The challenge from the Pittsburgh Steelers was daunting on Saturday night. It didn’t get any easier when the Baltimore Ravens opened their AFC playoff game with a 95-yard touchdown drive.
And when the Steelers were on fourth and inches, trailing 7-0, head coach Mike Tomlin decided to punt. It was an unfathomable moment.
The Ravens then drove 13 plays and 85 yards, each play a score, and Derrick Henry scored to give Baltimore a 14-0 lead. Everyone watching at home could then find other plans for Saturday night. The game was practically over.
The Ravens would win 28-14.
Tomlin is not the problem with the Steelers. Saying he is also requires believing that the Steelers should have won 10+ games this season with their roster. This is probably not the case. But the frustration of Steelers fans is valid. That punt isn’t the reason the Steelers lost, but it embodies an outdated approach that has many Pittsburgh fans begging for change.
When asked if he expected to see growth in the team’s offense beyond improvement since his rookie year in 2022, George Pickens answered a discouraging and for many “No.” overwhelming.
Pittsburgh has been good enough to make the playoffs and has been far from competitive in the playoffs for many years. That was the case again Saturday night, as the Ravens were never truly tested. The Steelers end the season without having led a game since December 8. They started 10-3 before completely falling apart. The performance against the Ravens was embarrassing in many ways.
Should the Steelers feel good about this season, as Tomlin got a lot out of a roster without a high-end passing game and made the playoffs when very few predicted? Or should they ask themselves if the coach who kept them from being below .500 for 18 straight seasons is really what’s holding the team back?
The Steelers exploded by the Ravens
Looking at Saturday night’s game, it’s pretty amazing that the Steelers beat the Ravens once this season and had a chance to beat Baltimore for the AFC North crown until the end of the season.
Because on Saturday, there was never a single moment of doubt as to who was the better team. The Ravens looked like true Super Bowl contenders and light years ahead of the Steelers. When Baltimore went on a 13-play touchdown drive without passing once, it almost seemed like the Ravens were getting bored and challenged. According to the Amazon broadcast, it was the first TD in the NFL all season with 13 or more points and no passes. And the Steelers were powerless to stop him.
At halftime, the Ravens led 21-0. Lamar Jackson had a game-winning touchdown pass, stalling for nearly seven seconds before hitting Justice Hill for a 5-yard score. They had dominated the Steelers 308-59. The Ravens had 19 first downs and the Steelers had two. Playoff games aren’t supposed to look like this. Playoff teams aren’t supposed to look as inept as Pittsburgh either.
There was a glimmer of hope in the second half when the Steelers finally made a few big plays, including a 30-yard touchdown to Van Jefferson. But right after that, the Ravens went on another scoring drive, easily picking up a second-and-20, and then Henry broke off a 44-yard touchdown run. Henry tied Terrell Davis’ NFL record with his fourth 150-yard game in the playoffs. It was astounding how easily the Ravens moved the ball on the Steelers during this drive, or most of the game in fact.
When you play that poorly in a playoff game, after losing four straight to end the regular season without ever holding a lead in any of those games, touting a 10-win season seems completely empty. It seemed like the Steelers were no closer to being a contender than some of the top-10 teams in this year’s NFL Draft.
The tough question is: How can a 10-win team also feel, in some ways, like a team that should rebuild?
What can change the Steelers’ playoff drought?
This isn’t the first time in recent years that the Steelers have been eliminated in a playoff game shortly after kickoff. They have trailed by at least 10 points at the start of each of their last six playoff appearances, and a few times by more than 20.
If what happened Saturday night was an exception, showing little fight in a single playoff game, that might be excusable. When this has happened repeatedly for the better part of a decade, it’s a reason to rightly question whether big changes are necessary, just to try something else.
“(It’s) my story, not this collective’s story,” Tomlin said this week when asked about the Steelers’ playoff drought, which dates back to the end of the 2016 season. “A lot of these guys involved are not carrying these bags. I happily carry these bags. But it’s not something I’m going to project onto the collective.
There are problems beyond Tomlin’s control. The Steelers haven’t had good quarterback play since Ben Roethlisberger retired, and they’re still too low in the draft to land a top prospect. It would be fair to see if getting a quarterback could change the disappointing trajectory the Steelers and Tomlin are on. Tomlin doesn’t have a Jackson, or anything close. It won’t be easy for Pittsburgh to find one, either. But Tomlin also needs to be examined for why his team has looked so bad in the playoffs in several of its recent appearances.
If history is any indicator, Tomlin will have more opportunities to get the Steelers back to a point where they feel like legitimate championship contenders. But at some point, Pittsburgh can’t keep doing the same thing and hope to catch up to a team like Baltimore. But the loss to the Ravens is further proof that something is going to have to change.
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