PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Steelers players and coaches said they thought they were making progress in the run game. There wasn’t a lot of positive evidence outside of the first quarter against New England and a couple of runs late last week. Sunday in Dublin, some proof and they did so without their lead dog in a 24-21 win over the Vikings.
Starting tailback Jaylen Warren first appeared on the injury report Wednesday as a ‘resting veteran’ and limited in practice. Thursday and Friday, Warren would be limited with the additional listing of knee injury. He went out before the game at Croke Park in Ireland to test it, but they determined he wasn’t ready and didn’t want to risk it with the open week coming next weekend.
Enter Kenneth Gainwell, the 26-year-old who had been the rarely used backup to Saquon Barkley in Philadelphia. He signed a one-year deal with the Steelers to show he could be more with the potential for more opportunities. Through three weeks with the Steelers, 16 carries for 55 yards along with seven receptions for 30 yards.
Against the Vikings, Gainwell rushed 19 times for 99 yards and his first NFL multi-touchdown rushing game. He was also the Steelers leading receiver with six catches for 35 yards.
“I got a great deal of confidence in Kenny Gainwell and he showed you why,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “Top notch competitor and professional, he’s been a great asset to us in the running game, out of the backfield. He’s just a football player first.”
“I’m glad he’s with us.”
“I give a shout out to the O-line, all of those guys up front,” Gainwell said, adding it’s the most work he’s had in the last two years. “All of those guys were good up front and I was being patient and reading them.”
“Can’t say enough good things about him,” said tight end Pat Freiermuth, who helped open the whole on the first TD run. “He’s unbelievable. He’s such a good teammate, such a good guy, super-versatile, super pumped for him.”
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“Kenny G, Kenny Gainwell” said quarterback Aaron Rodgers. “If you are a football fan you know who he is, it seemed like every time he went in the game, for me as a football fan, with Philly it was like man this guy is really good. He should get more touches.”
“When I came here, I knew what kind of player he was. I tell him all the time he’s an absolute baller. Any opportunity he gets, Kenny’s been great all year, making himself a lot of money.”
Which goes back to the Eagles 2021 fifth-round pick being a free agent at the end of the year. Gainwell said he’s not greedy. He’s just happy they got the win and emphasized that the offensive line game him those yards.
“It’s been an emphasis of the last two weeks, getting the run game going,” Gainwell said. “It’s going and that will bring us a lot of points and it fueled up the whole team. You get the ball running. You get going and next thing you know a big shot downfield.”
And they did, an 80-yard touchdown to receiver DK Metcalf, but more than just that play, it allowed Rodgers to be an efficient 18-22 for 200 yards, Metcalf five catches for 126 yards.
“The O-line played great,” Metcalf said. “Just executing, picking up the blocks, being where we were supposed to be in the pass game. Everything just worked together today.”
Rodgers said earlier in the week the next step for the offense was establishing the run game. They were able to go for 131 yards and 4.5 per carry. That’s 49 more yards than they rushed for in any game this season and only five yards fewer than the last two games combined.
Now it’s a week off and the hope to have Warren ready to go as they will be challenged right away, returning to host the Browns, who entering Week Four, were the second best in the AFC in rushing yards allowed.