The Steelers got humiliated against the Texans in Houston on Sunday, losing 30-6 in a beatdown where the team looked flat from start to finish. There were hardly any takeaways from Sunday’s contest outside RB Najee Harris which we highlighted in a previous film room on his valiant efforts despite the lopsided score.
Another offensive player who had a strong performance against Houston was TE Darnell Washington who caught his first pass in his rookie season for ten yards while playing 25 offensive snaps (42%). There were some moments where Washington could’ve executed better as a blocker, but when going back through the tape, he was a big factor in several of Pittsburgh’s successful runs on the afternoon.
The Film
Washington struggled to make blocks Sunday where he had to come across the line of scrimmage to block a defender coming off the edge, cutting them off from the ball. Here is one example of a run by Harris, missing DE Jonathan Greenard before he hits Harris in the backfield. Luckily, Harris breaks out of the tackle attempt and then steps out of another tackle attempt by S Jalen Pitre who Washington misses on a block as Pitre shoves him in the back, getting to the second level of the defense before finally being brought down.
Washington did make several key blocks against Houston on Sunday in the running game. Watch this play where Washington downblocks DL Kurt Hinish, creating a nice running lane Harris exploits to get to the second level of the defense before being brought down by CB Steven Nelson on an ankle tackle.
On this play, Washington lines up beside his former Georgia Bulldogs’ teammate LT Broderick Jones who stepped in when LT Dan Moore Jr. went down with a knee injury in the first quarter. Just like the two did back in college, Washington and Jones create a wide running lane for RB Jaylen Warren where Washington downblocks Hinish again while Jones kicks out DL Dylan Horton. Warren runs into the secondary untouched, angling away from Pitre who eventually takes him down after picking up 18 yards, setting up Pittsburgh just outside the red zone.
We see Washington successfully block defensive ends and interior defensive linemen several times throughout the contest, having the size and strength to hold his own against bigger defenders along the defensive line. He has no problem blocking Horton on this rep, sealing off Horton from getting penetration on the play as Harris charges forward inside the 15-yard line. Look at Washington’s base with his stance as well as his hand placement on this block, completely neutralizing Horton on the play.
Washington didn’t have a clean sheet as a blocker though on Sunday as he missed his block on Greenard above as well as had Hinish stand him up on this down block attempt, getting inside Washington’s shoulder pads as Harris trips on Washington’s leg as he approaches the line of scrimmage, resulting in a minimal gain.
As mentioned above, Washington posted his first reception of the season against Houston on Sunday. The play came on this rollout pass from Pickett to his left, finding Washington open in the flat for the east pitch-and-catch. Washington then turns upfield as he runs toward the first down marker, lowering his shoulder as he is contacted by both LBs Christian Harris and Henry To’oTo’o, picking up the first down.
Conclusion
Darnell Washington had a few losses in the run-blocking department on Sunday against Houston, but a lot of those were scheme-related as he had to try and pick up guys in space that had clear angles of pursuit to the ball. When Pittsburgh ran toward Washington’s side, it usually resulted in successful runs with one of the best runs of the afternoon coming by him and Jones leading the way just like their college days in Athens.
Washington has played on 44% of the offensive snaps to date for Pittsburgh’s offense, but I’d argue that number should increase based on what we’ve seen from him and what we saw from Pittsburgh’s offense on Sunday. Najee Harris ran hard and had multiple explosive runs on the game while Jones represented himself well as a run blocker too in his first action of the regular season.
Pittsburgh’s offense lacks an identity as they have struggled to get anything going the first four weeks of the season. Based on what we saw on Sunday, Pittsburgh should do what they did last year after the bye week and embrace a run-heavy attack to take the pressure off QB Kenny Pickett or whoever is under center as well as OC Matt Canada who has struggled to get a good offensive game plan going in the passing game.
Pittsburgh should consider leaving Jones in the lineup after Sunday’s performance and Washington should see an uptick in snaps as the two represented themselves well in the run-blocking department, relying on Harris and Warren to get the offense in positive game scripts and favorable down and distances for the passing game to succeed rather than playing on second and third-and-longs for most of the game. The duo of Jones and Washington set the tone of a bully ball team for the Bulldogs at Georgia, and Pittsburgh could sorely use that on offense going forward.
