For most of the 2024 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers looked like a legitimate Super Bowl contender, especially after head coach Mike Tomlin turned to veteran Russell Wilson as his starting QB in Week 7.
A lot can change in a month, though, and quite a bit changed for the Black and Gold.
The Steelers lost four straight games to close out the 2024 season. Finishing with a 10-7 record, they blew a two-game lead in the AFC North to the Baltimore Ravens, whom they will now face in an AFC Wild Card matchup Saturday night at M&T Bank Stadium in a No. 3-No. 6 matchup in the AFC playoffs.
While the matchup might be favorable for the Steelers due to their familiarity with the Ravens and the past success they’ve had against their rivals, it’s hard to find much positive to build on entering the playoffs.
For the Dallas Cowboys’ Micah Parsons, this isn’t the same Steelers team that the league saw in October and November in which they were considered contenders. So, it’s hard to pick the Steelers in the matchup and go against the red-hot Ravens.
On his “The Edge with Micah Parsons” podcast on Bleacher Report, the All-Pro outside linebacker picked the Ravens over the Steelers in the Wild Card matchup.
“Lamar [Jackson] is on a tear. The Steelers…they have not been clicking late in December and in January they have not looked like the best team,” Parsons said, according to video via Bleacher Report on YouTube. “This isn’t the same Steelers team we saw in October or November.
“They look like a completely different team. And versus a team who’s looked extraordinary the past six, seven weeks. I can’t go against the Ravens.”
The Steelers do look like a completely different team, and it’s in all three phases, too.
After working their way into the top 10 from a scoring perspective offensively and putting up 44 points in a shootout win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Dec. 1, the Steelers’ offense fell off of a cliff, failing to score more than 17 points in their final four games of the season.
They never did that in the Matt Canada era.
Defensively, communication issues, poor tackling and a lack of execution led to a disastrous month-long performance that saw the Steelers lose four in a row. Even special teams were a bit of a mess as they had a turnover and struggled in kick coverage.
Earlier in the season, the Steelers were a well-oiled machine in all three phases, playing complementary football. Now they’re backing into the playoffs and look like a completely different team, one that many believe seemingly had no chance of beating the Ravens.
