Third and goal from the 19 usually doesn’t result in touchdowns. The defense can build a wall at the goal line and keep everything in front. Even with the Seattle Seahawks were poised to go up by two scores, the team didn’t have to fret about a missed kick, a bad snap, or anything else. Kenneth Walker III made sure the points were coming by way of his legs.
“Every time I touch the ball I’m trying to score, and the o-line opened a hole up to the left side,” Walker told reporters via the Seahawks’ website after Seattle beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-17. “I barely had to make anybody miss.”
Walker essentially walked in from 19 yards out. He scooted left side, gained the edge from the receiver’s crack block, outraced linebacker Payton Wilson, and cut upfield to the end zone.
Walker and the Seahawks had trouble finding first-half running room. The group righted the ship in the second half, rushing for 78 yards. Walker was responsible for most of that, and his touchdown put the exclamation point on the Seahawks’ first win of the season.
“They made my job easier. And we scored,” he said.
Walker finished the day with 105 yards on just 13 carries, generating more than 8 yards per tote.
Through two weeks, Pittsburgh’s run defense hasn’t made life hard on offensive lines. The Steelers allowed 182 yards to the New York Jets in Week 1 and 117 to Seattle today. Running backs Breece Hall and Kenneth Walker, slashing one-cut runners, have busted off repeated explosive runs of 10 yards or more. Hall had four in Week 1, and Walker matched him in Week 2. In their first two games, the Steelers have allowed 10 runs of at least 10 yards. They allowed 43 all of last season. At this current pace, Pittsburgh will give up 85, two more than the lowly Carolina Panthers allowed in 2024.
Pittsburgh will look to tighten up its run defense – again – next Sunday against the New England Patriots. Featuring a three-pronged group of Rhamondre Stevenson, Antonio Gibson, and speedy rookie Treyveon Henderson, the Steelers have their work cut out for them. Stopping the run is core to how Pittsburgh plays defense and right now, each rushing attack is boring holes right through the middle of it.
