What a beatdown.
For all the talk that the Pittsburgh Steelers had a good matchup with the Baltimore Ravens due to their familiarity with their AFC North rival and for all the talk about it being a clean slate, a new season, and a real opportunity to wash away the four-game losing streak to close the regular season, the Steelers fell flat on their faces Saturday night.
Pittsburgh came out slow, fell behind 21-0, had no answers for Baltimore’s run game, and didn’t get going offensively until the third quarter. It all resulted in a 28-14 loss that wasn’t all that close compared to the final score in the playoff matchup.
Now, the Steelers enter another trying offseason with plenty of questions and concerns within the roster.
Let’s get to some grades.
QB — C-
The stat line looks just fine from Russell Wilson: 20-of-29, 270 yards and two touchdowns. But it wasn’t close to good enough on the night from the veteran quarterback.
Wilson took some bad sacks, threw short of the sticks too often on possession downs, and didn’t start to attack downfield in the passing game until the third quarter when the Steelers were behind 21-0. In the second half, Wilson had some moments, including his throw to Calvin Austin III over the middle, his deep shot to Mike Williams, and his touchdown passes to Van Jefferson and George Pickens.
But he didn’t see the field all that well at times, too, including his fourth-down shot into triple coverage to Austin in the end zone. Just too little, too late.
A microcosm of the Steelers’ offense in the final month of the season.
RB — D+
At times on Saturday night, Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren looked like their usual selves, running hard and dragging defenders with them. But like the rest of the offense, it was too far and few between.
In what was possibly his last game as a Steeler, Harris ran for just 17 yards on six carries. He did add three receptions for 41 yards, ripping off a 21-yarder on a screen pass in the second half. There were moments from Harris, who barreled through defenders, dragged them along, and churned out yardage.
But he couldn’t get the run game going. Neither could Warren, who had just two carries for six yards and added four receptions for 19 yards. Some of the struggles in the run game were due to the game situation, with the Steelers being behind and not having the opportunities to establish the run.
But it was again a sign of the Steelers’ offense struggling when the two running backs weren’t all that impactful until late.
WR — C+
It was nice to see George Pickens have a big game, even if it took a while for the Steelers to get him involved. Pickens hauled in five passes for 87 yards and a touchdown, corralling a couple of moon balls from Wilson, including one for a 36-yard touchdown on a hole shot.
He also made a nice leaping catch down the sideline as the Steelers attempted to get back into the game. However, a bad offensive pass interference penalty wiped out a big gain in the first half.
Calvin Austin III continues to impress with his toughness and no-fear attitude. He had a big 25-yard catch over the middle to jump-start the Steelers’ offense in the second half, taking a huge shot at the end of the play. He’s a feisty guy and has the right attitude. We need more of him.
Mike Williams hauled in a 37-yard pass from Wilson down the left sideline and made the most of his limited opportunities. So did Van Jefferson, who hauled in a 30-yard touchdown to get the Steelers on the board on a great route to get open between Ravens CB Brandon Stephens and safety Kyle Hamilton.
The receivers made plays that were there. That was at least encouraging on an otherwise dreadful night.
TE — D-
On a night when he needed to be a big part of the game plan, Pat Freiermuth had one of the worst showings of his career. Freiermuth dropped a pass on the first play from scrimmage, which was an ominous sign for the Steelers.
After that, Freiermuth couldn’t pick up a yard on a third-and-2 play when he caught the ball short of the sticks.
Darnell Washington was involved early, too, and had a key 9-yard catch to open things up. But then he had a drop early in the second half and wasn’t targeted again, even after the comments from Mike Tomlin leading up to the playoff matchup about utilizing his big tight end.
OL — D-
The offensive line really isn’t to blame in this one for the lack of a run game, considering the Steelers fell behind so early and were chasing the game the rest of the way.
But the struggles in pass protection were once again concerning. I thought Spencer Anderson played solid football in place of injured RG Mason McCormick, and it really wasn’t an issue upfront. Calvin Anderson also held his own coming in for injured LT Dan Moore Jr..
But outside of that, the group was a mess. Broderick Jones was beat with speed to the outside on a sack in the second half, Isaac Seumalo had a false start penalty, and the offensive line as a whole allowed four sacks of Wilson. He was under a lot of pressure, and it was too quick at times.
This unit regressed hard in December. It’s concerning looking ahead to 2025.
DL — D
Cameron Heyward played his tail off all night. He was one of the best players on the field, period.
The same can’t be said for the rest of the defensive line.
Heyward finished with 10 tackles and two tackles for loss. He controlled his gap and the point of attack at his position all night, dominating his matchup. But nobody else stepped up around him.
Larry Ogunjobi was a mess. He was out of his gap a lot and wasn’t very physical. He had just two tackles. Montravius Adams got pushed around far too much and wasn’t impactful against the run. Keeanu Benton had four tackles but didn’t show up all that much and had issues in the run game, too.
This group needs a talent infusion in the offseason.
LB — D
Yes, Elandon Roberts and Patrick Queen racked up the tackles, but they were mostly empty calories.
Roberts led the Steelers with 14 tackles, and Queen had 10 tackles with one tackle for loss. But they really struggled working downhill against the run, leading to a monster night from the Ravens. Payton Wilson added six tackles and a tackle for loss, but he struggled to get off blocks at times, just like Roberts and Queen.
On the outside, neither Alex Highsmith nor T.J. Watt had much of an impact. Highsmith had a sack in the third quarter, but he finished with just two tackles, while Watt was held off the traditional stats sheet for the second straight week. He just didn’t look like himself after the ankle injury in Philadelphia.
DB — D+
I thought Joey Porter Jr. played a strong game outside of a holding penalty in the first half. He was physical at the catch point and utilized his length well, finishing with six tackles and a pass breakup. DeShon Elliott was steady, too, with five tackles and a pass breakup.
Everyone else in the secondary had a poor night.
Minkah Fitzpatrick had issues coming downhill against the run, missing a tackle on Lamar Jackson in space on an early read-option. He also got bullied by Derrick Henry in the open field on one run that will be on highlight reels for a long time. He did have nine tackles and was around the ball a lot, playing his butt off.
Donte Jackson was a disaster. He was playing off coverage and easily gave up a touchdown to Rashod Bateman to open the game, and then didn’t even attempt to help out on a play near the sticks late in the first half. He could have helped keep the play short of the first-down marker on 2nd and 20 and instead allowed the Ravens to move the chains.
Cameron Sutton remained a liability once again, giving up a big catch to Isaiah Likely and not making an impact whatsoever.
Special Teams — B
Corliss Waitman did his job well, averaging 51.4 yards on five punts. He helped pin the Ravens deep a few times, too. All of Waitman’s punts were downed inside the 20-yard line, too. But it wasn’t enough in the end.
Calvin Austin III added a 14-yard punt return. James Pierre had a silly illegal touching penalty early in the game, touching the ball first after being out of bounds on the punt.
There’s not much to write home about on special teams. They did their jobs.
