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Football Footnotes: If the Steelers are to upset the Ravens, here are 3 specific fixes they'll need | TribLIVE.com
Steelers/NFL

Football Footnotes: If the Steelers are to upset the Ravens, here are 3 specific fixes they'll need

Tim Benz
Tim Benz

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Chaz Palla | TribLive
Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson is sacked by the Ravens’ Michael Pierce in their Dec. 21 game at M&T Bank Stadium.

When you lose 34-17, as the Pittsburgh Steelers did in Baltimore in Week 16, that means there are plenty of things to correct.

That’s particularly true if you face the same opponent in the playoffs three weeks later, as the Steelers are doing Saturday when they visit Baltimore again to battle the Ravens for a third time this season.

So what are the most glaring of those substantial issues that the Steelers have to fix?

In this Friday’s “Football Footnotes,” we give you a specific element on offense, defense and special teams that must improve against the Ravens if the Steelers are going to pull off a big upset Saturday night.

Offense: Avoid cataclysmic turnovers

This one is the most obvious. The Steelers had two giveaways that doomed them in Baltimore last month. The first was Russell Wilson’s fumble at the Ravens’ 4-yard line in the second quarter with the game tied 7-7.

Then Wilson’s fourth-quarter pick-6 thrown to Marlon Humphrey was the real backbreaker. That made the score 31-17.

The Steelers have six giveaways during their current four-game losing streak. They only had 11 over the first 13 games. But Wilson insists those numbers won’t scare the offense into being conservative.

“I think you’ve got to be aggressive in your mentality, in the run game, the pass game, and having no fear,” Wilson said. “Especially in the playoffs, things go your way a lot; sometimes they don’t.”

It hasn’t just been the volume of turnovers. It’s been the timing and the location of when and where they occurred.

The two in Baltimore were the most direct reason why the Steelers lost that day. Wilson’s first-half, end-zone interception against the Kansas City Chiefs and the fumbled pitch to Najee Harris in the third quarter of the loss in Philadelphia (trailing 20-13 in Philadelphia territory) were also crushing.

Defense: Do better against tight ends

Especially in the red zone. The Ravens’ tight ends killed the Steelers. In Game 2, Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely combined for seven catches, 66 yards and two touchdowns.


Their two touchdown catches were the result of obvious coverage breakdowns.

“We have to be aware of those guys,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said of the Baltimore tight ends. “They’re both really good. They’re good route runners. They know how to get open if there is a scramble play. We’ll have to adjust some things. The biggest thing we do is make sure that we’re near them and give ourselves an opportunity to make a play. We won’t make all of them. But we’ve got to be near them to try.”

Much like the turnover issue, the problems covering tight ends were heightened in Baltimore. But they’ve been present in the other games during the losing streak as well.

Against Kansas City, Travis Kelce scored a touchdown as part of his eight-catch, 84-yard performance on Christmas Day.

Then, last week, Cincinnati’s Mike Gesicki caught eight of his 10 targets for 68 yards.

Let’s add a couple of other things on defense.

In the absence of sacks and takeaways, Austin’s unit still has to figure out a way to limit the time of possession by the opponents through forcing punts and three-and-outs. The Ravens weren’t forced into an offensive three-and-out the entire game on Dec. 21.

The Steelers are 1-3-1 when it comes to winning the time-of-possession battle over their past five games.

“Things that make defenses great — there, is no secret,” linebacker T.J. Watt said. “Teams that are playing physical football, getting as many hats to the football as possible, being opportunistic, are going to win the game.”

Also, the Steelers have to figure out how to defend both Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry in the run game if the Ravens are committed to using both. In the past, when the Steelers have sold out to stop Jackson, the Ravens didn’t exploit the Steelers enough with their running backs until Henry popped off for 162 yards three weeks ago.

Prior to that outburst, the last time a Baltimore running back had gone for more than 100 yards against the Steelers was in the 16-14 Ravens’ win at Acrisure Stadium on Dec. 11, 2022, when J.K. Dobbins posted 120 yards and a touchdown.

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Special teams: Win the kickoff coverage game

Actually, this is something the Steelers did well in Baltimore, and they need to get back to it.

Chris Boswell and the Steelers didn’t allow a return on any of their four kicks that day at M&T Bank Stadium.

Over the past two weeks, Cincinnati and Kansas City had some success in that area, outpacing the Steelers in both games. The Bengals had 33.3 yards-per-return on four kicks, while the Steelers only returned two for a 28.5-yard clip.

The Chiefs averaged 26 yards per return on three attempts, while the Steelers put up just 20.5 on two tries.

I’m not sure if it’s the colder weather, a fatigued leg from Boswell or a strategy from special teams coordinator Danny Smith to attempt to force returns and improve drive start position with good coverage. But whatever has been the case the last two weeks, it hasn’t worked.

“I don’t know that the weather has affected our approach to it in terms of how we approach the (new kickoff) concept in recent weeks,” head coach Mike Tomlin said this week.

The Steelers could help bridge that disparity by simply returning a big one on their own. They average a league-worst 23 yards per kick return. Their longest of the season is also a league-worst 35 yards.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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Categories: Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast With Benz | Tim Benz Columns
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