Steel City Underground presents “Plays of the Year” featuring the top runs, catches, hits and everything else in-between from the Pittsburgh Steelers 2021 season.

The Pittsburgh Steelers were riding high from a hard-fought home win against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 13, improving to a 6-5-1 record. However, they had a short week to lick their wounds, setup for failure in what is always a tough turnaround following a game against the division rivals, but doubly true by having to play with only three days of rest as well.

By the end of the third quarter of Thursday Night Football on ESPN, the Pittsburgh Steelers had seven points behind their names on the scoreboard while the home team, the Minnesota Vikings, had 29. In one of the worst first-half performances since the 1980s, Pittsburgh was blanked.

Just before the end of that quarter, however, Najee Harris came on strong and scored his first touchdown of the night – and then followed that up with another touchdown in the fourth quarter to give the Steelers a legitimate (who would have thought it) shot at tying the Vikings at 36-all.

Pittsburgh got on the scoreboard for the first time after a ten-play, 75-yard drive that saw Harris rush for 19 yards on three carries and a three-yard touchdown pass.

The touchdown was set up, in part, by a James Washington combat catch for 29 yards and an added taunting penalty yards against Minnesota.

The Steelers scored their second touchdown of the Week 14, 2021 NFL regular-season game on a seven-play, 42-yard drive that was set up by an Ahkello Witherspoon interception of Kirk Cousins just one play following the kickoff by Chris Boswell after Pittsburgh’s first score.

Harris scampered into the end zone of a one-yard rushing touchdown after Chase Claypool made a combat catch for 11 yards to convert a third-and-four, and a pass interference penalty on Cameron Dantzler moved the ball to the Vikings’ one-yard line.

Despite the late surge that resulted in a loss by the Steelers, 28-36, the rookie running back set a new Steelers rookie record; he passed Le’Veon Bell to grab the top spot on the record for yards from scrimmage by a Steelers rookie.

Najee Harris would finish the 2021 season with 1,667 yards from scrimmage (467 receiving, 1200 rushing).