Steelers vs. Ravens Week 18 film study: Another fantastic finish added to rivalry
NFL football analyst Matt Williamson will break down each of the Steelers games this season in the Trib’s Steelers Film Study. Here’s what he saw in the Steelers’ Week 18 win over the Ravens.
Entering this game, the Steelers and Baltimore — even in the midst of a five-game losing streak — still had a shot at qualifying for the postseason. In the end, the Steelers got their third road win of the season and, as you might expect, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s final game against Baltimore went right down to the wire before the Steelers pulled out a 16-13 win in overtime.
Rivalry facts and figures
• Since 2015, these teams have gone to overtime three times, and in their most recent nine games, seven have been one-score games.
• Since Roethlisberger got in the mix in 2004, Baltimore and the Steelers have played 18 games decided by three points or less.
• Including the playoffs, Roethlisberger will finish his career 19-11 against Baltimore.
• Pittsburgh now has a four-game winning streak against the Ravens.
Big Ben adds to legacy
This was Roethlisberger’s 57th career game-winning drive (including playoffs) and seventh (of the Steelers nine wins) of the 2021 season. Roethlisberger now stands alone in second place behind only Tom Brady (67) with career game-winning drives.
Before this game, he was tied with Drew Brees and Peyton Manning. And in reality, Roethlisberger had both a late-fourth quarter drive and an overtime drive on Sunday.
Getting an edge
Eight of the Steelers nine wins have come by a single possession. That shows heart and mental toughness and is a testament to coach Mike Tomlin and the organization, as well as Roethlisberger, of course.
Weather also was a huge factor in this game and certainly benefited Baltimore’s running game more than the Steelers passing game. Let’s not overlook how much weather influenced this game.
First-half struggles
At the half, these were the numbers that really stood out in a game that was 3-3 at that time.
• The Steelers had a measly 16 rushing yards on 13 attempts, which is 1.2 yards per attempt. Benny Snell had 15 of those yards on his nine carries with a long of 9 yards.
• Meanwhile, Baltimore had only produced 68 rushing yards at that point, 37 by quarterback Tyler Huntley.
• The Steelers produced just four first-half first downs compared to nine by Baltimore and just 2.9 yards per play compared to 4.5 by the Ravens offense.
• The time of possession was about equal at that point with the Ravens turning the ball over twice and Pittsburgh once.
• These two offenses were a combined two for 13 on third downs in the first half of play.
Sluggish day for both offenses
When it was all said and done, Roethlisberger finished with 30 completions on 44 attempts. Those 30 completions yielded 244 yards, but the Steelers could only muster 79 rushing yards on the day.
Only six receivers caught a pass from Roethlisberger in this game, but all six had at least four receptions.
Pittsburgh only gave up one sack.
Huntley completely just over 50% of his 31 attempts for Baltimore but for just 141 yards. He was sacked three times.
But the Ravens ran for 249 yards, 150 of them by Latavius Murray, who took over lead rushing duties as this game went along with great results.
Tight end Mark Andrews was the only Baltimore receiver who did significant damage with eight catches for 85 yards, but Huntley did throw his way a whopping 16 times.
The Ravens converted just 3 of 14 third down tries, but they averaged 5.4 yards per play compared to 4.2 by Pittsburgh’s offense.
Baltimore lost the turnover battle by two and the time of possession differential by about five and a half minutes. The Ravens were penalized just once for 5 yards, which is a little startling.
Working on their short game
The Steelers had outstanding starting field position on each of their first four drives and produced only three points. Roethlisberger led yet another game-winning drive and clearly improved, once again, as the game went along, but the Steelers were also facing one of the league’s worst pass defenses. Baltimore’s secondary has just been destroyed with injuries in 2021.
But out of Roethlisberger’s 44 passing attempts, 31 were 10 or fewer air yards downfield, and of those 31, Roethlisberger completed 25. Those 25 short completions produced just 159 passing yards. He didn’t complete a pass that was attempted 20 or more yards downfield, an area of the field in which his lone interception took place.
Roethlisberger threw a terrible up-for-grabs interception to put him past Terry Bradshaw for first on the Steelers’ all-time list, although Roethlisberger played 80 more games in a much different era.
Roethlisberger also had no semblance of a running game to lean on in this game. However, in the fourth quarter and in overtime, Roethlisberger was 19 of 25 for 149 yards and a touchdown. As has become the case with Roethlisberger and this offense, the best work is done when it matters most.
Playmakers come through
The Steelers did do a much better job in the second half of getting the ball in the right players’ hands, and that sure seemed to top their agenda coming out of the locker room offensively.
That included an obviously impaired Najee Harris reentering the game. The rookie running back didn’t produce much better than backup RB Benny Snell in the end, but he made a catch that few running backs can haul in — something he did in spades at Alabama and in training camp.
Plus, Harris returning from injury and gutting it out shows his commitment to this team and sends an outstanding message to his teammates for this year and seasons to come. Snell was on the field for 29 snaps against 40 by Harris. Run blocking was a problem though, and the Steelers running backs collectively had just 1 yard before contact, which is rather mind boggling.
On the Steelers’ first drive after halftime, they got back to featuring wide receivers Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool. Johnson was solid on Sunday and give Claypool credit for his efforts in this game. His final receiving stat line wasn’t anything special, but his running plays were key, and he made a few big blocks, something that has really been missing from Claypool’s game in his second season. Claypool ended up as Pittsburgh’s leading rusher in this game.
Give offensive coordinator Matt Canada some credit for creating some sort of ground game anyway possible as the traditional approach, usually without Harris, was a fruitless endeavor.
Receiver Ray-Ray McCloud has caught a lot of heat in this column for over usage this season, but he was an asset against the Ravens on offense, as well as a return man. He played 50 of a possible 76 snaps in Baltimore against 69 for Claypool and 65 by Johnson. Claypool and Johnson also went out in a route 44 times compared 32 by McCloud.
Tight ends come through in clutch
Pittsburgh is getting a lot from the tight end position. Zach Gentry is now an upper tier blocker for the position and contributes as a receiver every game. Gentry has caught nine balls in his last three games, which is all you need from him in that capacity.
Pat Freiermuth is a star in the making. Remember folks, rookie tight ends are rarely productive as receivers and are usually a big problem as blockers. Freiermuth is neither. He was a force in Week 18. Gentry and Freiermuth combined to play 94 snaps on Sunday, while Kevin Rader also chipped in, playing 11 snaps. Freiermuth ran 35 routes compared to 17 from Gentry.
Linemen keep Ben clean
The Steelers were without injured Dan Moore at left tackle. While the ball came out quick, as it always does, Roethlisberger was only sacked once in Baltimore and, all in all, really didn’t have to navigate much pass rush pressure.
The blocking wasn’t nearly as effective in the run game, however, and there were too many penalties by this young unit, particularly presnap infractions.
Tackle Joe Haeg mostly stood out in a positive way as Moore’s replacement, and he has proven to be valuable all over the offensive line this year. But this was a tough day for guard John Leglue. The Steelers had a particularly difficult time moving Brandon Williams off the line of scrimmage.
Watt ties sack record
Linebacker T.J. Watt officially got his sack to tie Michael Strahan’s single-season sack record, but had what should have been a half-sack brought back because of penalty and wasn’t given credit for getting to Huntley after a bad snap and causing a fumble on the play.
Watt demanded extreme attention from the Ravens pass protection schemes yet still pressured Huntley regularly. Watt also deflected a pass, and his run defense was superb. Led by Watt, this was the fifth year in a row that Pittsburgh led the NFL in sacks. Think about that for a minute.
Run defense again gets gashed
This was the fourth game of the year that Pittsburgh gave up 200 or more yards on the ground, and Watt’s partner in crime, Alex Highsmith, really had a particularly difficult day against Baltimore’s rushing attack. We also saw less of outside linebackers Taco Charlton and Derek Tuszka in this game. Those two combined to play just 14 snaps.
Inside linebacker Devin Bush was a real problem once again. He isn’t assignment sound, misses tackles, doesn’t play downhill, and is far too often overwhelmed by bigger blockers.
Pittsburgh’s run defense was noticeably worse when Bush was in the game. Inside linebackers Joe Schobert and Robert Spillane weren’t all that much better, and once again, the Steelers defensive front, particularly Henry Mondeaux, could have done a better job of keeping Pittsburgh’s second level defenders cleaner.
But this group of linebackers just doesn’t get off blocks and the tackling against Murray was particularly disturbing. Considering the cost of acquiring Bush, that draft day trade-up can only be looked at as a disaster to this point.
All that being said, Pittsburgh’s linebackers did fine job in coverage in this game, and that does include Bush. Spillane and Bush each played 49 snaps, while Schobert was used for 29 plays. The Steelers are searching for answers at this position and really aren’t finding any.
Loudermilk, Adams make big impression
Back to the defensive line for a minute; this is more of a macro discussion, but the Steelers have two keepers in Isaiahh Loudermilk and Montravius Adams, although Adams’ contract expires after this year. Retaining Adams would make a lot of sense and, if so, both should very much be in the mix next season and have been valuable contributors down the stretch in 2021.
For the here and now, this is getting redundant, but Cameron Heyward was again a dominant force as he is every single week. Heyward deflected his ninth pass of the season and got his 10th sack. Despite giving up 249 rushing yards, Pittsburgh still only allowed 13 points.
Strong secondary contributions
This was a big game by cornerback Cameron Sutton. Not only did Sutton pick off Huntley in the end zone, but the Ravens receivers got very little against Sutton in coverage. Baltimore’s wide receivers overall did very little to positively influence this game in the Ravens favor.
Minkah Fitzpatrick, Terrell Edmunds, Ahkello Witherspoon and Arthur Mallett also each made at least one big play in the defensive backfield. Not only did Edmunds get his second interception of the season, but he held up well against Andrews more often than not and often in single coverage against Baltimore’s best weapon.
Questionable call on punter
Why did the Steelers give punter Pressley Harvin the nod in Week 18 instead of going with Corliss Waitman? It had only been a two-week sample size, but the Steelers best punting of the year was with Waitman over the last two games. Harvin was a problem yet again in Baltimore with punts of just 26 and 33 yards. There should be, at a minimum, a punter competition next season amongst these two. It will be interesting to see which punter gets the call in Kansas City. Waitman seems like he should be the clear choice.
Overall thoughts
While Baltimore finished a once-promising season with six straight losses, that losing streak wasn’t quite as bad as you might think. The Ravens lost in Cincinnati by 20 points, but their other five losses came by a combined eight points, including one-point and three-point losses to the Steelers. Five of those six losses were to playoff teams. Baltimore has a wealth of draft capital and will be getting back some huge pieces from injury next year. This team isn’t going away anytime soon.
As for the Steelers, while Sunday Night Football nearly ruined it, they travel to Kansas City next week. We all saw how that went just two weeks ago when the Chiefs dismantled Pittsburgh, 36-10. But, hey, the Steelers won in Buffalo, swept the Browns and Ravens, and beat the Titans.
Just one week ago, no one thought a trip to the playoffs was anywhere near to being a real possibility. This team was 1-3 after the first month of the season and finished the year by going 8-4-1 in their last 13 games. Making trips to the postseason is better for future success and instilling a winning culture than anything you can ask for.
Offensive linemen like Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro, who have been huge leaders on this team, are gone. Roethlisberger is the next foundational leader to leave, and Heyward can’t play forever. The Steelers are looking for the next leaders on and off the field while keeping their culture intact. The way they ended the regular season and getting into the playoffs suggests they are on that right path.
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