The Pittsburgh Steelers will play their fifth game of the 2023 regular season on Sunday afternoon, and this week it will be a home AFC North division contest against the Baltimore Ravens. This week the Steelers will enter the game as home underdogs. Below are five key things that I believe the Steelers will need to do on Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh to come away with their third win of the 2023 season, which would result in them leading the division heading into their bye week.
Kenny Kwiqett – Steelers QB Kenny Pickett will start Sunday after suffering a bone bruise in his knee in Week Four. He’ll also face a Ravens defense on Sunday that is sure to concoct various kinds of pressures to help offset their pass rushing deficiencies of their edge players. Pickett has been sacked 11 times so far this season and that pace of nearly three a game just can’t continue. He needs to get the football out of his hand quicker and that needs to start on Sunday versus the Ravens.
Quick slants, quick outs, quick RPO screens and the like should be a high priority for Pickett on Sunday. The Ravens haven’t given up very many deep pass completions past 15 yards so far this season, so with that, there won’t be a need to take many shots on Sunday. To succeed on Sunday, the Steelers’ offense will likely need to highly execute a plan of catch short, run long and such a plan can be put into action as a result of Pickett getting the football out quickly.
Be Outsiders On The Run – The Ravens’ run defense is really good through four games and if not for a few explosive runs against the Indianapolis Colts several weeks ago, they would probably be a top-five when it comes to defending ground attacks. However, as good as the Ravens’ run defense is this season, the Steelers offense must make every effort to pound the football on Sunday. Running inside the tackles against the Ravens isn’t advised as the Baltimore defense is extremely stout up the gut when it comes to their defensive tackles and inside linebackers.
Where, however, the Ravens have been the most vulnerable so far this season is on the edges. In fact, on 37 runs outside the guards so far this season against the Ravens defense, 154 yards have been gained, a 4.16 average., On 13 runs outside the tackles, specifically, opposing offenses have gained 63 yards, an average of 4.85 yards an attempt. The Ravens have had injuries at their edge positions this year and that’s yet another reason to attempt to run at Jadeveon Clowney, Kyle Van Noy, Tavius Robinson, and Jeremiah Moon as much as possible on Sunday.
Time To Be Possessed – Entering Week Five, the Steelers are tied for 30th in the NFL when it comes to time of possession at 26:09. This is mainly a direct result of a league-leading amount of three-and-outs, most of which come early in games, and the first quarter, specifically. Keeping the offense on the field longer obviously results in the defense being on it less, and that is something we need to start happening on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.
If the Steelers can’t win the time of possession game against the Ravens on Sunday afternoon, it’s hard to imagine them winning the game on the scoreboard. We absolutely must see some longer drives by the Steelers offense against the Ravens with several of those culminating in some sort of points. It’s time the offense gives the defense a break.
Extra Wattage – Let’s face it, the Steelers are likely going to need their defense to make several plays on Sunday in order to come away with a win against the Ravens. If that’s the case, OLB T.J. Watt is the obvious and perfect candidate to make a few of those such plays. On Sunday, the Ravens are unlikely to have starting right tackle Morgan Moses due to an injury and if that’s the case, backup Patrick Mekari would likely start in his place if starting left tackle Ronnie Stanley is able to suit up for this contest. Regardless, look for Mekari or Daniel Faalele to face Watt on Sunday and that would be a huge advantage for the Steelers outside linebacker either way.
Against the Texans in Week Four, Watt had his worst game of the season as not only did he not register a sack in that contest, but he also only had one quarterback hit and two total hurries. Watt enters Sunday’s contest with six sacks on the season and he really needs to add three more to that total against the Ravens with one or two of those resulting in a strip fumble. If Watt has a repeat showing of Week Four, it’s hard seeing the Steelers upset the Ravens at Acrisure Stadium.
Tackle Tackling Improvement – The Steelers’ loss last Sunday was a result of several things on both sides of the football. On the defensive side, however, there were way too many missed tackles. A repeat of that on Sunday just can’t happen if the Steelers hope to rebound with a key AFC North victory. If one thing sticks out about the Ravens’ defense on tape through their first four games, it’s that they have a sound unit when it comes to tackling.
The Steelers’ defense must at least match the Ravens’ defense in that key trait on Sunday. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin had the team back in pads this past week and it will be interesting to see if that translates to success on the field on Sunday.
