Najee Harris Misses Out On Angry Runs Scepter Despite Dominant Showing Against Raiders

Thanks to two runs on a rather dominant day from Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris, it appeared that the fourth-year veteran was going to add another Angry Runs scepter from Good Morning Football’s Kyle Brandt to his mantle.

Harris, who rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries Sunday in Las Vegas, which included a 26-yard run and a 36-yard touchdown in the second half, had two very impressive powerful runs in the first half that Good Morning Football highlighted as part of the Week 6 segment.

In the Angry Runs segment, Brandt highlighted two runs from Harris, which theoretically should have given him a leg up in the discussion. Alas, the scepter went to Atlanta running back Tyler Allgeier after a physical run against the Carolina Panthers.

But that doesn’t take away from the work that Harris did against the Raiders.

It started right away, too.

On the third play of the game, Harris took a toss right from quarterback Justin Fields. Harris had trouble catching the ball cleanly, which slowed him up in the backfield, allowing Raiders star EDGE Maxx Crosby to run the play down from the backside.

Harris did what Harris does though: he tossed Crosby out of the club, throwing a mean stiff arm to the Raiders defender, tossing him aside. Harris was able to get back to the line of scrimmage for a 1-yard gain, which won’t go down in the stats sheet as an impressive run, but it set the tone for Harris.

“Do you wanna see what he did on the third play of the game against the Raiders, Peter? Do you wanna see it? Take us to Vegas. On the third play of the game against the Raiders, he ran into a guy, you might know his name. Maxx Crosby. And oh yes! Oh my gosh. I think he knocked one of the x’s off Maxx. It’s now only Max,” Brandt said of Harris’ first-quarter run against the Raiders in which he threw Crosby aside in the backfield, according to video via NFL Network. “He has a new tattoo, Maxx Crosby, and it is Najee Harris’s hand. He pushed Maxx Crosby harder than Maxx Crosby pushed his coach! And that’s a tone setter for Najee.”

The play against Crosby came one play after Harris ran 13 yards up the gut on duo behind rookies Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick, giving the Steelers two first downs on the first two plays of the game.

While the run against Crosby was an impressive display of strength and determination from Harris, it had nothing on a Harris run in the second quarter.

On a first and 10 from near midfield, Harris had one of his patented Angry Runs, taking on defenders in the hole, dragging them with him and turning what should have been a short gain into a 15-yarder, leaving bodies of Raiders defenders strewn all over the middle of the field.

“And if that was it, that’d be good. Do you wanna see what else he did? This is disgusting. This is disgusting. Run Najee. Stop. Stop. Somebody, stop him! He is so brutal,” Brandt said of Harris’ run in the second quarter. “And look at all the Raiders fans in Las Vegas. Just a beautiful sight cheering on their guy. No, it was all Steelers fans. Watch this down in the trenches. We like to look him right in the eye. [Devine] Diablo, shedding the devil in Las Vegas. Shedding the devil in Sin City! His name is literally Diablo. Diablo. Diablo. And look out. Najee is in. He is set.”

Initially after that run, it felt like the Week 6 Angry Runs scepter was set and would be returning to the Steel City and making its way back to Harris, who won the 2023 Angry Run of the Year award from Brandt at NFL Honors. 

Alas, despite host Jamie Erdahl being the only one on the panel to make the case for Harris, Brandt ultimately chose Allgeier. His 15-yard run against Carolina was certainly angry but seemingly didn’t come close to touching what Harris did against the Raiders Sunday in the blowout win.

Brutal.