiders on the ground, and the Steelers’ defense took care of the rest. But with each so-so performance by Fields — even as Pittsburgh keeps winning — the questions about a QB switch will hang in the air.

Our take: I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Justin Fields is the future of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s grown leaps and bounds from his Chicago days and will only continue to improve in Pittsburgh. Pulling him now would destroy any of that progress and potentially have the Steelers back at square one with the quarterback position.

Steelers RB keeps proving all the critics wrong

Najee Harris powers the Steelers offense to a big win over the Raiders.

Every time we give up on Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris, he has a game like he did on Sunday. The team opted not to give Harris his fifth-year option this offseason and there was no mention of a contract extension either.

And while Harris’ 2024 campaign hasn’t been great, you have to give the man credit for his effort this week and every week. Harris ran hard on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders, with angry runs, dragging defenders and pushing for extra yards.

Harris carried the ball 14 times for 106 yards and a rushing touchdown on Sunday. He worked well with quarterback Justin Fields, who rushed for 59 yards. The Steelers’ 183 rushing yards were the best of the season, and it was only the second time the team scored more than 30 points in the last 47 games.

It isn’t clear if Harris is in the Steelers longterm plans but there’s not a guy on the team who plays with more heart or passion than No. 22.

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Steelers shake off slow start for big win over Raiders

Pittsburgh dominated the Raiders on Sunday and got 30 points for the first time this season.

When the game started, it looked like the Pittsburgh Steelers were in for a long day against the Las Vegas Raiders. But after surrendering an early touchdown the Steelers defense put the clamps down on the Raiders and the offense got 30 points for the first time this season en route to a 32-13 win.

The Steelers offense was powered by big plays from quarterback Justin Fields and running back Najee Harris on the ground to keep the chains moving. Fields finished with 145 passing yards and 59 on the ground and Harris had his best game of the season with 106 rushing yards. Harris scored one rushing touchdown and Fields chipped in two of his own.

On defense, Pittsburgh completely snuffed out the Raiders rushing offense leaving only quarterback Aidan O’Connell and a short-handed receiving group. Thanks to some garbage-time yards, O’Connell did finish with 227 yards but threw one interception as well. The Steelers also got two key fumble recoveries and when this team wins the turnover battle, they typically win.

Now the Steelers come back to Pittsburgh for back-to-back home primetime games before the bye week. First up for the New York Jets followed by the New York Giants.

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Raiders, Steelers Week 6 recap, final score: Raiders unravel early, lose big again 32-13

Another big early mistake led to another collapse for the hapless Raiders.

Aidan O’Connell’s first start of the season would begin with some bad news — both the Raiders’ top receivers would not be playing.

With Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers both missing with injuries, he set out to get the Raiders offense moving with the weapons he did have at his disposal.

That apparently meant a heavy dose of tight ends and running backs. And when I say “heavy dose,” I mean he used ONLY his tight ends and running backs.

Through five drives, no wide receiver had touched the ball.

It worked at first, with the Raiders driving for a touchdown on their opening drive with O’Connell going 4 for 4 for 45 yards. But it ultimately wasn’t sustainable.

First everything stalled, with consecutive three-and-outs. Then things began to unravel. Starting with rookie running back Dylan Laube fumbling the ball away on his first career carry.

The Steelers got the ball and for an instant it looked like the Raiders might take it right back. Divine Deablo intercepted it on a pass over the middle, but newly signed former practice squad defensive tackle Matthew Butler was flagged for roughing the passer, wiping it away. The Steelers kept the ball and scored the touchdown.

A failed two-point conversion would send the two teams into the locker room with a 12-7 Steelers lead.

The unraveling continued in the third quarter, when an AJ Cole punt was blocked, giving the Steelers the ball in first and goal at the nine. The Steelers added a field goal to go up 15-7.

Steelers offense got the ball back quickly due to the Raiders’ offensive ineptness and started driving again. A K’Lavon Chaisson sack set the Steelers back, but a Maxx Crosby roughing the passer penalty on the next play gave them the first down at the Vegas 41.

Two plays later, Najee Harris took the handoff, found the left edge and was gone 36 yards to paydirt. It put Harris over 100 yards on the day (102) with an average of 8.5 yards per carry. And it put the Steelers up 22-7 over the Raiders with over three minutes left in the third quarter.

A long drive at the end of the third quarter looked for a moment to end in a touchdown pass to Alexander Mattison, but Andre James was flagged for ineligible man downfield to wipe it away.

Next play, Ameer Abdullah broke a tackle and ran it to the one-yard-line. He was given the ball on the next play and had it punched out and the Steelers recovered. Brutal.

It wasn’t long before the proverbial nail in the coffin. Aidan O’Connell was throwing from his own end zone, dropped back and overthrew Brock Bowers. The pass was picked off by Donte Jackson and returned to the eight-yard line. Next play, Justin Fields runs a naked boot for a touchdown to give the Steelers a 29-7 lead with just over eight minutes left in the game.

The Raiders second touchdown was brought to you by garbage time with O’Connell finding Kristian Wilkerson for the touchdown and a failed two-point conversion. The final score of 32-13 came after the Steelers recovered an onsides kick and then drove inside the 20 to add a field goal.

Coming into the game, the Steelers were averaging just 3.7 yards per carry which was 29th in the league and Najee Harris averaging a paltry 3.3 yards per carry. In this game their running backs were averaged 5.9 yards per carry in this game with Harris more averaging 7.6 yards per carry.

O’Connell finished 27 of 40 for 227 yards, one TD and one INT.

Justin Fields finished with 206 total yards including 61 yards on nine carries with two touchdowns.

Brock Bowers led the way for the Raiders with nine catches for 71 yards.

Steelers vs Raiders: Pittsburgh RB gets an injury upgrade

Pittsburgh gets some good news on offense.

According to Pittsburgh Steelers beat writer Ray Fittipaldo, running back Jaylen Warren is good to go for this week’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders. After Friday’s practice, the Steelers gave Warren an injury designation of questionable for the game but on Saturday he gone an upgrade and heads into the game with no injury designation.

This is great news for a struggling Steelers run game. Pittsburgh will be without Cordarrelle Patterson this week but Warren back in the fold will take some pressure off of Najee Harris.

Through five games, the Steelers are No. 13 in the NFL in rushing yards. Harris leads the team with only 270 yards and quarterback Justin Fields is second on the team with 173 rushing yards.

The Raiders have the No. 22 ranked defense in the NFL in stopping the run. Warren with fresh legs could give Pittsburgh the explosion the run game lacks with Harris getting the bulk of the carries.

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Steelers-Raiders matchups to watch: Najee Harris vs. Robert Spillane

A matchup that is shaping up to be the most entertaining positional battle in Week 6, is RB Najee Harris versus LB Robert Spillane.

Pittsburgh’s Week 6 contest has some extra intrigue, as former Steeler and current Raiders LB Robert Spillane goes head-to-head with Steelers RB Najee Harris.

Najee Harris’s lack of yards stems from his inefficiency. Analyzing his average yards per carry from Weeks 1-5 reveals the key area of concern: 3.5, 4.1, 3.9, 1.5, and 3.0. While the Steelers’ offensive line has suffered key injuries that could play a role, the interior linemen consistently rank as the offense’s best players.

Robert Spillane has exploded onto the scene through five weeks of football in 2024. After producing 148 combined tackles in 2023, Spillane is on pace to shatter that number—averaging almost 11 tackles per game this season, putting his projected total at over 180 tackles.

Spillane and Harris have surely felt each other’s presence before—as both players have experienced the classic Steelers tradition of ‘Backs on Backers.’ Who will come out on top in Week 6?

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LB Zaire Franklin explains his Week 4 frustrations with Najee Harris

Zaire Franklin finally cleared the air regarding his frustration-induced social media response to Najee Harris’ pregame antics in Week 4.

Social media was abuzz after the Steelers’ Week 4 loss, but for all the wrong reasons. Pittsburgh running back Najee Harris rubbed Colts linebacker Zaire Franklin the wrong way with his pregame antics, flipping off the Indianapolis crowd. This led to an outburst on social media, calling out the Steelers’ running back for being “soft” and claiming that Harris’ teammate, Cordarrelle Patterson, was better.

Franklin spoke with his teammate E.J. Speed on his podcast, the Trenches Show, about the situation. Both men stated that they did not want any additional animosity but also let Harris know that next time, he should leave the city of Indianapolis out of it:

“I wouldn’t say I have personal feelings toward that guy, but what I will say is…you flipping off my city coming in and then you gonna go put out that type of performance, I’mma speak on that.”

Franklin and Speed added that their anger stemmed from having children in the stands, including Franklin’s own child.

With Week 4 in the rearview mirror and Week 5 on the horizon, hopefully, Zaire Franklin and Najee Harris can move past this lapse in judgment and let bygones be bygones.

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