A pair of double-explosive Jaylen Warren touchdown runs in the fourth quarter helped the Pittsburgh Steelers bust the game wide open Sunday in their Week 16 win over the Detroit Lions and was part of a huge day overall for the running back.
Now, he finds himself up for an NFL award.
Thanks to a 14-carry, 143-yard, two-touchdown performance in the 29-24 win over Detroit, Warren is nominated for the NFL’s Week 16 FedEx Air & Ground Player Of the Week.
Buffalo Bills running back James Cook III, New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, and Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence are all up for the award as well.
In previous years, the award was divided up into running backs and pass catchers on one side and quarterbacks on the other. Now the award is no longer confined to separate categories of air and ground, something that was implemented during the 2024 season.
With six total nominations each week, the NFL will award two winners. After Week 1, Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers found himself nominated for the award but didn’t win it.
Warren earned his nomination thanks to a monster performance against the Lions. In the fourth quarter with the Steelers needing some big drives offensively, he found paydirt on a pair of 45-yard touchdown runs, which Alex Kozora broke down in his film room for Steelers Depot.
Warren’s first touchdown of the afternoon came on a toss to the boundary, with the Steelers going heavy in personnel to the short side of the field. The Steelers blocked it up very well, Warren found the hole and was off to the races, creating splash in the blink of an eye.
On his second 45-yard touchdown run, Warren was untouched thanks again to some terrific blocking, namely by fullback Connor Heyward and wide receiver DK Metcalf.
When the Steelers needed some plays offensively, Warren answered with a pair of home runs. He also had a 21-yard run on the afternoon and a terrific 10.2 yards per carry, putting him within shouting distance of 1,000 yards on the season.
Voting for the weekly FedEx Air & Ground Player Of the Week nominees is open from Monday morning to Wednesday at 3 PM/ET at NFL.com.
