The Pittsburgh Steelers continue to spin their wheels.
They have lost four of their last six games after falling to the Bears 31-28 in Chicago this past Sunday. The Steelers are now 6-5 following a 4-1 start and have fallen into a first-place tie with the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North.
However, a bright spot in the loss was the Steelers' season-high 186 rushing yards. Part of that was due to the strong running of Kenneth Gainwell and Jaylen Warren. Another part was that the Steelers were very conservative offensively, with Mason Rudolph starting at quarterback in place of injured Aaron Rodgers.
The big day on the ground was a welcome performance for the Steelers, who rank 26th in the NFL in rushing offense. Guard Mason McCormick sees success in the run games as the result of the offensive line, which has three starters in just their second pro seasons, coming of age.
"We just really want to attack every day," McCormick said. "Go out there, and really, it starts on the practice field. It starts on Wednesday. Fine-tune the details, continue, and just get better.
"I feel like we've got a lot of guys that can move well in space. So, we don't have to be pinned down to any certain scheme. I feel like we can do a good job, run on all sorts of different schemes, and I think our O-line coaches do a really good job of putting us in good positions."
Gainwell rushed for 92 yards on 10 carries. He had a 55-yard run around left end on a fake tush push, getting knocked out of bounds at the 1-yard line.
"We worked a little bit, and it was called, right place, right time," Gainwell said of the trick play. "And we executed."
Jaylen Warren scored on the next play. He finished with 68 yards on 18 carries. Warren leads the Steelers in rushing with 604 yards, and Gainwell is second with 336.
"We've two really good backs and our O-line is just coming together, getting better every week," McCormick said. "We've been saying it all year. We just want to keep climbing, keep getting better every week."