Steelers' Mike McCarthy Gives Endless Praise To His Best Offensive Weapon

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a very rare showing in Week 5. Despite not forcing a turnover against the Indianapolis Colts, the offense was able to keep moving and put up 34 points in a big win against the Indianapolis Colts. Outside of its final field goal, all of Pittsburgh's scoring drives were at least 58 yards. They were regularly backed up in their own end, but that did not slow down a runaway train. While the Colts did have a couple of big stops, they could not hold down the Steel City's offensive unit for long. 

There were a lot of positives to take away from the game, but Head Coach Mike McCarthy should have one in particular: don't stop feeding Jaylen Warren no matter what. He spoke about the running back's impact during his postgame press conference.

"He's the man. He's hauling it for us right now," McCarthy said. "There's a number that you'd like to continue to give him. He's produced, so it's been heavy... Jaylen's crushing it right now. He's been awesome for us."

Offensively, there was no bigger reason for the Steelers' success than Warren. He has been a monster with the ball in his hands over the past three games. The Colts tried everything to bottle him up; and, while it worked more often than it didn't, the former undrafted running back was still able to make the defense pay whenever he was given even a sliver of space to work with throughout the game. 

Warren had an 80-yard touchdown reception where he caught the ball at or near the line of scrimmage in the first quarter, and then he eventually followed it up with a 50-yard rushing score after breaking some tackles early on. Even with the blocking that helped open up these scores, it's hard to imagine most running backs being able to make plays happen the way that this human bowling ball has. 

All throughout the broadcast, the commentators spoke about how the Steelers wanted to give Warren the ball 20-22 times throughout the contest. That was a well-executed plan, as he got 21 touches in the contest: 15 carries and six receptions. Even with how well the Colts defended for the most part, McCarthy made the right call to stick with the gameplan and keep giving his starting running back chances to prove himself.

Steelers Are In Danger Of Limiting Best Offensive Player

The main reason Warren is finally getting all the touches that he deserves is due to the injury to Rico Dowdle, who was supposed to be the partner-in-crime. That was how the snap counts worked in the first two weeks, but the running game could not get going. McCarthy also mentioned that Dowdle was close to returning in Week 5, so it would not be surprising to see him on the field for Week 6.

Even if Dowdle plays, it's hard to justify giving him the snap count that he had when he was healthy. It's clear that Warren is the hot hand, and his explosiveness is something that can't be replicate. Dowdle is talented in his own right, but he has not seemed to be a good fit in his limited playing time. The best option would be to treat him as the RB2 and let the starter continue to do his thing.

The offense when Warren had full control versus when he and Dowdle split time has been night and day. While McCarthy likely wants to give his old friend every chance to prove himself, the running back should have to earn the right to get that 40-45% snap count, as opposed to it just being handed to him. He may be good, but he's no human bowling ball like the player that McCarthy called "the man."

What do you think about McCarthy praising Warren after his big game? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.

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