The Steelers answered again, with Rudolph connecting on third-and-4 with a 25-yard catch-and-run from tight end Pat Freiermuth and then Harris picking up 23 yards on a twisting, painful run to the Seattle 21. That set a 9-yard touchdown run from Harris in which he burst through the line, kept his feet through contact and dove into the end zone for the final four yards to give the Steelers a 17-14 halftime lead provide.
The Steelers rushed for 145 yards on 24 attempts in the first half, with Harris gaining 74 yards on 13 carries and Warren gaining 67 yards on seven attempts. It was the most rushing yards 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,” Moore said of the fast start as he ran the ball. “I saw we had 145 points at halftime. I wish we had achieved more, but we will get there.”
The Steelers outscored the Seahawks 257-178 in the first half and held the ball for more than 19 minutes.
Seattle tied the game at 17-17 with a 43-yard field goal by Jason Meyers on the first possession of the second half, but the Steelers immediately responded by scoring another 71-yard touchdown, with Johnson making 42 of them on a catch. and scored -run.
This set up Harris for his second touchdown of the game, this time from 4 yards out, with the entire offensive line carrying him into the end zone for a 24-17 lead with 6:57 left in the third quarter.
The Steelers got a three-pointer on Seattle's next possession, but were forced to punt for the first time in the game after an initial first down 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 fought his way 25 yards to Pittsburgh's 29.
However, the drive stalled and the Seahawks settled for a 43-yard field goal that cut the Steelers' lead to 24-20 with 13:30 to play.
Rudolph then hit Pickens for a 34-yard gain on third-and-six 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 lead -Winning lead with 7:07 minutes left 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, resulting in a fumble that he also recovered at the Seattle 16.
This led to a 21-yard field goal by Boswell, with the Steelers taking another 2:29 lead and leaving Seattle with just 4:31 left to overcome a 30-20 deficit.
The Seahawks went on a rushing offense to score a field goal with 2:01 left, with Joey Porter Jr. breaking up two passes intended for Metcalf in the end zone 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 of time to complete the win and set up a game Saturday in Baltimore where they need a win and then some help to get into the playoffs.
“All we can do is win the games we take part in. “It’s that time of year,” Tomlin said. “It’s any time of the year. You can't spend a lot of time looking at the scoreboard and things like that. It’s professional ball. We have to beat the people we’re playing against.”