Jaylen Warren didn’t just have a good day against the Cincinnati Bengals. He gave the Pittsburgh Steelers a clean, hard-to-ignore answer about their backfield.
In the 30-27 win, Warren took on the bulk of the work with Rico Dowdle dealing with a toe injury, and Pittsburgh’s offense ran through him. Mike McCarthy made that clear after the game.
“[It was] huge; he was the focal point,” McCarthy confessed when asked about Warren’s performance.
Warren backed that up from the opening snap. On the first play of the game, he turned a check-down from Aaron Rodgers into a 30-yard gain and helped set up the Steelers’ opening touchdown drive. From there, he kept showing up whenever the offense needed a jolt, stretching plays and keeping possessions alive.
By the end of the afternoon, Warren had piled up 127 rushing yards on 17 carries and added 49 receiving yards on three catches. For a player who has flashed before, this was the kind of outing that forces a team to look at its depth chart a little differently.
That’s the real question now: should Pittsburgh keep splitting work once Dowdle is available again?
The early returns on the two-back setup haven’t been especially convincing. In Week 1, Dowdle handled 58% of the offensive snaps while Warren was at 36%, and the pair combined for only 58 rushing yards.
Through two games, Dowdle had just 37 yards on 15 carries. McCarthy adjusted in Week 2 against New England, giving Warren 52 reps, and Pittsburgh responded with 91 rushing yards on 23 attempts.
Sunday felt like the clearest version of what this offense can be when Warren is featured. With Dowdle out, Warren not only created explosive runs but also served as a dependable outlet for Rodgers when pressure showed up. Travis Homer and Lee Nichols each got one carry, but the game plan was built around Warren.
McCarthy said the early-season plan was designed around both backs.
“As we started the season with Rico and Jaylen, it was a one-two punch. [We] didn’t really care who was in the game.”
McCarthy admitted after the game. “With Homer and Lee, we were being more selective.”
Still, the results have pushed the conversation in one direction. Before Week 3, Pittsburgh was 29th in rushing offense.
The idea of a two-back rotation sounds nice, but it hasn’t translated into enough production. Dowdle has two straight 1,000-yard seasons on his résumé, but Warren’s performance against Cincinnati made a strong case that the Steelers should lean harder into one lead back.
At minimum, Sunday showed that Warren can handle the job. More than that, he showed he can be the engine.
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For the Steelers, the timing makes Porter a particularly interesting name to monitor. He has already built a strong body of work in Pittsburgh with three interceptions and 31 passes defended across three seasons, and that production is exactly why the ask from another team would have to be substantial. For now, the inquiry is just that, but it adds another layer to a Steelers offseason that may not be done forcing tough roster conversations. [Read more 🡒]