On paper, the Baltimore Ravens’ offense featuring likely MVP Lamar Jackson and future Hall of Fame running back Derrick Henry is as scary as it gets.
That’s largely been the case throughout the season. Jackson has dominated from start to finish, Henry nearly had 2,000 yards rushing on the season, and the Ravens were among the best and most explosive offenses in football.
The Steelers, for the most part, know how to play against them, though, and keep a lid on things. But that doesn’t mean they can play the same style of football Saturday night in the AFC Wild Card matchup at M&T Bank Stadium.
Even with the Steelers healthy and seemingly having every starter back for the playoff matchup on defense, former NFL QB and current NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms believes the Steelers and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin have to be willing to take “tactical chances” against the Ravens.
In the latest episode of his “Chris Simms Unbuttoned” podcast, Simms said the Steelers have to take risks in an effort to create havoc and get the Ravens behind the chains.
“You’re gonna have to take some tactical chances and disrupt things. You’re gonna have a few play calls where you’re gonna go, ‘I’m gonna take a chance to try to get them behind the sticks here and do something,'” Simms said of the Steelers’ defense, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “Because — and you’re gonna be nervous doing it ’cause you’re gonna go, ‘This is, they could, if they call the right play, we might get burned.’
“But I think you gotta take those chances because if you just sit back and go, ‘Well, we’ll just play run defense and we’ll try to fit in every gap,’ they are too creative in too many ways where one guy pulls, another guy pulls, he fakes to the running back and he comes around the edge and it’s like, ‘Whoa, there’s two more gaps over here.’ One guy ran after Derrick Henry, and you don’t have enough people here. There’s no defense that’s ever gonna be able to fill all these voids, right?”
Simms certainly brings up a good point, and it was a concerning showing for the Steelers’ defense Week 16 in Baltimore, a 34-17 loss, particularly on the defensive side of the football.
The Steelers allowed Derrick Henry to rush for a Ravens record 162 yards against the Steelers on just 24 carries. He routinely carved up the Steelers, and Pittsburgh was stretched too thin, didn’t play assignment sound, and missed far too many tackles.
Pittsburgh also had issues communicating in the secondary, giving up wide-open touchdowns in the red zone to tight ends Isaiah Likely and Mark Andrews.
Things will obviously need to be different this time around. The Steelers have shown a willingness to dial up more pressure in an effort to get to the quarterback and try to force mistakes. That’s helped them put some offenses behind the chains in recent weeks, particularly in the regular season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals.
They can take some risks in that aspect but make no mistake about it: the Steelers have to focus on stopping the run and playing assignment sound first and foremost. Do that, and the rest can fall into place.
