Much of the talk all week regarding the Pittsburgh Steelers had to do with a non-block by a standout weapon on the Steelers’ struggling offense after a loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Now, coming off of a dominant 34-11 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 16 at Acrisure Stadium, much of the talk regarding the Steelers’ offense coming out of that game might center around the block heard ’round the world just two days before Christmas.
That would be the thunderous, violent block that second-year running back Jaylen Warren landed on Cincinnati Bengals’ veteran linebacker Germaine Pratt on Calvin Austin III’s 7-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, giving the Steelers a 14-0 lead.
Last week, Warren was on the wrong end of the non-block from wide receiver George Pickens in the red zone. That led to some interesting, eyebrow-raising comments from Warren in which he said he would have blocked for his teammate in that instance and that he and Pickens play the game differently.
He wasn’t wrong with his comments, and he made sure he backed up those comments against the Bengals.
Put simply: Warren took all his frustrations out on Pratt, de-cleating him and landing a massive pancake, paving the way for Austin to get into the end zone.
Take a look.
Warren’s block helps Austin reach the end zone, but this jet sweep in the red zone to the speedy second-year receiver doesn’t get to that point without the blocks of tight ends Darnell Washington and Pat Freiermuth.
Washington is the in-line blocker on the play and Freiermuth is the pseudo wing-back. Washington gains control of Cincinnati star defensive end Trey Hendrickson quickly at the point of attack and does a great job of running the defensive end off the line of scrimmage, creating some displacement.
Just winning at the point of attack and staying engaged on the move is huge.
Freiermuth isn’t known as a blocking tight end at this point in his career. He has far more poor reps as a blocker than solid ones, but on this jet sweep to Austin, Freiermuth did a great job of getting a hat on a defender, clearing a lane.
That’s not just any defender, either. That’s Bengals’ slot cornerback Mike Hilton that Freiermuth gets a hat on, turns him outside and takes him out of the play entirely.
After being heavily criticized in recent weeks for their work as blockers, Freiermuth and Washington stepped up in a major way on the play, landing key blocks leading to a big touchdown for the Steelers.
But it’s the block from Warren that makes the whole play work.
He backed up his comments earlier in the week and set the tone for the Steelers early in the game.
Watch the way he tracks Pratt here and lines him up for the big shot.
That is a remarkable block from Warren on the move in the red zone.
It’s well known just how great he is as a pass protector for the Steelers, one of the best in the NFL, too. He’s had his moments as a lead blocker, too, dating back to his rookie debut against the Bengals in 2022’s season opener.
He tapped into that on this rep without a doubt.
There was some anger and violence behind Warren on this play. He took a perfect angle to Pratt and took out some frustrations on the play, de-cleating the Bengals’ veteran linebacker, bowling over him and clearing a path for Austin.
He’s a tone setter, a lead-by-example guy. After stating earlier in the week he would have blocked in that situation that Pickens found himself in and stating that they play the game differently, Warren’s actions Saturday night against the Bengals spoke much louder than his words.
Warren epitomizes Steelers football. This block is an example of that.
Perfect angle, perfect block, perfect hit, perfect finish. I hope that’s played on a loop in the facility for the rest of the season.
He did his job on the play, just like everyone else did. It takes all 11 on offense to score points, and Warren showed that no matter what his role is, he’s going to do his job. He did just that — and then some —on the play, snatching the soul from Pratt.
That’s how you block for a teammate and leave it all out on the field. Rather fitting it was Warren, too.
