PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney set the mandate a couple of weeks after watching his team get blown out at home by Cleveland in the opening round of the 2020 playoffs.

“Everybody in the building agrees you can't finish 32nd in the league in running and feel like you're going to have a successful season,” Rooney said in late January.

Nearly every offensive decision the Steelers made during the offseason was aimed at fixing the problem. The offensive coordinator? Fired. The offensive line coach? Same. Their first four picks of the draft were used on a running back (Najee Harris), a tight end (Pat Freiermuth) and a pair of raw but talented linemen (Kendrick Green and Dan Moore Jr.).

And two weeks into 2021, little progress has been made. The Steelers are 31st in the league in yards rushing (57 yards per game) and 30th in yards per carry (3.3). Take out a 25-yard run by wide receiver Chase Claypool in the opener against Buffalo and those numbers drop to 45 yards per game and 2.6 yards per carry.

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger stressed repeatedly in the aftermath of a 26-17 loss to Las Vegas on Sunday that dropped Pittsburgh to 1-1 that he needed to play better.

Maybe, but the 39-year-old finds himself in the same position he was 10 months ago: as his team's best and at the moment only option to move the ball.

The Raiders gave up 103 yards to largely unknown Baltimore running backs in an overtime win in Week 1 (not to mention the 86 piled up by Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson). Harris ran just 10 times for 38 yards.

Only one of those runs — a 14-yard burst in the first quarter that helped the Steelers get out of a hole — came on a play that was perfectly blocked.

Otherwise, Harris largely found himself surrounded by white jerseys as he reached the line of scrimmage.