Coming off a wild 17-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens that was anything conventional and probable, the Pittsburgh Steelers remain a fringe top-20 team in a trio of Power Rankings from around the NFL media landscape Tuesday morning.
Thanks to a critical interception in the end zone of a Lamar Jackson pass by Steelers rookie cornerback Joey Porter Jr., a 41-yard touchdown pass quarterback Kenny Pickett to wide receiver George Pickens, and a strip-sack fumble by outside linebacker Alex Highsmith on Jackson, the Steelers somehow found a way to win against the Ravens on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium, sending them into the Week Six bye week at 3-2.
Plenty of concerns remain, though.
In The Athletic’s Power Rankings put together by Josh Kendall, the Steelers sit at No. 20, which is a three-spot move up the rankings, though it has Kendall questioning why the Steelers aren’t playing their rookies much.
“None of the Steelers’ seven draft picks has played more than half the snaps this season. The closest is mammoth tight end Darnell Washington, but he’s basically been a sixth offensive lineman. Washington has only one catch this season,” Kendall writes regarding the Steelers’ spot within the Power Rankings. “Sunday’s win against Baltimore, which came on the strength of second-year George Pickens’ 130 receiving yards, might have saved the season.”
It has been quite curious to see the Steelers not giving their young pieces more run within games, especially after leaning heavily on the rookie class last season. The 2022 draft class played the third-most snaps in the NFL, behind only the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Chargers, and proved to be quite productive.
They’ve taken a different approach this season and pulled the reins back a bit on the young players. But it looks like names such as left tackle Broderick Jones, cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and defensive tackle Keeanu Benton are forcing the Steelers’ hand after their respective showings on Sunday against the Ravens.
It’s also a bit early to believe that a win — in Week Five — somehow saved the season. It was big, no doubt. A lot of football left, though. And the Steelers are 2-0 in the division.
In addition to Kendall’s ranking at No. 20 for the Steelers, Pittsburgh landed at No. 20 in CBS Sports’ Power Rankings compiled by Pete Prisco.
“They head to their bye after an impressive victory over the Ravens, led by the defense. The offense still needs to pick it up,” Prisco writes regarding the Steelers’ placement at No. 20 overall in the power rankings, one spot behind the Cincinnati Bengals.
Interestingly enough, Prisco dropped the Steelers two spots in the power rankings coming off of the 17-10 win over the Ravens. I guess he really didn’t care for the style of football Pittsburgh played on Sunday.
The defense was outstanding, allowing just three points over the final 53:45 of the game. Granted, the Ravens shot themselves in the foot time and time again, dropping passes, turning the football over and snapping the ball when they weren’t supposed to, but the defense had a huge part in all of that. The pass rush was terrific, and the Steelers made key plays in big spots, none bigger than Porter Jr.’s interception in the end zone.
The offense has to pick it up though, without a doubt. It showed signs of life late in the fourth quarter, but the Steelers had just 88 yards in the first half of the game and still only finished with 289 yards of total offense. If they can just find some consistency in a positive direction offensively, they’ll be a tough team to deal with.
Finally, NFL.com’s Eric Edholm has the Steelers moving up three spots to No. 20 after the win over the Ravens.
“I can’t spare the details of how the Steelers arrived here, which has included some wild swings of play (and, you know, a -31 point differential). You have to admire the team’s toughness and creativity, finding inventive ways to win games,” Edholm writes regarding the Steelers’ rankings in his latest power ranking. “But I don’t imagine that this bye week will include a getaway to Cabo. My guess is they know there’s a lot of work to be done. A week ago, Mike Tomlin was talking about big changes. Yet here they are, atop the AFC North — for now.”
The minus-31 point differential for the Steelers is quite concerning, but it’s important to note that the Steelers have two losses by a combined 47 points. That will significantly hinder an early-season point differential. Those losses occurred and were ugly, so they can’t be written off, but looking at a point differential in Week Five for a winning team seems a bit silly — at least for now.
The important thing is, the Steelers are finding ways to win. They are playing the style of football Mike Tomlin likes, which is lean on the defense, make enough plays late and don’t beat yourself. It might not match how the game is played today across the league, but it is working for a young Steelers team — again, for now.
But it’s pretty clear that the Steelers are a consensus fringe top-20 team right now in the NFL landscape.
