The Pittsburgh Steelers went into Baltimore and won once again in dramatic fashion for the second-straight week, beating the Ravens 16-13. Pittsburgh dominated on the ground in this one, running for 198 yards, outpacing the Ravens who had 120. The passing game was largely ineffective for most of the night until the final drive when QB Kenny Pickett completed five-of-six pass attempts for 64 yards including the 10-yard TD pass to RB Najee Harris with 56 seconds left on the clock.
The offense came alive at just the right time, and while they struggled for a majority of the game until that final drive, C Mason Cole said after the game that the team’s resiliency the last two weeks in the final moments of the game is a testament to Mike Tomlin instilling a “never say die” attitude.
“It’s the culture in this building, man,” Cole said to the media Sunday in the locker room on video from Chris Adamski’s Twitter page. “What Coach Tomlin’s created… the leaders in this locker room that have been here a long time… it’s special, man. Like I said, we were 2-6 as the bye week was here and the team just kept fighting and we’re still here.”
Last week, the offense was largely stagnant for most of the game until they drove the field on a ten play, 76-yard drive including the game-winning TD pass to George Pickens, putting the Steelers on top of the Las Vegas Raiders 13-10. This week in a nearly identical situation, Pittsburgh drove the field on an 11 play, 80-yard drive with a TD pass from Pickett to Harris in the final minute of the game.
Mike Tomlin has often said that style points don’t matter in football, and Pittsburgh has abided by that saying the last several weeks. With one game left to play against the Cleveland Browns, the Pittsburgh Steelers not only have battled back from a 2-6 start to the season to be in position to help prolong Tomlin’s no-losing season streak another year, they also are in position to secure the final Wildcard spot in the playoffs with a win and some help next week.
It hasn’t been pretty for much of the season both offensively and defensively for the Steelers, but for a team that was supposed to enter a rebuild with the loss of Ben Roethlisberger to retirement, Tomlin has managed to get this team within a game of the post season. Should they pull it off next week, Dave Bryan should get his wish as the team erects a statue of Tomlin outside Acrisure Stadium for accomplishing the near impossible this season.
