For the second straight week, the Pittsburgh Steelers scored at least 30 points with Mason Rudolph leading the offense and came through with a win in a big spot, keeping their playoff hopes alive in the tough AFC playoff picture.
After throttling the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 16, the Steelers hit the road in Week 17 to take on the Seattle Seahawks and came away with a hard-fought 30-23 win, improving to 9-7 on the season. The win clinched Mike Tomlin’s 17th straight non-losing season and it also clinched the Steelers finishing third in the AFC North, meaning Pittsburgh’s streak of not finishing last in the division is now up to 35 years in a row.
That’s remarkable.
In the win over the Seahawks, the Steelers’ run game was dominant with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren having field days. Combined, the Steelers rushed for 202 yards and three touchdowns, while Rudolph hit a handful of explosive plays through the air again and George Pickens had his second straight 100-yard game.
Defensively, the Steelers did just enough and got a key strip-sack and fumble recovery from rookie outside linebacker Nick Herbig in the fourth quarter, helping lead to the win.
Let’s check out some grades.
QB — A-
Just an awesome job once again from Rudolph. The guy looks so comfortable and confident in the pocket. He stood in there multiple times against Seattle and delivered strikes downfield to Pickens and Diontae Johnson.
On the day, Rudolph was 18-for-24 for 274 yards. He was sacked just once and didn’t have a turnover-worthy play on the day. The Steelers also showed great trust in him late after they recovered an onside kick attempt. Tomlin called for the Steelers to throw it to put the game away and Rudolph responded with a big-time throw to Pickens on a slant, icing the game.
Rudolph’s accuracy was on display again, especially down the field. The poise is very noticeable, too. He just doesn’t panic, scans the field and when he sees throws, he rips them. He’s playing at a very high level right now and has the Steelers firmly back in the playoff picture.
RB — A+
An incredible performance by both Harris and Warren. Truly.
No other way to summarize it.
The dynamic duo dominated from start to finish against Seattle’s weak run defense. Harris rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries, while Warren added 75 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. The two physically took it to the Seahawks, running hard on every single touch, dishing out punishment at every opportunity, whether it was lowering a shoulder into a defender, throwing a well-timed, powerful stiff-arm, or dragging defenders with them.
It was a dominant display, the best the duo has looked together in a long time, maybe ever. It was the most consistent run game the Steelers have had, too. Chunk yards after chunk yards.
WR — B
For the second straight week, Pickens came up big for the Steelers.
Pickens had seven receptions for 131 yards, including catches of 37, 34 and 24 yards, the last of which helped seal the game for the Steelers after they recovered the onside kick. In a big matchup against a strong Seattle secondary, Pickens came through in a big, big way. He won downfield, created separation on his routes and made one absurd, diving catch to spark the Steelers.
He’s really coming into his own.
Johnson had a strong game, too. He finished with four receptions for 76 yards, including a 42-yarder that set up Harris’ second touchdown of the game. He was able to avoid disaster early, stepping out of bounds before fumbling the ball after a 16-yard reception that nearly gave the Seahawks the ball back after they had taken a 7-3 lead.
TE — B-
Pat Freiermuth had a good game as a receiver, hauling in three receptions for 44 yards, including a key 25-yard catch-and-run that set up Harris’ first touchdown of the game. He was more involved in the passing game this week after the Bengals focused on him last week, and he rewarded the Steelers.
As a blocker, Freiermuth was impressive, too. He had great effort on Harris’ second touchdown, helping drive the pile to get Harris into the end zone. So, too, did Darnell Washington and Connor Heyward. The trio of tight ends had a ton of success as blockers on Sunday. The Steelers ran a lot of 13 personnel and really took it to Seattle.
That’s a testament to the tight ends stepping up as blockers.
OL — A+
Best game the offensive line has had in a long, long time.
The group was challenged earlier in the week by Mike Tomlin and the offensive coaching staff to come out and control the environment in Seattle through the run game. They answered the challenge in a major way. The offensive line paved the way for 202 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
From start to finish the Steelers consistently ran the football, punching the Seahawks in the mouth over and over again. There was a chippiness to the game, too, from the Steelers’ offensive line, especially Broderick Jones. The group answers the challenge, no doubt about it.
The line also protected rather well for Mason Rudolph, allowing just one sack in the win, which occurred when James Daniels and Mason Cole got blown up.
The only real downside for the game was Cole having snapping issues again. He has the yips.
DL — C+
Not a great day here. Prior to Kenneth Walker III’s shoulder injury, the Steelers’ defensive line was getting bullied at the point of attack in the run game. Walker was gashing the Steelers. His injury changed the game.
Larry Ogunjobi flashed at times and made some plays, recording three tackles, but it was too far and few between. Cameron Heyward was largely invisible with just one tackle, though he did tip a pass at the line of scrimmage. Isaiahh Loudermilk had one tackle in the game, too, as did Armon Watts. He was pushed around quite a bit in the run game.
Keeanu Benton flashed early on with a pressure on the first rep and then blew up a run on the second rep, but he was quiet after that.
LB — B-
It felt like Myles Jack was everywhere on Sunday. He had eight tackles, played pretty physical coming downhill and helped get the Steelers lined up and playing fast defensively in a hostile environment. Heck of a showing from him.
That was about it from the inside linebackers though. Mark Robinson had two tackles and Mykal Walker had just one tackle.
Outside, Nick Herbig’s strip-sack of Geno Smith in the fourth quarter was monumental. What a great pass rush it was, the rookie beating left tackle Charles Cross and slipping past the chip from Walker, bending the edge to knock the ball out. He was then able to recover the ball, too. Impressive rep.
Alex Highsmith was quiet on Sunday, though he had one quarterback hit. T.J. Watt had two tackles and a quarterback hit. Seattle tackles were getting away with quite a bit of holding against the dynamic pairing off the edge. Markus Golden gave the Steelers some great reps in relief, recording three quarterback hits in the win.
DB — C-
Eric Rowe played rather well for the second straight week. He led the Steelers in tackles with 10 and was all over the place. His day could have been even better if he hauled in an interception early in the game that went right through his hands on an ill-advised throw from Geno Smith.
Patrick Peterson got caught flat-footed on Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s touchdown in the first half when he was in zone coverage, allowing Smith to throw right over him. James Pierre got lost on the play, too, as he was in for the injured Joey Porter Jr.
Speaking of Porter, the Seahawks went after him often with DK Metcalf. Metcalf had a big game, hauling in three passes for 40 yards against Porter in man coverage, adding five receptions for 106 yards on the day overall.
Chandon Sullivan had a solid game for the second straight week. He brought some physicality in the slot and really stepped up for the Steelers at a great time.
Just too many big plays though in the passing game that the secondary allowed.
Special Teams — B
Chris Boswell was a perfect 3-for-3 on the day, which isn’t unexpected at all. He’s as steady as they come. Punter Pressley Harvin III had a nice 46-yard punt that he downed inside the 10-yard line in the win, bouncing back from an awful showing against the Bengals last week.
In the return game Godwin Igwebuike had a nice 31-yard kickoff return against his former team, giving the Steelers good field position. The kick coverage team was a concern for the Steelers as DeeJay Dallas had a 32-yard kickoff return, giving Seattle good field position after a short Boswell kick.
