In the two matchups between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens this season, Pat Freiermuth has been rather quiet for the Black and Gold.
But if the Steelers want to survive and advance Saturday night in the AFC Wild Card Round matchup at M&T Bank Stadium, the fourth-year tight end needs to be a key part of their offensive attack.
For former NFL safety and current ESPN analyst Matt Bowen, the Steelers need to attack the Ravens’ Cover 2 and Cover 3 looks in the middle of the field with Freiermuth. Bowen highlighted Freiermuth as one way the Steelers can upset the Ravens Saturday night.
“Freiermuth can make an impact considering his recent uptick in target volume and the Ravens’ defensive tendencies in their two regular-season meetings. Freiermuth has only five receptions on the season against the Baltimore defense, but he has caught 15 of 17 targets over his past two games,” Bowen writes, according to ESPN.com. “Plus, the Ravens are going to mix their single-high and split-safety zone coverages against the Steelers. That’s where Freiermuth can be an underneath outlet/chain-mover for Russell Wilson, while also working the seams against Cover 2 and Cover 3.
“Pittsburgh has to get first downs. Let’s start there. But don’t forget about Freiermuth as a middle-of-the-field stretch option for Wilson to pick up explosive plays.”
Over the last two weeks, Freiermuth has been a big part of the Steelers’ offense. In their Week 18 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Freiermuth had eight receptions for 85 yards and a score. That’s not surprising, considering he tends to have big games against the Bengals, but he did have a crucial fourth-down drop in the 19-17 loss.
In the Christmas Day loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 17, Freiermuth hauled in seven passes for 60 yards, though he had a killer fumble that led to a Chiefs touchdown in the 29-10 loss. The last two weeks have generated quite a bit of work for Freiermuth, and that needs to be the case again on Saturday night.
However, in the two matchups against Baltimore this season, Freiermuth had three catches for 16 yards in Week 16 and two catches for 14 yards in Week 11.
For whatever reason, Freiermuth doesn’t do well against the Ravens. He has just 22 receptions on 32 targets for 199 yards and a touchdown in seven career games against Baltimore. That averages out to 4.5 targets, 3.14 receptions, and 28.4 yards.
That won’t cut it on Saturday night. The Steelers need to make Freiermuth an emphasis in the middle of the field, allowing him to attack the seams in the passing game. If they can do that, it should open things up on the outside for deep shots and could drag a defender out of the box, opening up lanes for the running game, too.
The path is there. It’s up to the Steelers and Russell Wilson to take it.
