For two games in a row, the Steelers' offense has operated cleanly, built on a solid running game. Last week, Kenny Gainwell led the way in a Monday night win over the Dolphins. And on Sunday at Ford Field, the Steelers defeated the Lions, 29-24, as both Gainwell and Jaylen Warren trampled over the Detroit defense.
The final tally: Warren carried the ball 14 times for 143 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught two passes for eight yards. Gainwell carried the ball just nine times for 50 yards, but was the team's leading receiver with five catches for 78 yards and one touchdown reception that might be a nominee for the NFL's catch of the year:
In case you can't quite make out what happens there, Gainwell falls to the ground as Alex Anzalone interferes with him, which was called by the officials, but the ball hit Gainwell's right arm while he was on the ground. Gainwell secured it, got up off the ground without being touched and ran into the end zone.
"I don't know how I caught that," Gainwell said. "But I caught it, never give up on a play. Just go and score."
While Warren and Gainwell are similar backs, they are each making their own marks on the offense down the stretch. While the offense hasn't nearly operated the way it's wanted to all season, it's finding its stride now. Not only could it not come at a better time, but we're starting to see Arthur Smith figuring out a good formula for how to use both backs.
"Well they've got a good skillset, both of them," Aaron Rodgers said after the game. "I mean, they're both really good runners, they're elusive. But I've got to give those guys a lot of credit — they're playing freaking kickoff, that's like a real play now. Then they obviously have different roles. Kenny's been unbelievable in the passing game, just unbelievable. And he's so damn smart. I mean, I was telling him I wish I played with him for 10 years just because the kind of player that he is. You just love playing with that guy. And then Jaylen is as sweet as they come, and he's such a decisive runner, as well."
All in all, the Steelers put up a season-high 230 rushing yards. That doesn't happen just because Warren and Gainwell had great games.
"Guys were winning the line of scrimmage and blocking," Mike Tomlin said after the game. "Just look at the blocks on those plays."
Here's one of Warren's touchdown runs:
And here, watch Connor Heyward pull off a great lead block for Gainwell on a run up the middle, springing him for an 18-yard scamper earlier in the game:
Yeah, don't be surprised if Heyward makes it to the Pro Bowl as a fullback. No, that's not a joke. He was fifth among fullbacks in the last voting update and games like this will only make his case that much stronger.
Even with all the green artificial grass that was at Warren and Gainwell's disposal, it's still on the backs to make the plays. No, it's not quite the thunder-and-lightning type of connection such as the Lions' duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, who were shockingly held to just 15 total rushing yards by the Steelers' defense, but Gainwell and Warren are emerging as their own type of threatening duo.
It took them a while to get going in this game. The Steelers had just three points and were struggling to move the chains for most of the first half. However, Gainwell's huge catch was the spark the offense needed.
"It was huge. We knew that was a matchup that we wanted," Tomlin said. "Regardless of circumstance, they kept those two linebackers on the field -- they never go dime. Really, it's a tip of the cap to the quality of players that those backers are. But we like Kenny versus those guys. Thankfully we were able to get that matchup at a significant moment. He is deserving of all the credit. What an incredible play."
From that point on, the offense found its mojo, and it centered on feeding Warren and Gainwell. While the Steelers' first drive of the second half wound up with Darnell Washington losing a fumble inside the Detroit 5-yard line, the success of the drive laid the blueprint for the next series, a 17-play, 64-yard drive that took 9:44 off the clock, ending with a Chris Boswell chip-shot field goal. After that, it was teeing off on a tired Detroit defense, as Warren ran for not one, but two 45-yard touchdowns on the next two drives.
Sure, fans would have loved to see this work out the way it is now a whole lot earlier this season. The Steelers would have, too. But, it's working now. And it's not because they just started believing in each other. They've been doing that for a while now.
"This running back room is special," Gainwell said. "I've talked about that a lot. I don't think we get the credit that we need to. We hadn't been doing what we needed to do earlier on in the season. But it doesn't matter. It takes us doing what we have to do now in December, then going into the playoffs and being real strong."
THE ASYLUM
The Big Player: Two is a pattern ... and threat
Mike Tomlin likes to say that two is a pattern.
For two games in a row, the Steelers' offense has operated cleanly, built on a solid running game. Last week, Kenny Gainwell led the way in a Monday night win over the Dolphins. And on Sunday at Ford Field, the Steelers defeated the Lions, 29-24, as both Gainwell and Jaylen Warren trampled over the Detroit defense.
The final tally: Warren carried the ball 14 times for 143 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught two passes for eight yards. Gainwell carried the ball just nine times for 50 yards, but was the team's leading receiver with five catches for 78 yards and one touchdown reception that might be a nominee for the NFL's catch of the year:
In case you can't quite make out what happens there, Gainwell falls to the ground as Alex Anzalone interferes with him, which was called by the officials, but the ball hit Gainwell's right arm while he was on the ground. Gainwell secured it, got up off the ground without being touched and ran into the end zone.
"I don't know how I caught that," Gainwell said. "But I caught it, never give up on a play. Just go and score."
While Warren and Gainwell are similar backs, they are each making their own marks on the offense down the stretch. While the offense hasn't nearly operated the way it's wanted to all season, it's finding its stride now. Not only could it not come at a better time, but we're starting to see Arthur Smith figuring out a good formula for how to use both backs.
"Well they've got a good skillset, both of them," Aaron Rodgers said after the game. "I mean, they're both really good runners, they're elusive. But I've got to give those guys a lot of credit — they're playing freaking kickoff, that's like a real play now. Then they obviously have different roles. Kenny's been unbelievable in the passing game, just unbelievable. And he's so damn smart. I mean, I was telling him I wish I played with him for 10 years just because the kind of player that he is. You just love playing with that guy. And then Jaylen is as sweet as they come, and he's such a decisive runner, as well."
All in all, the Steelers put up a season-high 230 rushing yards. That doesn't happen just because Warren and Gainwell had great games.
"Guys were winning the line of scrimmage and blocking," Mike Tomlin said after the game. "Just look at the blocks on those plays."
Here's one of Warren's touchdown runs:
And here, watch Connor Heyward pull off a great lead block for Gainwell on a run up the middle, springing him for an 18-yard scamper earlier in the game:
Yeah, don't be surprised if Heyward makes it to the Pro Bowl as a fullback. No, that's not a joke. He was fifth among fullbacks in the last voting update and games like this will only make his case that much stronger.
Even with all the green artificial grass that was at Warren and Gainwell's disposal, it's still on the backs to make the plays. No, it's not quite the thunder-and-lightning type of connection such as the Lions' duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, who were shockingly held to just 15 total rushing yards by the Steelers' defense, but Gainwell and Warren are emerging as their own type of threatening duo.
It took them a while to get going in this game. The Steelers had just three points and were struggling to move the chains for most of the first half. However, Gainwell's huge catch was the spark the offense needed.
"It was huge. We knew that was a matchup that we wanted," Tomlin said. "Regardless of circumstance, they kept those two linebackers on the field -- they never go dime. Really, it's a tip of the cap to the quality of players that those backers are. But we like Kenny versus those guys. Thankfully we were able to get that matchup at a significant moment. He is deserving of all the credit. What an incredible play."
From that point on, the offense found its mojo, and it centered on feeding Warren and Gainwell. While the Steelers' first drive of the second half wound up with Darnell Washington losing a fumble inside the Detroit 5-yard line, the success of the drive laid the blueprint for the next series, a 17-play, 64-yard drive that took 9:44 off the clock, ending with a Chris Boswell chip-shot field goal. After that, it was teeing off on a tired Detroit defense, as Warren ran for not one, but two 45-yard touchdowns on the next two drives.
Sure, fans would have loved to see this work out the way it is now a whole lot earlier this season. The Steelers would have, too. But, it's working now. And it's not because they just started believing in each other. They've been doing that for a while now.
"This running back room is special," Gainwell said. "I've talked about that a lot. I don't think we get the credit that we need to. We hadn't been doing what we needed to do earlier on in the season. But it doesn't matter. It takes us doing what we have to do now in December, then going into the playoffs and being real strong."
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