An anomaly happened last Sunday at Detroit’s Ford Field.
Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, for once, weren’t the most formidable rushing duo on the indoor playing surface when the Detroit Lions hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Gibbs and Montgomery may each have a pair of 1,000-yard rushing seasons to their credit, but they were upstaged by a Steelers running back tandem that so far, individually hasn’t reached such individual milestones.
Jaylen Warren had a game-high 143 yards rushing and reached the end zone on a pair of 45-yard bursts in the fourth quarter. Kenneth Gainwell added nine carries for 50 yards and had a catch-of-the-year candidate when he caught a 45-yard pass from Aaron Rodgers while lying on his side in the waning seconds of the first half.
Montgomery and Gibbs, meanwhile, totaled 16 yards rushing as the Steelers controlled the line of scrimmage on both fronts. To be fair, Gibbs did score a receiving touchdown and had 10 catches for 66 yards.
“It’s cool to have two good groups of running backs on the same field,” Gainwell said in the days leading up to the Steelers’ 29-24 victory. “Basically, we’re just going to focus on ourselves. We go out there and do our job. We just want to come out 1-0 this week.”
The Steelers did precisely that while winning a third consecutive game that gave them a 9-6 record heading into their game Sunday against the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field.
After struggling to find a running identity for much of the season, the Steelers could be hitting their stride at the right time. Before they rushed for a season-high 230 yards against the Lions — their most in a game since 2016 — the Steelers had 135 yards rushing against Miami. Gainwell led the Steelers with 80 rushing yards in that victory.
“We have to bring it to the table in December ball,” Gainwell said after the game. “It takes what it takes. For it to show up was huge.”
In the second half against Detroit, the Steelers rushed for 198 yards. The Steelers possessed the ball for all but three plays in the third quarter and held the overall time of possession edge for the second game in a row. Moreover, they did it behind a patchwork left side of the offensive line that featured Dylan Cook at tackle and Spencer Anderson and Andrus Peat alternating at guard.
“It was only a matter of time before we got that run game going,” said Cook, the fourth player to dress at left tackle this season. “We were getting on their side of the line of scrimmage early. We got off-schedule a little bit, but it was good in the second half when we let Kenny and Jaylen take the ball and do their thing.”
Warren’s two touchdown runs came on toss plays that were run behind that left side of the line.
“It says everything (about their play),” Warren said. “On both runs, I was untouched. Running behind those guys is a blessing.”
The Steelers lost a four-time 1,000-yard rusher when Najee Harris signed with the Los Angeles Chargers in free agency. They knew they had Warren waiting in the wings. He topped 1,000 scrimmage yards in 2023 and was given the chance to be the featured back for the first time in his career. Before the Steelers started, they showed faith in Warren by giving him a two-year contract extension.
Adding a complementary piece was high on the off-season agenda, and they were quick to sign Gainwell to a one-year, $1.79 million deal. They also drafted Kaleb Johnson in the third round, but he has spent much of the season watching and learning from the veterans ahead of him on the depth chart.
Coach Mike Tomlin sought Gainwell after watching him carry seven times for 20 yards and catch three passes for 40 more when the Philadelphia Eagles thumped the Steelers, 27-13, last December.
“He was really significant in that game,” Tomlin said. “He returned kicks, covered kicks, made a tackle on kickoff. He converted a couple significant third downs in the first half that produced I think 17 points for them. Saquon (Barkley) casts a large shadow, so we thought Gainwell was a capable guy, and there was more there if given an opportunity, and I think he’s proven that.”
Warren leads the team with 828 rushing yards and can reach 1,000 if he averages 72 in the final two weeks of the season. He also has topped 1,000 scrimmage yards for the second time in his career. Gainwell has 501 rushing yards, averaging 4.9 yards per carry, and he has the most receptions on the team with 620. He has 911 scrimmage yards heading into the final two games.
“I think us two together is a great combo,” Gainwell said. “We work real hard throughout the week to understand the game plan and what’s going on. We just execute. We’re just putting two guys in the game and going out there and executing.”
It took some time, though, for the running game to manifest into a complementary part of the game plan. Even with this recent two-game spurt, the Steelers rank No. 26 in the NFL by averaging 101.7 rushing yards a game. That’s a drop-off from 2024 when the Steelers averaged 127.4 yards and were No. 11 in the final rankings.
“We hadn’t been doing what we needed to early in the season, but that doesn’t matter,” Gainwell said. “We have to keep doing what we’ve been doing it in December and taking it into the playoffs.”