After being drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles and spending the first four seasons of his career there, Kenneth Gainwell has had a lot of success during his short time in the NFL. Especially last year, as he became a Super Bowl champion for the first time, following Philadelphia’s dominant postseason run.
Now, Gainwell is in the playoffs once again but with a different team in Pennsylvania. Although his current team has had much less recent playoff success than his former one, Gainwell does think there is one significant similarity between the two.
“I feel the same vibes. We a connected team, like we bond together, we do everything,” Gainwell said Saturday via the team’s YouTube channel. “I think that’s what’s gonna take us to the next level. If we stick together, offense playing for defense, defense playing for offense, I mean it can take us a long way.”
The 2024 Eagles certainly entered the playoffs in more of a dominant form than the Steelers have this year. However, that doesn’t mean this Pittsburgh team can’t make some noise. The Steelers won four of their last five, which was just enough to sneak into the playoffs.
Those wins on paper weren’t incredibly impressive, but the way the Steelers were able to get them was. In the first victory over Baltimore, the passing attack really opened up down the field, and the defense made the key stops it needed. The next week against Miami, the entire team fired on all cylinders in a dominant win.
Against Detroit the offense continued its momentum, partly thanks to a massive catch from Kenneth Gainwell himself. And the defense had another huge goal-line stand. In each of those wins, the Steelers can point to one of their key qualities coming though.
But last week’s win against the Ravens might have been the most impressive. In a playoff-like atmosphere, the Steelers once again fell behind early. But this time they showed some mental fortitude. After giving up 10 quick points, the defense held strong for the second and third quarters, allowing the offense to slowly get the Steelers back into the game. Then the roles reversed. The offense was able to take the lead back multiple times in the fourth quarter after some defensive lapses.
The Steelers will need to start better against the Texans. But they have a ton of momentum. And, most importantly, a sense of belief. Cam Heyward echoed the same sentiments on Friday as Kenneth Gainwell did Saturday. We’ll see if the Steelers are able to back it up on the field on Monday.
