INDIANAPOLIS — Back in 2019, Benny Snell arrived at his first training camp in Latrobe, Pa., with a pre-packaged tagline and a purported running style that resonated with a ground-and-pound fanbase.
Benny Snell Football, he called it.
However, in the years since, what was once a phrase that riled up Terrible Towel twirlers and gave them hope for a return to the franchise’s run-game roots instead morphed into a bit of a tongue-in-cheek wisecrack. The 2019 fourth-round pick slid down the depth chart and was eventually relegated to a special teams role — one that he’s willingly embraced.
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During this year’s camp, the door was open for Snell to snatch the backup reps. However, undrafted rookie Jaylen Warren’s emergence closed that door, as Snell got leapfrogged on the depth chart and his carries almost completely evaporated.
Then, Monday night happened.
Benny Snell taking advantage of his opportunity @benny_snell | #HereWeGo
📺: #PITvsIND on ESPN
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— NFL (@NFL) November 29, 2022
Entering the game against the Colts, the Steelers were already short-handed at running back due to Warren’s hamstring injury. Late in the second half, that position group absorbed another body blow when workhorse back Najee Harris went down with an abdominal injury. The timing was brutal for Harris, as he has just begun to generate serious traction on the ground following the bye week, rushing for 99 yards against the Saints and 90 against the Bengals.
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But as Mike Tomlin likes to say, one man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity.
Snell made the most of his. He ran the ball 12 times for 62 yards (a solid 5.2 average). The night culminated with Snell bursting into the end zone for the decisive touchdown on third-and-2, which the running back punctuated with an emphatic spike. It was his first touchdown since Dec. 21, 2020, and it capped a 24-17 win in Indianapolis.
Needed it. Got it. @benny_snell
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— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) November 29, 2022
“Sometimes you get battlefield promoted,” Tomlin said. “A guy like Benny Snell became a central part of what we were doing offensively. He was still on punt team. He was still on punt return. He was still on kickoff.”
He wasn’t the only one who seized the opportunity. Anthony McFarland Jr., who has been biding his time on the practice squad this year, earned a helmet for the first time this season due to Warren’s injury. He accumulated 30 yards on six carries.
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Asked how long he’s been waiting for his chance, McFarland said, “Weeks, man.”
“When I was on (practice) squad, you just end up working,” McFarland said. “As Mike (Tomlin) says, just sharpening your iron and waiting for your opportunity. That’s all I could do.”
Really, though, maybe the story isn’t so much about Snell or McFarland. Or the way Kenny Pickett continues to utilize his mobility to keep drives alive (six carries for 32 yards Monday). Or even the oft-criticized jet sweeps picking up yards.
Instead, what the Steelers showed to a prime-time audience is that regardless of who is in the backfield, their offensive line has come together well enough to run the football. In the process, the Steelers have begun to discover much-needed balance on offense to take some pressure off Pickett.
“If we’re doing our jobs, it shouldn’t it shouldn’t matter who is back there,” center Mason Cole said, summing it up well.
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Over the course of the season, the offensive line might be the group that has shown the most growth. At one point, they were thought to be the weak link or the rate-limiting step that would hamstring the Steelers’ offense. And look, they’re not perfect.
However, as the season has unfolded, Dan Moore Jr., Kevin Dotson, Cole, James Daniels and Chukwuma Okorafor have come together well enough to lead third- and fourth-string runners to first downs and to the end zone.
“We lean on those guys,” Pickett said. “We go the way those guys go.”
As a team, the Steelers rushed for 172 yards on Monday night, 21 more than they gained through the air and their second-highest rushing total of the season. Pittsburgh has rushed for more yards (635) over the last four games (an average of 158.8 per game) than it did over the first seven (615, an average of 87.9), and with several different ball carriers contributing.
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The Steelers are averaging 5.0 yards per carry with a success rate of 43.8 since Week 8, ranking seventh and 11th, respectively, in the NFL over that span. Through Week 7, those figures were 3.7 (28th) and 35.3 (29th), respectively.
As the Steelers quickly regroup and prepare for another road test next week against the Atlanta Falcons, it remains to be seen how many of the running backs will be healthy. Tomlin said last Tuesday that Warren’s hamstring injury wasn’t “significant,” so that should at least leave the door open for his return as soon as Sunday.
The coach said that Harris — who had 10 carries for 35 yards and a touchdown before being ruled out — is still being evaluated for his abdominal injury and that he doesn’t know the extent of it yet. Time will tell if he’s ready for the trip to Atlanta.
Then again, if the line can replicate Monday night’s performance, it might not matter quite so much which backs are healthy and which aren’t.
“That group we have up front, we’re pretty tight,” Pickett said. “They’re real tight together. They have great continuity. It’s great to see from earlier in the season what people were saying to now and how great those guys are playing. I’m incredibly proud to be their quarterback and play with them.”
(Photo of Benny Snell and Chukwuma Okorafor: Justin Casterline / Getty Images)
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