While they split the series this year, the Pittsburgh Steelers are huge underdogs against the Baltimore Ravens Saturday. That’s due in part to the Ravens blowing out the Steelers a few weeks ago. Pittsburgh had chances to win that game, but too often, they got in its own way. That’s been much of the story with the Steelers for weeks. Brian Baldinger believes the Steelers are going to need their best players to show up in big ways to have any chance of beating the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.
“It’s just gonna be a tough challenge for Pittsburgh,” Baldinger said recently on The Best Football Show podcast. “They’re gonna need their T.J. Watt, their Nick Herbig, and Patrick Queen, Minkah [Fitzpatrick]. They’re gonna need their stars to play like stars.”
Getting big performances from those players would do a lot to help the Steelers win. During their four-game losing streak, the Steelers’ defense has been incredibly disappointing. The unit had been the team’s strength, but that quickly changed. Thankfully, the Steelers looked better defensively against the Cincinnati Bengals, but there’s no guarantee they’re totally fixed.
In both of their games against the Ravens this year, the Steelers did get some big plays from their stars. In the first game, Queen and Herbig both forced huge fumbles while Watt recorded a sack and two tackles for loss. Those plays all had in hand in getting the win for the Steelers.
In the rematch, things were just a little different. They had a few standout performances, like Alex Highsmith’s strip sack and Fitzpatrick’s massive interception. However, they couldn’t capitalize on any of those opportunities. They didn’t recover the ball on Highsmith’s sack, and Russell Wilson immediately threw a pick-six following Fitzpatrick’s takeaway.
Getting big plays from their best players is going to important, but the Steelers also need to do the routine things routinely. Those impact plays don’t matter if the Steelers squander them. Much of the blame for that is on the Steelers’ offense.
Baldinger doesn’t seem to believe the Steelers can get on the same page, though.
“I like the Ravens to win their fifth in a row,” he said. “I just don’t see this offense in Pittsburgh going into Baltimore and winning this game. They’re just not dynamic enough. They don’t do enough. They’re not very creative.”
The Steelers’ offense has been a problem for much of this season. It had flashes of brilliance but couldn’t ever really put a complete game together. Even in their best performances, like their offensive explosion against the Cincinnati Bengals, they still put themselves behind early.
No matter how sensational their defense plays, the Steelers need their offense to be better. That’s why they lost to the Bengals in their season finale. Their defense played well, but Wilson and the offense never found their footing.
With the Ravens’ defense playing much better down the stretch, the Steelers might need their stars on offense to show up if they want to win. That includes bounce-back performances from Wilson and George Pickens. Otherwise, they could find themselves being sent home.
