The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday. Then on a short week, they went into Cleveland and lost to the previously 2-8 Browns. That’s quite the disparity in results against very different talent levels.
So was the win over the Ravens a fluke? Was the loss to the Browns a fluke? Or is there something else going on here? Nick Wright would tell you that this is much more a feature of the Steelers than a bug.
“Every Steelers game is gonna play out the same way, man,” said Wright on Friday’s episode of First Things First. “It’s gonna be close, it’s gonna be low scoring, and it’s gonna come down to two or three key plays every game they play. Whether they’re playing the Ravens who are an A-minus list team, you know what I mean? An upper-echelon team. Or the Browns who stink. And so that’s just, they play a style of football that keeps them in every game, even when the other team has far more talent. But also keeps every team they play almost every team within arm’s distance.”
Wright’s co-host, Chris Broussard, equated it to the 1990s-era Cleveland Cavaliers and head coach Mike Fratello. Broussard said that Fratello coached the Cavs in such a way to limit possessions which kept games close.
“What that did was condense the talent deficit between ’em and other teams,” said Broussard. “So they always had a chance to beat teams. ‘Cause they slowed the game down and that takes away the talent gap. So Pittsburgh, there’s some of that in their style.”
And perhaps there is truth in that. Because statistically, the Steelers’ offense is not on the level of teams like the Ravens and the Buffalo Bills (or the Kansas City Chiefs of the past few years, not so much in 2024). So maybe head coach Mike Tomlin has opted for a style of game that relies on the defense limiting opponents while the offense grinds out games.
The Steelers are trying to drag objectively more talented offensive teams down to their level to grind them into a pulp. That’s exactly what happened against the Ravens. Unfortunately, if you’re molding a team in that form, it also works the other way. Lesser talented teams can take advantage and make one or two plays that flip the script.
And that’s what happened with the Browns. The Browns made a few too many plays for the Steelers to overcome. Pittsburgh still had a chance to win the game late in the fourth quarter but failed.
It also doesn’t help that the Steelers coaching staff made some very questionable calls throughout the game. Colin Cowherd said that it’s games like that one that have Steelers fans pulling their hair out over Tomlin in the middle of a Coach of the Year award-caliber season.
But I do think there is something to what Wright and Broussard are saying. It may not be the whole story of why these things happen, but there certainly appears to be a kernel of truth. It’s how you can explain consistently making QB Lamar Jackson and the Ravens struggle while losing their third game in the last two seasons to teams 2-8 or worse.
