The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense was their biggest issue for most of this season, but that was not the case in the playoffs. Their offense wasn’t great, but their defense put up an abysmal performance. They allowed the Baltimore Ravens to rush for almost 300 yards, getting worn down and outmuscled. Former Steelers corner Patrick Peterson was disheartened to see Pittsburgh play like that.
“It was just really grimacing to see the mental breakdowns, as far as the communication,” Peterson said Wednesday on his All Things Covered podcast. “It just seemed like everybody was not on the same page on the defensive side of the ball.
“The offense is the offense, but we know that they hang their hat on the defensive side of the ball. For them to give up 299 yards, we’ll round it up to 300, rushing is just blasphemous to me that the Pittsburgh Steelers and a Mike Tomlin team gave that up.”
The Steelers’ defensive performance was certainly a disappointment. The Ravens did whatever they wanted on the ground, led by Derrick Henry putting up 186 rushing yards. The Steelers couldn’t stop Henry from the get-go, being dominated on the line of scrimmage.
It wasn’t just Henry who gashed them on the ground. Lamar Jackson had the Steelers in a pretzel when he ran the ball, especially in the first half. The Steelers tried to focus on Henry, allowing Jackson to keep the ball on read options and scamper all over the field. It felt like the Steelers couldn’t do anything right.
However, that wasn’t the first time Henry and the Ravens crushed the Steelers. Just a few weeks earlier, he recorded 162 rushing yards against them. It turns out that game was just a preview for the playoff matchup between the Steelers and Ravens.
Excuses could be made for both performances. In the first game in Baltimore, the Steelers dealt with multiple injuries to key defensive players. In the playoff game, the flu apparently made its way through their locker room. However, none of that should take away from the fact that the Ravens punched them in the mouth twice.
Peterson is correct that seeing the Steelers dominated that way isn’t normal. The franchise has a history of defensive excellence and physicality. Neither of those were present in their latest playoff loss.
Unfortunately, the Steelers’ season is over, so they’ll need to sit with this taste in their mouths for a while. Hopefully, it will light a fire under them and help propel them to a playoff win next year.
