The end of the 2024 season left a sour taste in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ mouths. They went on a four-game losing streak in the regular season, and the postseason wasn’t much better. The Baltimore Ravens flattened them in the first round. It was another disappointing playoff showing for the Steelers. However, to throw more salt into the wound, analyst Danny Heifetz of The Ringer recently talked about how the Ravens joked about the Steelers after their playoff matchup.
“I covered that game,” Heifetz said recently on the Yahoo Fantasy Forecast podcast. “I was in the Ravens’ locker room. The Ravens were making fun of the Steelers’ game plan. Straight up. The Ravens were making fun of the Steelers’ game plan. Not to reporters, but if you heard what they were saying among themselves.”
That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Although the game was a few months ago, the Steelers’ performance should stick with them, especially on defense. Only a few weeks after Derrick Henry gashed them on the ground, the Steelers’ run defense once again stood no chance.
Henry ran for 186 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 7.2 yards on 26 carries. That should be unacceptable for the Steelers, who pride themselves on having one of the best defenses in the NFL. Oftentimes, they looked lost in that game. The 28-14 score might not look terrible, but watching that game, it was clear the Ravens were on a different level compared to the Steelers.
While that performance was disappointing, it was more of the same for the Steelers in many ways. During that losing streak, their defense looked out of sorts, plagued by miscommunication and missed tackles. Consequently, those issues followed them into the postseason.
However, the Steelers haven’t done a lot yet this offseason to fix their run-game woes on defense. They released Larry Ogunjobi, and they’ve yet to add an impactful piece to their defensive line. Hopefully, they’ll add a capable prospect to that room through the upcoming draft. Defensive line looks like a strength of this draft class.
Hopefully, the Steelers’ failures last year spur them to action this season. If they have another first-round playoff exit, or if they don’t make the playoffs at all, they might need to make some serious changes next offseason. The Ravens had every right to laugh after how poorly the Steelers played. If they don’t want that to happen again, then they shouldn’t let Baltimore run right through them.
