Chris Wormley told me earlier this season that the defense wants to finish in the top five against the run.
The Steelers finished dead last in rushing yards allowed per game and yards per carry in 2021, and it's something the defense took personally. After all, Pittsburgh doesn't finish last against the run.
Heading into the win over the Falcons in Week 13, the Steelers ranked sixth in the NFL with 4.0 yards per carry against and ranked seventh with 104.0 rushing yards allowed per game. However, this defense was then gouged for 361 yards on the ground over the next two weeks, with 215 of those yards coming in a painful 16-14 loss to the Ravens in Week 14.
That dropped the Steelers from a seventh-ranked run defense to 15th. Their only egregious performance prior to that two-week stretch was a 171-yard performance in the Week 3 loss to the Browns.
It was looking as if the Steelers were progressing to a defense that could stop the run until they faced a team that lived and died by it. After all, the Ravens, Falcons and Browns are second, third and fifth in the NFL in rush offense, respectively.
But that loss to the Ravens is the one that truly stings. Not only because of the season-high 215 rushing yards allowed, but because the defense still had a chance near the end of the game to give the offense a chance to come back from the two-point deficit. The Ravens were going to line up and run the ball three times, forcing the Steelers to burn all of their timeouts. If they got a first down, Baltimore would never have to give the ball back before the clock hit 0:00.
Even when they knew Baltimore was going to run it, they still couldn't stop them. The Ravens got their first down won the game.
"I didn't stay in my gap," Cam Heyward said. "We didn't get off blocks as a group. And it's 16-14, and to end the game they need to win three downs and we didn't win those three downs and they were able to run the clock out. That weighs on me more than anything because we didn't give our offense another chance to go down there and win it."
In other words, they took that performance personally. Just one look around the locker room after that game said more than I could ever write on here.
I've talked with several members of the Steelers' defensive front since that game only a few weeks ago, and most of them will attest that run defense is as much about imposing their will as it is about scheme. As James Harrison used to put it, beat the man across from you.
Mike Tomlin had seen enough of his defense's body of work to have faith that this was an outlier rather than a "fork in the road" for them.
"More than anything, I thought we had a bad day," Tomlin said Tuesday. "I think our run defense has been really solid over the second half of the year. It wasn't reflected in our play that day. There's nothing we can do about that. That tape's in the can."
Since then, the defense has very much resembled a group that wants to atone for that "bad day." The very next week, they held the Panthers to only 21 yards on the ground. This is a Carolina team that had been averaging 154.6 rushing yards per game from the time they traded away Christian McCaffrey and tallied 408 rushing yards in its prior two games, then turned around and punished the Lions with 320 rushing yards the following week.
Last week, the Steelers held the Raiders to 58 yards on the ground. That included holding the NFL's leading rusher, Josh Jacobs, to only 44 rushing yards on 15 carries, averaging only 2.9 yards per carry. He had been averaging over 5.0 yards per carry heading into the game.
That is a statement. On the backs of those two performances, the Steelers are back down to an average of 105.6 rushing yards allowed per game, which ranks sixth in the NFL.
But, the true test comes this week in Baltimore. The Steelers' playoff lives are on the line, and will remain on the line if the Dolphins lose to the Patriots and the Jets lose to the Seahawks.
Regardless, this team is out to prove they can, in fact, stop this Ravens team from running the ball. Even with Tyler Huntley in for an injured Lamar Jackson at quarterback, the Ravens formulated a recipe for how to beat the Steelers' defense.
It's now up to Pittsburgh to prove it, and that they are that much better against the run this season.
"You can't afford to have bad days in the NFL because you get exposed, no matter who is at quarterback," T.J. Watt said Friday. "I feel much more comfortable about the week that we've had this week. It's important that we have the film that we have to learn from. It wasn't too long ago, so it's still fresh in our minds. Just have to come out and play physical football."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Who: Steelers (7-8) vs. Ravens (10-5)
• What: Week 17, regular season
• When: Sunday, 8:20 p.m.
• Where: M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore
• Spread: Baltimore, -2.5
• Over/Under: 35.0
• Weather: Mostly cloudy 56°, 18% chance rain, 5 mph wind
• TV: NBC (national), WPXI-TV (local)
• Radio: 102.5 WDVE, ESPN Pittsburgh
• Streaming: Steelers Nation Radio
• Satellite: Sirius XM 385, online 826
• Box score: DKPS
• Team media guides: Steelers | Ravens
• Official game notes: Steelers | Ravens
THE INJURY REPORT
• Steelers: S Tre Norwood is OUT. LB Myles Jack (groin) is QUESTIONABLE. WR Diontae Johnson (hip) and S Terrell Edmunds (hamstring) were on the injury report this week, but are cleared to play Sunday. DT Larry Ogunjobi (toe) was originally questionable, but was upgraded Saturday afternoon and is expected to play.
• Ravens: QB Lamar Jackson (knee) and CB Marcus Peters (calf) are OUT. DE Calais Campbell (knee), TE Nick Boyle (illness) and S Geno Stone (hamstring) are QUESTIONABLE.
THE KEY VARIABLES
Normally, this is just one key variable for the upcoming game. However, this week I feel it's necessary to point out two of them.
As much as not allowing the Ravens to run at will is a priority, taking care of the football might be an even bigger one. Mitch Trubisky moved the ball well in relief of Kenny Pickett against the Ravens' defense, but three interceptions that all took place inside the red zone left at least six points on the board.
Even with Pickett back at quarterback, the Steelers haven't had a hard time moving the ball up and down the field. Finishing drives has been the issue. The same can be said for last week's game against the Raiders, and a turnover was part of that problem again as well.
"I think we've had four turnovers when we've crossed the 50-yard line. In the last three games, we’ve not done as good a job in some situations there, and then we've missed some plays on third down that you can either kick field goals or whatever happens," Matt Canada said Thursday. "So, that is the kind of the final frontier. We've been talking about that. There’re opportunities just to make sure we score and some of them aren't even in the traditional red zone. Some of them are outside of there."
In a game against the Ravens, finishing drives with points, even field goals, can be all the difference between winning and losing. Not taking care of the football can derail that.
Speaking of field goals, that's part of the second variable here. Special teams and field position is always critical when playing the Ravens. When Justin Tucker misses a field goal, it's an anomaly. If the Ravens get into his range, you might as well just give the Ravens three points.
This year, the same can't be said for Chris Boswell, who's been a terrific kicker for the Steelers since 2015. He's only had one season where he was poor, making only 65% of his kicks in 2018. But, his overall body of work has chalked that season up as an outlier.
However, Boswell has made only 15 of 22 attempts this season, which is only 68.2% -- the second-lowest of his career. He's battled a groin injury this season, but his two missed field goals last week against the Raiders were alarming enough for Tomlin to bring it up in his Tuesday press conference.
"In the special teams game, we missed a couple kicks. When you're in a limited possession game, you can't do that," Tomlin said. "So, I was thankful that Bos was able to make a couple, but we’ve got to have the ones we missed, and that's just the reality of it, particularly as you lean in on a game like this one. These are always one-score type of games and leaving six points out there would be significant. So, we’ve got to get back to work and make sure we’re really solid in that phase of the game."
THE HISTORY LESSON
The Ravens' win three weeks ago shrunk the Steelers' lead in the overall series to 32-25. However, that seven-game lead has been earned in Pittsburgh. These two teams have played in Baltimore 26 times, and they've each won 13 apiece.
The Steelers have won the previous two matchups in Baltimore, including a 16-13 overtime victory to close out last season. Not only did Huntley start that game in Jackson's stead as well, it was the final regular season game of Ben Roethlisberger's career.
For this week's History Lesson, I want to have some fun with our subscribers. There have definitely been some memorable games in Baltimore, and I want you to tell me in the comments which one is your favorite.
A. Dec. 14, 2008: Roethlisberger leads the offense down the field in the final minutes and finds Santonio Holmes in the very front of the end zone -- down to the last centimeter -- for a game-winning touchdown to clinch the AFC North en route to an eventual victory in Super Bowl XLIII.
B. Dec. 5, 2010: Haloti Ngata immediately made his presence felt by breaking Roethlisberger's nose early in the first quarter. However, Troy Polamalu had the last laugh with a strip sack of Joe Flacco late in the fourth quarter, which led to a game-winning touchdown by Isaac Redman, in which he broke several tackles on the way to the end zone.
C. Nov. 28, 2013: The Steelers lost this one, 22-20, but all this Thanksgiving night will be remembered for is Tomlin's obstruction of Jacoby Jones on the sideline during a Ravens' kickoff return. Tomlin was later fined $100,000 by the NFL for his actions.
D. Dec. 2, 2012: The Steelers won an improbable game without Roethlisberger, 23-20. But you might know it as The Charlie Batch Game.
This play personifies why this is one of my favorite Steelers/Ravens games. @CharlieBatch16 gave it everything he had that night. What a game. #HereWeGo https://t.co/wubWe31sye pic.twitter.com/SGWfWurbug
— Chris Halicke (@ChrisHalicke) December 2, 2020
THE MAIN MATCHUP
It's all going to boil down to the run game -- on both sides of the ball.
The Ravens produce the NFL's second-most rushing yards per game (166.0) and are tied with the Bills for the most rushing yards per attempt (5.3). As we talked about in the beginning, the Steelers must find a way to minimize the Ravens' rushing attack.
"Well, we know we have to play better than we did the last time," Teryl Austin said Thursday. "They beat us at the line of scrimmage. Schematically, we’ll obviously try to do some different things as well. Really, the most important thing, forget the scheme and everything else, we just have to play better. I think they won that battle. I think overall over the course of the year our guys have been playing well, and we had a bad game. They are good at what they do. So, when you have that kind of meet in the middle like that, that could end up like what happened to us. And then we have a bad game."
At the same time, the Steelers only tallied 65 yards on the ground in the Week 14 loss to the Ravens. That's the only time that Pittsburgh has been held under 100 rushing yards since Week 7. Najee Harris and the offensive line have come to life over the second half of the season, and it's the catalyst for the improvement on offense and a big support for Pickett's growth as a rookie quarterback.
The Steelers are looking forward to another opportunity to try and give Baltimore a bigger test on the ground.
"The Ravens are always going to have a good rush defense," Harris said Friday. "They're really good in a lot of situations too. They've got a lot of pieces. They picked up (Roquan Smith). Obviously, playing in this league you've gotta be able to stop the run. That's what they did. But, this is a new game. We're going out and trying to improve that and establish our run offense."
Despite the two matchups being so close together on the schedule, the Steelers are taking no solace in playing the Ravens twice in four weeks. While they certainly learn from what went right and wrong last time, they're preparing for a whole different battle.
"I've been in this league long enough to know that you could roll two teams out on back-to-back days and the game could unfold differently," Tomlin said. "Although we did play them a couple of weeks ago and there's some things to be gleaned from that, I don't think either party is hanging their hat on how that transpired or that component of it. I just think that, particularly in today's scheduling, it happens every year, particularly backloaded divisional games. We’re playing one of these divisional teams in a two or three week span it seems like just about every December or so. So, I don't think it's new to us. I don't think it's new to any of us in the NFL, but I think we all acknowledge that the texture of one game doesn’t necessarily dictate the texture of another."
TEN DATA POINTS
• Since John Harbaugh became the Ravens' head coach in 2008, these teams have met 29 times, with 23 of those games decided by one score. Seventeen have been decided by three points or less.
• The Steelers' defense leads the NFL with 17 interceptions. However, they are dead last with only three fumbles recovered.
• Pittsburgh is 6-2 this year in games where Watt plays. They have held six of their past seven opponents to 17 points or less with Watt in the lineup.
• Since acquiring Roquan Smith at the NFL trade deadline, the Ravens are allowing just 284.4 yards per game. That is the second-best in the NFL during that timeframe.
• Baltimore's defense is fourth-best in the NFL in red zone efficiency.
• The Ravens only recorded 94 yards through the air in this season's first matchup between these two teams.
• Watt has a five-game streak against Baltimore in which he has recorded a sack. Watt has 11 sacks in 11 career games against the Ravens.
• Despite appearing in only 12 games, Jackson is still the Ravens' leading rusher by 337 yards.
• Huntley is averaging just 5.8 yards per pass attempt. Jackson averages 6.9 yards per attempt.
• The Ravens' defense has allowed more than 14 points only one time over their last seven games.
THE FANTASY CORNER
Just on the outside of where I wanted to be last week. But, much like the Steelers, I'm still in the green since the bye week. Here's my lineup for Week 17 (with a $50,000 salary cap on DraftKings):
• QB: Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars ($6,200)
• RB1: Saquon Barkley, Giants ($8,000)
• RB2: Kenneth Walker III, Seahawks ($6,200)
• WR1: Chris Godwin, Buccaneers ($6,800)
• WR2: DJ Moore, Panthers ($5,700)
• WR3: Jahan Dotson, Commanders ($4,600)
• TE: Dallas Goedert, Eagles ($4,700)
• FLEX: Brian Robinson Jr., Commanders ($5,200)
• DEF/ST: Patriots ($2,600)
