Derrick’s Dudes & Duds: Harris Runs Wild, Porter Picked On (+)

The Pittsburgh Steelers went on the road to defeat the Seattle Seahawks for the first time in over 40 years. Head coach Mike Tomlin clinched his 17^th straight non-losing season as the head man in charge. More importantly now winners of two straight, their playoff hopes are still very much alive. This was one of the biggest wins of the entire season, with their offense continuing on the momentum that they built last week. Here’s how they did it.

Dude- Steelers Run Game

Coming into the week, Seattle’s porous run defense stood out like a sore thumb. Pittsburgh attacked it early and often. Both tailbacks, Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren had monster days. They combined for 195 yards on 40 carries and three touchdown scores. 52% of their run plays on the afternoon were deemed successful, which is an elite number regardless of what defense is on the other side.

The backs did an excellent job creating things on their own, but the offensive line had a notable performance as well. They controlled the line of scrimmage with ease. It wasn’t like they were disguising their intentions much either. This was the classics smash-mouth type of game plan that the Steelers employed in the mid-1990s. One of the best ways to take a hostile crowd out of the game is to control the ball with a devastating run game and that’s exactly what transpired.