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Feats of Strength: Running backs, Rudolph-to-Pickens, Nick Herbig's huge play help Steelers to rare win in Seattle | TribLIVE.com
Steelers/NFL

Feats of Strength: Running backs, Rudolph-to-Pickens, Nick Herbig's huge play help Steelers to rare win in Seattle

Tim Benz
Tim Benz
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AP
Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Nick Herbig (51) and teammates celebrate a fumble recovery Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle. The Steelers won 30-23.
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AP
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris (22) tries to get past Seattle Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen (27) in the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in Seattle.

The Steelers ended 2023 in style, winning in Seattle for the first time since 1983. The victory keeps the Steelers’ playoff hopes alive going into the final week of the season. Plus, the franchise extends its streak of seasons at .500 or better to 20 with a 30-23 decision over the Seahawks.

Mason Rudolph was sharp again in his second start of the season. George Pickens sparkled. The Steelers running backs were tough as nails. And a Steelers rookie made a game-altering play in the fourth quarter on defense.

Now let’s see if they ring in 2024 with a win in Baltimore and really give us a reason to celebrate something.

In the meantime, here is our final Steelers “Feats of Strength/Airing of Grievances” for the calendar year.

FEATS OF STRENGTH

More from Mason: Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph proved that his fine outing last week against the Cincinnati Bengals wasn’t a one-off.

Rudolph ended up 18 of 24 for 274 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating was 112. His biggest throw was a gutsy pass deep to George Pickens on a third down in the fourth quarter that went for 34 yards.

Rudolph stood tall as the pass rush collapsed the pocket around him, and he threw it up so Pickens could make a play and extend the drive.

Rudolph and Pickens also hooked up with a clutch first-down conversion when the Seahawks were expecting a run after the Steelers recovered an onside kick at the 2-minute warning.

The Steelers have scored 64 points with Rudolph at the helm the last two weeks. In the five games prior to Rudolph starting, Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky amassed 67 total points. This is the first time the Steelers have scored 30 or more points in back-to-back games since Weeks 5-6 of the 2020 season.

Mike Tomlin wouldn’t proclaim Rudolph as the starter yet for next week. If he doesn’t start, the fan base will melt down (and I’ll be right there with them).

“We’ll talk about that next week,” Tomlin said after the win. “Right now, we’re just appreciative of the victory. We’ll give you guys something to buzz about for the next 24 (hours) or so.”

Also, Pickens was great again for the second straight week. He had seven catches for 131 yards, averaging 18.7 per touch.

Coming up (Her)big!: The Steelers didn’t register a sack or a turnover through the first 53 minutes of the game. Seattle quarterback Geno Smith was holding the ball and avoiding the Steelers pass rush all day. Pittsburgh’s pass rushers had multiple chances to bring him down behind the line of scrimmage. They didn’t do it.

After the Steelers kicked a field goal with roughly seven minutes left to go, Smith and the Seahawks’ offense took the field down 27-20. On first down, Nick Herbig sacked Smith, stripped him and recovered the loose football.

The Steelers ran two and a half minutes off the clock and got a field goal to make it a two-score game.

For all the game-turning, momentum-changing turnovers from the Steelers’ defense early in the year, that play from Herbig may go down as the one that saves their season. It certainly helped keep their playoff hopes alive for this week.

First score: There was an odd exchange to start the game. Tomlin decided to go for it on a fourth-and-5 from Seattle’s 41-yard line with a deep shot to Pickens that went incomplete.

Then, on fourth-and-1, Seattle’s Pete Carroll decided to punt after the Steelers defense came up with a big, early three-and-out stop. The punt went into the end zone for a touchback.

The Steelers then marched 80 yards on 14 plays in just under eight minutes of possession time. Eleven of those plays were runs, including a touchdown of 18 yards from Jaylen Warren.

There were two really good blocks on that play. One by Dan Moore, another by — no, I’m not kidding — Pickens.

That was a huge drive by the Steelers because it was 8 minutes with Smith and the Seattle receivers on the sidelines. The Seahawks only had seven snaps in the first quarter.

Yards after contact: Warren and Najee Harris deserve a ton of credit for getting extra yards after contact. They were breaking numerous tackles all day.

Warren had a really tough 23-yarder on the Steelers’ first drive of the second quarter. Najee Harris had a bunch as well, including a pair of tough touchdown runs.

Harris had a double-stiff-arm run in the fourth quarter that raised eyebrows too.

In the first half alone, Harris and Warren combined for 145 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns behind a solid offensive line. According to the Fox broadcast, that was the highest first-half total on the ground for the Steelers since 2006. Harris wound up with 122 yards (118 after contact), his first game exceeding 100 for the season. Warren had 75 yards, plus four receptions for 23 yards.

AIRING OF GRIEVANCES

Costly misses: The Seahawks’ first scoring drive was maddening to watch.

• Eric Rowe nearly made an interception on the first play that went through his outstretched hands. It fell incomplete, but it was nearly a significant turnover.

• Smith avoided a sack from T.J. Watt and turned it into a 33-yard bomb to DK Metcalf.

• Elijah Riley missed a tackle on running back Kenneth Walker for an 11-yard gain. On the next snap, Walker would score from 13 yards out to tie the game at 7-7.

Missed pick. Missed sack. Missed tackle. Early lead gone.

By the way, the tackling by both teams was spotty at best all day.

Typical timeouts: The Steelers did their typical burning of timeouts with nothing to show for it.

On the first drive, the Steelers spent a timeout before deciding to go for it on that fourth-and-5 from the Seattle 41. The play they came up with was a deep hope shot to Pickens. It fell incomplete.

On their third possession, on a third down in the red zone, there was confusion on a play between Mike Sullivan and Rudolph. They had to burn a second timeout. Coming out of the timeout, Rudolph got sacked and they had to resort to a Chris Boswell field goal. The 10-7 lead was short-lived as the Seahawks scored a touchdown on the next drive.

Mismatches at the start: We all expected that the Steelers were going to struggle trying to cover the talented batch of Seattle pass catchers.

It proved to be 100% true in the first half.

In the first two quarters alone, Smith ended up with a 125.2 passer rating, completing 9 of 13 passes for a total of 124 yards to six different receivers.

At least Tyler Lockett never got going. While Metcalf went off for 106 yards, tight end Noah Fant had five important catches and Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught a touchdown. But Lockett only had one catch for 10 yards.

And the Steelers kept a lid on things better in the second half. They held the Seahawks to just three field goals in the last two quarters.

Not much help: The Steelers got no help in other games, except for the result in Baltimore.

The Bills, Colts, Jaguars and Texans all won to continue to make the Steelers playoff dreams dicey. Here’s the path to the Steelers securing a playoff spot.

The only positive result that transpired was the Baltimore Ravens beating up Miami, 56-19. That clinched the AFC’s top seed. So perhaps the Ravens will rest some — and possibly many — starters next week against the Steelers.

That didn’t help in 2019 when the Steelers lost in Baltimore against backup players during the last week of the season. But that was a late afternoon start, and the Steelers were basically eliminated by the time that game began anyway.

Maybe this year will be different.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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Categories: Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast With Benz | Tim Benz Columns
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