Seahawks hijack ‘Renegade’ to put Steelers away in Pittsburgh: ‘That’s our song’

PITTSBURGH — The Seattle Seahawks had a plan for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ finishing move.

Midway through the fourth quarter, with the Steelers trailing by seven points, Pittsburgh began to blast “Renegade” by Styx. It’s a cue for the fans at Acrisure Stadium to wave their Terrible Towels while the defense gets hyped up to the tune of their song.

Or at least what used to be their song.

“That’s our song,” Seattle defensive tackle Leonard Williams said with a smile.

As the song played Sunday afternoon, the Seahawks’ offense awaited the start of its drive from the 27-yard line with under eight minutes remaining. In that moment, more than 60,000 fans joyously twirled towels, but over on Seattle’s sideline, dozens of players and assistant coaches were jumping around doing the same, gleefully spinning white towels and hollering during the stoppage in play. The Seahawks were attempting to hijack the moment and put the game away.

They succeeded at both.

Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold led a seven-play, 73-yard drive with a few big-time throws, and Ken Walker III put the finishing touches on the team’s first win of the season with a touchdown run on third-and-goal to secure a 31-17 victory. The Seahawks improved to 1-1 on the year and 8-1 overall on the road in the Mike Macdonald era after successfully silencing another home crowd.

“That was our mission all week,” Williams said of the sideline activity during the hype song. “They play really tight close games, and in those close games, they play that song to get their team going. With us knowing that, we played that song a few times in practice, and every time we played it, we got hype. And it showed up again.

“I love seeing our sideline get electric like that, and looking at their sideline, and they just didn’t have the juice. It was amazing.”

Darnold, who earned his first win as Seattle’s starting quarterback, made two of his best throws on that drive. First, he spun away from trouble, scrambled to his left and found tight end AJ Barner for 19 yards on third-and-8. On the next play, he launched a long ball to receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who got by defensive back Jalen Ramsey for 43 yards down to the Steelers’ 10-yard line.

Nursing a 24-17 lead at the time, Seattle made a conservative call to run a toss play on third-and-goal from the 19 following a second-down sack. A field goal would have made it a two-score game with under four minutes remaining. Instead, Walker followed left tackle Charles Cross to the short side of the field, cut upfield, shed a couple of defenders and galloped across the goal line to put the game away.

“That was all Ken,” Barner said. “It was cool to see the energy leave the stadium after that.”

Walker finished with 13 carries for 105 yards, his first 100-yard rushing performance since Week 1 of last season. He accumulated 79 of those yards during a second half in which Seattle outscored Pittsburgh 24-3.

“It always feels good to get a 100-yard game,” Walker said. “That shows that we’re being productive in the run game. Up front, they’re doing a great job. You don’t get 100 yards without the offensive line.”

Darnold completed 22 of 33 passes for 295 yards with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. His two turnovers — one on a corner route by Cooper Kupp and another intended for Barner that was batted and picked — were part of the reason Seattle trailed 14-7 at halftime.

The veteran quarterback responded by going 4-for-4 on Seattle’s opening drive of the second half, which ended with a 7-yard strike to Barner. After struggling on third down in Week 1, Darnold was 7 of 11 against the Steelers and moved the chains five times (his other two completions were just 1 yard short). The third-and-8 conversion to Barner was crucial because a failure there might have zapped the energy Seattle felt it stole during the hype song.

“He was just steady,” Kupp said of Darnold. “You can’t be fragile. You’ve got to have that callous that says I’m going to pull the trigger when it’s time to pull the trigger and be aggressively smart. He did a great job being able to play the game at a high level after things didn’t go his way early on.”

Darnold had help from his defense and special teams. Pittsburgh quarterback Aaron Rodgers was picked off in the end zone by backup nickel Derion Kendrick (replacing the injured Devon Witherspoon) and later by safety Coby Bryant. Rodgers was sacked three times, completed just 54.5 percent of his passes and averaged 6.2 yards per attempt. Pittsburgh’s only touchdown drive, which ended with a 2-yard reception by DK Metcalf, came when it had a short field following Darnold’s second turnover.

The Steelers’ leading pass catcher was running back Jaylen Warren, whose catch-and-run for 65 yards accounted for most of his 86-yard total. No other pass catcher had more than 31 yards. Warren and Pittsburgh’s other two running backs combined for 69 yards on 20 attempts. A commonly used phrase by Seattle’s defense is “stop the run so you can have fun,” and Seattle’s unit had a blast on Sunday. Rodgers was hit eight times and constantly under duress.

“It’s a combination of mindset and good play calling,” Williams, who split a half-sack with second-yard defensive tackle Byron Murphy II, said of the run defense. “I say mindset because guys are just choosing to not get blocked. (Ernest Jones IV) is doing so good right now. All the guys up front are playing really well, and we’re just playing off of each other.”

Seattle’s secondary spoiled any chance of Metcalf sticking it to his old team. He finished with just three catches on six targets for 20 yards, and the score in a one-on-one situation against Bryant. Pittsburgh’s receivers combined for just 49 yards. The secondary is “playing outstanding,” defensive tackle Jarran Reed said.

“We wouldn’t be able to do what we can do without them,” said Reed, who celebrated his sack with two hip thrusts in an ode to ex-teammate Michael Bennett. “We wouldn’t be able to do what we can do without them. Rush and coverage work together. That’s a testament to what they’re doing.”

In the fourth quarter of a 17-14 game, Steelers rookie Kaleb Johnson muffed a kickoff and allowed it to roll into the end zone. Running back George Holani, well aware of the rules because he’s Seattle’s return man, sprinted and pounced on it for a touchdown.

“Whenever the ball is kicked, we’re going to make sure if it’s in the end zone, we’re going to down it,” Holani said. “We practice that every day. Everybody was just fired up. That was my first touchdown in the league. It’s a blessing.”

This performance was much closer to what Seattle expects to be this season (minus Darnold’s turnovers, of course). Walker was able to trust his offensive line and find holes in Pittsburgh’s defense, both on the perimeter and up the gut. He rushed for seven first downs and had four runs of at least 12 yards (often categorized as “explosive” plays). Smith-Njigba and Kupp combined for 193 yards, nine first downs and five “explosive” catches (16 or more yards).

Defensively, Pittsburgh was forced to rely too much on a passing game led by a 41-year-old Rodgers, who has some magic left in him but not enough to carry an offense against a competent defense. It was Seattle’s second straight game with multiple interceptions.

“I believe if we be humble and respect the process and respect the game and just work hard every day — it pays you good,” Reed said. “Eliminate mistakes and play clean football (then) who knows? I think the sky’s the limit for the team.”

With under one minute remaining and victory in hand, Reed trotted near the front row of the stands behind Seattle’s bench, his right hand connecting with the outstretched arms of the Seahawks fan in attendance. The Seahawks haven’t had much good fortune at Lumen Field, but they’ve been dominant in opponent territory. They embrace the “us against everybody” mentality when they’re away from home, but in those moments, much like the theft of Pittsburgh’s rally tune, the players like to reward the 12s who support them on the road.

“I was excited for the fans that traveled all the way over here with us,” said Reed, who said he felt like there were “70,000” Seahawks fans present. “For us to come here and get this dub, it’s exciting. It’s a great feeling. I was just enjoying the moment.”

(Photo of Kenneth Walker III, left, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba: Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images)

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