With the Pittsburgh Steelers’ loss to the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Chargers’ win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 18, the Steelers fell to the AFC’s No. 6 seed and will now travel to Baltimore to play the Ravens in the Wild Card Round. While the Steelers have had a lot of success against Baltimore in the past, their last trip to Baltimore in Week 16 ended with a 34-17 Ravens win. With the Steelers coming into the game on a four-game losing streak, there isn’t a lot of positivity surrounding Pittsburgh’s chances. Former Steelers OL Willie Colon thinks the Ravens are a good matchup for the Steelers, though, due to the familiarity between the two teams.
“The team that we would like to go against is the Baltimore Ravens. ‘Cause we know Baltimore. They’re our cousins,” Colon said on FS1’s Breakfast Ball.
Despite wanting to play the Ravens, Colon didn’t sound all that positive about Pittsburgh’s chances.
“It’s ugly. I feel hopeless,” he said. “And right now, I’m mad at Arthur Smith, ’cause he has gotten nothing out of this offense over the last four games.”
Despite feeling hopeless, Colon thinks Mike Tomlin will figure out a way and added that the Steelers just aren’t getting the best out of their guys right now.
Both sides of the football have struggled at various points in Pittsburgh’s four-game losing streak, but the defense cleaned up a lot of its issues and looked a lot better in Week 18. The offense might have looked the worst it has all season, which is really not a good thing when you’re in the final week of the season. Russell Wilson held onto the football too long, taking sacks and knocking the Steelers off schedule. George Pickens struggled with drops, while the Steelers never really established the run. It was just an ugly performance all-around, and if the Steelers play similarly on offense, they won’t beat the Ravens.
It’s hard to feel hopeful or positive about Pittsburgh’s offense right now. Earlier this season, the Steelers were winning games by possessing the ball, grinding out drives and then attacking defenses deep. That’s all gone by the wayside over the last month as the deep balls haven’t been working and the offense can’t consistently pick up first downs and sustain drives.
The Steelers are desperate for a playoff win, and if they fall short yet again this year, it’s going to be a very long offseason in Pittsburgh. While Willie Colon thinks Tomlin can find a way to win in the postseason, he hasn’t since 2016, and this would be the Steelers’ fifth-straight one and done in the postseason. That’s simply unacceptable, but it’s hard to see this team finding a way to beat Baltimore on the road.
