Steelers Now
Mike Tomlin’s future with the Pittsburgh Steelers dominated the airwaves this week, but the old ball coach came away victorious with a 27-22 win against his long-time rival John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens.
The offense showed signs of life early, allowing them to get out to an early lead, while the defense did just enough to hang on at the end. Retaking the lead in the AFC North should quiet the noise for a few days, at least. Let’s talk through some winners and losers from today’s big win.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ prized offseason acquisition went bananas in his first-ever Steelers-Ravens clash, with seven catches for 148 yards. His impact was felt from the first play after he stacked Marlon Humphrey on a nine route down the right sideline, which was one of his three explosive plays of the day. Over the last seven games, Metcalf hadn’t amassed more than 55 yards prior to today’s outburst. Pittsburgh is turning over every stone available in an effort to find him some help, but they need him to play big down the stretch. Aaron Rodgers credited him with his best week of practice in his postgame interview, and it paid dividends today.
At this stage of the proceedings, it feels like the Steelers’ run defense is going to be a persistent issue the rest of the way. Luckily for them, the Ravens’ play calling early on was questionable at best in the first half and alleviated some of the pressure on them up front. In the second half, things were pretty ugly. Baltimore finished with 217 rushing yards and a 42% success rate. They just couldn’t quite hold the point of attack at the line of scrimmage, struggling against gap scheme runs, and allowed Keaton Mitchell to rip off a 55-yard scamper on a toss play.
Coming into this game, Rodgers had been playing some of the worst ball of his entire career, but he delivered one of his best performances as a Steeler in this one. A 42% passing success rate isn’t flashy, but they were finally able to hit on some explosive plays with vertical shots down the field. The 42-year-old finished with a season-high five big-time throws according to PFF’s initial grading and avoided taking negative plays such as sacks and turnovers in the process. Who knows how much magic is left in his right arm, but he deserves kudos for putting the team on his back on the road.
Ramsey was beaten by Isaiah Likely over the middle for a touchdown in the first quarter and just looked a step slow all day long. Since moving to safety, he’s remained a reliable tackler with a high football IQ, but it’s fair to wonder whether he has the athleticism to still make those impact plays in centerfield. Regardless of how the team finishes the season, his progress at his...
