What It Means:

Rawls had a productive first half with 51 yards on 10 carries, and he punched in a one-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Rawls put the ball on the ground late in the game, but the crisis was averted after Seattle recovered it for a two-yard loss.

It was a solid performance against a Pittsburgh defense which entered the week ranked first in Adjusted Defensive Rushing Net Expected Points (NEP) per carry. Rawls turned his 21 carries into 0.67 Rushing NEP. Coming into the week, among backs with at least 80 carries, Rawls ranked first in Rushing NEP per carry. The clear lead back for Seattle -- Fred Jackson saw one carry -- should be in line for another big workload when the Seahawks take on the Minnesota Vikings in Week 13. Minnesota ranks 18th in Adjusted Defensive Rushing NEP per play.