The Steelers again answered, with Rudolph connecting on a 25-yard catch-and-run by tight end Pat Freiermuth on third-and-4, and then Harris picking up 23 yards on a twisting, bruising run to the Seattle 21. That set up a 9-yard touchdown run by Harris on which he burst through the line, kept his feet through the contact and dove into the end zone for the final four yards to give the Steelers a 17-14 halftime lead.
The Steelers rushed for 145 yards in the first half on 24 attempts, with Harris gaining 74 yards on 13 carries and Warren gaining 67 on seven attempts. It was their most yards rushing in a half since gaining 153 yards in the second half of a win at Buffalo in Week 14 of the 2016 season.
“It felt really good,” said Moore of the fast start running the ball. “I saw we had 145 at halftime. I wish we had finished with more, but we’ll take it.”
The Steelers outgained the Seahawks, 257-178, in the first half, holding the ball for more than 19 minutes.
Seattle tied the game at 17-17 on a 43-yard Jason Meyers field goal on the opening possession of the second half, but the Steelers immediately answered, going 71 yards for another touchdown, with Johnson gaining 42 of that on a catch-and-run.
That set up Harris for his second touchdown of the game, this one from 4 yards out, with the entire offensive line carrying him into the end zone for a 24-17 lead with 6:57 remaining in the third quarter.
The Steelers got a three-and-out on Seattle’s next possession, but after getting an initial first down, were forced to punt for the first time in the game late in the third quarter.
But on the final two plays of the quarter, Smith connected with Metcalf for a 32-yard gain to midfield, and Smith then scrambled for 25 yards to the Pittsburgh 29.
The drive stalled, however, and the Seahawks settled for a 43-yard field goal that trimmed the Steelers’ lead to 24-20 with 13:30 remaining in the game.
Rudolph then hit Pickens for a 34-yard gain on third-and-6 to the Seattle 22, but the Steelers were stopped on third down at the Seattle 8 and Boswell kicked a 26-yard field goal to give the Steelers a 27-20 advantage with 7:07 remaining in the game.
On the first play from scrimmage after the score, backup outside linebacker Nick Herbig came off the blind side edge and hit Smith, forcing a fumble that he also recovered at the Seattle 16.
That set up a 21-yard Boswell field goal with the Steelers taking another 2:29 off the clock to leave Seattle with just 4:31 with which to overcome a 30-20 deficit.
The Seahawks went to a hurry-up offense to get a field goal with 2:01 remaining, with Joey Porter Jr. breaking up a pair of passes in the end zone intended for Metcalf, to cut the lead to 30-23, but Johnson recovered an onside kick to give the Steelers the ball at the Seattle 44.
The Steelers then ran out the clock to finish the win off and set up a game Saturday at Baltimore where they need a victory and then some help to get into the playoffs.
“All we can do is win the games that we’re in. That’s this time of year,” Tomlin said. “That’s any time of year. You can’t spend a bunch of time scoreboard watching and things of that nature. It’s professional ball. We got to beat the people we play.”