Harris and Warren dominate as Pittsburgh keeps its playoff hopes alive.

The Steelers will head into their week 18 matchup against the Ravens with their playoff hopes well and truly alive after they defeated the Seattle Seahawks 30-23 in a must-win game.

Pittsburgh scored 30 points for the second straight week, a significant stat considering before the Bengals game last week, they last scored 30 points in week 11 of the 2022 season. In their blow out win last week, it was through the air where Pittsburgh found a lot of their success, but this matchup saw the Steelers dominate on the ground, with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren combing for 197 yards on 40 carries. In total, the Steelers had over 200 yards rushing. Harris and Warren’s dominant display should not overshadow Mason Rudolph’s strong performance, though. It may not have been a game with some big touchdowns for Pittsburgh’s no. 2 like last week, but he made plays when he needed to and led his team to a second straight 30-point game, and more importantly, a second straight win.

It wasn’t the strongest start for the Steelers as their first drive ended after a 4th down incompletion, where on 4th and 5 Rudolph looked deep down the left sideline for George Pickens, but the ball was defended well by Tariq Woolen of the Seahawks. The defense, though, got the ball right back in Rudolph’s hands as they forced a three and out to start their day.

The offense’s second drive looked like it started off in the worst possible manner when Diontae Johnson fumbled the ball near the sideline, which was recovered by the defense. After review though, it was shown that Johnson touched the ball while out of bounds thus making the ball out of bounds meaning the Steelers kept possession. A lucky break for Johnson who, outside of that play, had a solid game. The offense put that mistake behind them and went to the ground game for most of the rest of the drive, including a quarterback sneak on 4th and 1 at the Seahawks’ 45-yard line. The whole sequence was 14 plays long and lasted just under eight minutes as Jaylen Warren found the endzone from 18 yards out to give the Steelers a first quarter lead. The time this drive took up from the Steelers was an early sign of how they would dominate the time of possession throughout the game.

Seattle responded well to going down 7-0 and moved at a much quicker pace than Pittsburgh had. This was helped by a big 33-yard pass to DK Metcalf on a play where TJ Watt really should have sacked Seahawks’ quarterback Geno Smith. Given Watt’s dominance this season it’s hard to criticise him, but he will know he should have got to Smith here, whether he slipped or not. That set the Seahawks up on the Steelers’ 24-yard line, and two runs by Kenneth Walker on the next two plays put Seattle in the endzone. 7-7. Pittsburgh’s next drive started off perfectly. On the first play, Warren ran for 23 yards. On the second, Rudolph found Pickens deep for 37 yards, one of Pickens’ several big plays on a day where he had 7 catches for 131 yards. The drive then stalled and a sack by Leonard Williams forced a Chris Boswell field goal which he made with no problem. 10-7 Steelers. The Seahawks offense continued to move the ball on the next drive as they marched down the field to score a touchdown in 8 plays. The touchdown play itself is one the defense will want back as it was a 3rd and 11 when Smith found his rookie wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the endzone. A frustrating score for the Steelers to give up and now the Seahawks led 14-10 in a game which was high scoring early on.

The offensive success continued for the Steelers as they orchestrated a touchdown drive that lasted about half as long as the first time that they went down the field to reach the endzone. That was helped big time by tight end Pat Freiermuth making a nice play on 3rd and 4 to take the ball up-field for 25 yards and into Seattle territory. Freiermuth is another player who is immensely talented, and if the Steelers want more success on offense next season, then he has to be involved more. Harris then continued to show the Steelers’ dominance in the run game as he took the ball for 23 more yards despite the fact it looked as if he was being tackled for a gain of about 9 yards. That wasn’t even Harris’ most impressive run of the drive either as on a 2nd and goal from 9 yards out he fought and crawled to keep his knees and elbows off the ground and dove in for a touchdown on one of the most impressive 9-yard touchdown runs you will ever see. Following that touchdown, the defense forced a three and out for the second time, giving the ball back to the offense. With 36 seconds left and no timeouts, being aggressive and trying to get more points would have been risky but the Steelers did something similar against the Bengals last week and got 3 points out of it. This time though there wasn’t as much clock to work with and after two short pass plays the Steelers headed into the locker room up 17-14 with the Seahawks set to get the ball to start the 2nd half.

The Seahawks looked as if they were going to make a statement drive to start the third quarter as a few plays after a Colby Parkinson 20-yard catch, Kenneth Walker made a big 24-yard run all the way down to the Steelers’ 6-yard line. However, the Steelers caught a break as Metcalf was called for holding and rather than a 1st and goal, Seattle had a 1st and 13 at the Steelers’ 33-yard line. The defense then managed to force a field goal and once again the game was tied, this time at 17 apiece. When the offense got the ball back, they continued to move the ball with ease, something that has been unfamiliar to this team all season. Freiermuth once again made a nice play for 14 yards, but the big play of the drive was a Diontae Johnson catch for 42 yards after he found himself wide open over the middle. That took Pittsburgh down to the 4-yard line where, thanks to a huge push by what seemed to be the entire offense, Najee Harris once again found himself in the endzone. This was the last touchdown by either side on the day and put the Steelers up 24-17.

Following that Harris touchdown, the teams exchanged punts, then a Seahawks field goal made it 24-20. On the Steelers’ next drive, they encountered a 3rd and 6 at their own 44-yard line. Leading by 4, if they didn’t get the first down here it would likely be another punt and then the Seahawks would have the chance to take the lead. In a crucial moment in the fourth quarter of the game, Rudolph had pressure in his face but still delivered a big pass down the right sideline to George Pickens who yet again made a sensational catch to haul the ball in for a 34-yard gain and now the Steelers had a 1st down at the Seattle 22-yard line. A sensational play by Rudolph and Pickens in a crucial moment. Rudolph didn’t have to be Tom Brady to win the game, but he made big plays like this at the most important moments. A few plays later, Rudolph made another big play as he once again converted on 4th and short for a 1st down via a quarterback sneak. Despite all this, though, the drive still ended in a field goal for the Steelers, a disappointment considering the big plays they had. Boswell kicked a 26-yard field goal and Pittsburgh was up by 7 again. At this point in the game, with just over 7 minutes left, neither team had forced a turnover. Each team had one overruled, but there was yet to be a real splash play by either defense. With the Steelers leading by 7 points, and the Seahawks getting a chance to drive down the field and tie the game, up stepped rookie Nick Herbig. Herbig raced around the left tackle, and even broke through a chip from the running back to knock the ball out of Smith’s hands and recover it himself to give the Steelers the ball inside the redzone with exactly 7 minutes left in the game. This was Herbig’s third sack of the year and his second forced fumble, and given the limited number of snaps he has been given, his production for the Steelers has been incredible. The rookie deserves all the praise he will get. Up by 7, in the redzone, not much time left in the game, the Steelers would of course ideally score a touchdown in this situation, but a field goal would be fine too. After a nice sweep play to George Pickens for 10 yards to set up a 1st and goal, it looked like a touchdown would be the case, but two good plays from the Seahawks defense forced a 3rd and goal from the 3-yard line. Pittsburgh ran a play action and Rudolph showed his game awareness as he threw the ball away given that no one was immediately open. The smart, safe play, to guarantee the Steelers a two-score lead with 4:30 remaining. Boswell made it a 10-point game and now the Steelers just had to not make any silly mistakes.

The Seahawks drive that followed saw Pittsburgh play prevent defense. At first it seemed as if they were giving up a bit too many yards in a short space of time as the Seahawks found themselves at the Steelers’ 5-yard line with over 2 minutes left. But, like they have done so often this season, the defense held strong in the redzone, forcing three straight incompletions meaning Seattle had to settle for a field goal. On the 3rd and goal play, Joey Porter was in coverage on Metcalf as the receiver couldn’t haul it in. Porter was beaten by Metcalf a few times in this game, but he made the play he needed to in crunch time, even if Metcalf will feel he should have held onto the ball for the touchdown. Down 7 points with two timeouts left and the two-minute warning about to go off, the Seahawks were forced into an onside kick which Diontae Johnson recovered for the Steelers. At this point everyone was certain the Steelers would continue to run the ball and kill the clock but on 1st and 10 Rudolph found George Pickens through the air, and the second-year receiver was tackled at the Seattle 20-yard line after a gain of 24 yards. An aggressive call by Mike Tomlin that ended well but could have been a big question mark had it gone wrong. Still though, it was well executed by Rudolph and Pickens who have built a strong connection these last two weeks. If that wasn’t enough to end the game, a Najee Harris run through the middle for a first down did. Harris gave up the opportunity of a 3rd touchdown by sliding before the endzone to confirm the win. A smart and unselfish play by Harris and as Rudolph took a knee on the next play, the clock wound down to move the Steelers to 9-7.

A strong win by Pittsburgh in a game where the offense looked good for a second straight week. They travel to Baltimore on Saturday to face a 13-3 Ravens team who have locked up the no. 1 seed and will likely be resting starters. Still, though, the Steelers will have to be on the top of their game if they want a chance at the playoffs. If they win on Saturday and get some help from either the Titans or the Dolphins, then they will be in the playoffs.