Hitting the road for a Week 18 regular-season finale matchup against the Baltimore Ravens, there is much at stake for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
A win, along with some help from other teams, will put the Steelers into the AFC playoffs as the final wild-card team. A loss, though they can still get in, makes it all the more difficult.
Fortunately for the Steelers, the Ravens have nothing to play for, having already locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC and will be sitting quarterback Lamar Jackson along with a handful of other key players who are dealing with injuries. That doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy — at all — for the Steelers, but the matchup certainly tilts in Pittsburgh’s favor.
Regardless of who is or isn’t on the field though, the key to the game for the Black and Gold comes down to the 12 and 13 personnel that the Steelers have utilized offensively in recent weeks, at least according to former NFL defensive back and current ESPN analyst Matt Bowen.
In a piece for ESPN.com Friday, Bowen wrote that the key to victory for Pittsburgh is sticking with 12 and 13 personnel in the offensive game plan.
“I really liked the Steelers’ offensive script in the Week 17 win over Seattle, where they used a lot of two- and three-tight end sets,” Bowen writes regarding the Steelers’ offensive game plan. “Pittsburgh logged 220 yards of total offense out of 12 and 13 personnel, resetting the line of scrimmage in the run game and deploying wide receiver George Pickens as a multi-level target for quarterback Mason Rudolph.
“I would run it back this Sunday against a Baltimore defense that could potentially sit some key players. The Steelers have to maintain that physical offensive identity.”
Against the Seahawks, the Steelers came out in 13 personnel with tight ends Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington and Connor Heyward and really took it to Seattle. Even No. 4 tight end Rodney Williams got in on the action. That 12 and 13 personnel opened things up for the Steelers as they were able to run out of multiple looks yet still able to attack down the field.
As Bowen pointed out, when the Steelers were in 12 and 13 personnel, they racked up 220 yards of total offense. On the day, the Steelers had 468 yards of total offense. In fact, the Seahawks had just 369 yards of total offense, so in 12 and 13 personnel the Steelers generated 60% of the Seahawks’ output on the day.
Pretty impressive.
They’ll have to do it again on Saturday against the Ravens, who will be without some key pieces in the secondary and will likely limit playing time for some big-name guys on the defensive front, including linebackers Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen. If they can have great success in 12 and 13 personnel for the second straight week, the Steelers should be able to close the regular season with a win, putting themselves in a good position to reach the AFC playoffs.
