Somehow, some way, the Steelers stole a 17-10 win over the Ravens Sunday afternoon at Acrisure Stadium. And believe it or not, this team that has displayed so many issues, especially on offense, is in first place heading into an early bye in Week 6, despite owning a minus-31 point differential.
The offense struggled all game long to do just about anything. No running game. No rhythm. No points. All of the same issues we've seen over the first four weeks of the season didn't go away. They plagued the Steelers throughout the afternoon. But, when it came time to put up or shut up, Kenny Pickett and the offense got the job done:
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSvideos) October 8, 2023
Pickett's throw was right on the money. George Pickens got plenty of separation on Marlon Humphrey. Perfect execution by the quarterback and wide receiver.
How did this happen? What got into the Steelers? An aggressive play call? How did the Ravens let this happen?
Game situations dictate literally everything that gets called on the field. The Steelers had just converted a couple of third downs, and they were just a few yards away from Chris Boswell's range. Both teams had the ability to stop the clock with two timeouts apiece. The safe, smart play for the Steelers was to run three plays that would get them a tad closer to give Boswell the best chance to win the game, eat as much time as possible or make John Harbaugh burn his timeouts, and take an 11-10 lead. With the way the defense was playing, that wasn't the worst idea.
On first down, the Steelers lined up under center in 11 personnel and ran for a minimal gain. Baltimore opted to not use a timeout, so a couple more conservative runs might have put the Steelers right where they wanted to be. And, that would be par for the course. Mike Tomlin isn't known for being ultra-aggressive on the offensive side of the ball. This is the same team that just a couple weeks ago decided to take :38 on the clock and two timeouts in Las Vegas to the locker room with them at halftime.
But the next play showed the Steelers' preparedness for their archrival. Tomlin told reporters in Pittsburgh after the game about the Ravens' affinity for operating out of Cover 0, especially in crucial downs. It makes the receivers beat the man in front of them, and the Steelers' best weapon against man coverage, Diontae Johnson, has been out since Week 1 with a hamstring injury.
The Steelers came out with a play that had the potential to beat Cover 0, and the Ravens showed exactly that when everyone lined up at the line:
NFL/CBS
Strong safety Kyle Hamilton loaded the box over the top of the tight end, giving away the middle of the field. With free safety Marcus Williams up on the line of scrimmage on the weak side of the formation, Pickett had to call for the protection to slide right. So, if you hear him yell, "Randy," that's a check for max protection and sliding it to the right -- NOT an audible to a completely different play. They were outnumbered on the right side and needed to make sure they had that side properly protected. Otherwise, the play could have been blown up.
Go back and watch the play again and notice how Chuks Okorafor slides all the way right to block Williams, Nate Herbig slides to block Jadeveon Clowney and Mason Cole slides to block the tackle Justin Madubuike. That's not the standard protection.
The play that was called gave all three routes an opportunity for one-on-one, meaning Pickens had nobody over the top on a go route:
NFL/CBS
That's something the Steelers have been salivating over, and the Steelers made Baltimore pay for it. Pickett has been very transparent about wanting to give Pickens more opportunities when left one-on-one. The problem is most teams aren't letting that happen. Teams will use multiple coverages to double Pickens.
Here's an example from the win over the Raiders. Cover 2 is an obvious coverage to double a receiver with a safety over the top. There's still another safety to cover the other half of the field. However, Las Vegas is in Cover 1 on this play, and the one safety over the top is essentially doubling Pickens (bottom of the picture) over the top:
NFL.COM
Teams will do something -- anything -- to make sure Pickens doesn't have opportunities to turn what are normally 50/50 balls into higher percentage plays. He's earned a high enough reputation to warrant that kind of attention already.
I guess you might say it's shame on the Ravens for going with Cover 0 and presenting the Steelers this kind of opportunity. However, the precedent played into what the Ravens expected. Stacking the box in Cover 0 was going to probably do well if a run play was called, and the Steelers hadn't exactly thrown the ball at will throughout the game.
So, whether it was Tomlin or Matt Canada who called the specific play, this call was an aggressive move, and it really couldn't have come at a better time. The Steelers need to be shrewdly aggressive more often, and this was a good play to do it on. If the pass falls incomplete there's still third down to set themselves up for a field goal. No harm, no foul. If there was a down to take a shot, it was this one.
This really was a perfect call across the board. It recognized the defense's tendencies and also respected the situation they were facing. Situational awareness is something coaches and players have to have in order to win football games. Calling and executing plays like these really can be the difference between winning and losing.
