The Pittsburgh Steelers’ challenge was steep on Saturday night. It didn’t get easier when the Baltimore Ravens started their AFC wild-card playoff game with a 95-yard touchdown drive.
And when the Steelers had fourth-and-inches, trailing 7-0, head coach Mike Tomlin decided to punt. It was an unfathomable moment.
The Ravens went on a 13-play, 85-yard drive after that, with every play being a run, and Derrick Henry scored to give Baltimore a 14-0 lead. Everyone watching at home could find other Saturday night plans after that. The game was practically over.
The Ravens would win 28-14.
Tomlin isn’t the problem with the Steelers. Saying he is also requires a belief the Steelers should have won more than 10 games this season with their roster. That’s probably not the case. But the frustration from Steelers fans is valid. That punt wasn’t the reason the Steelers lost, but it epitomized a stale approach that has many Pittsburgh fans begging for a change.
Pittsburgh has been good enough to get to the playoffs and nowhere close to being competitive in the postseason for many years. That was the case again Saturday night, as the Ravens were never truly tested. The Steelers finish the season having not led a game since Dec. 8. They started 10-3 before completely collapsing. The performance against the Ravens was embarrassing in many ways.
Should the Steelers feel OK about this season, when Tomlin got plenty out of a roster without a top-end passing game and made the playoffs when very few predicted that? Or should they wonder if the coach who has kept them from being below .500 for 18 straight seasons is really what’s holding the team back?
Steelers blown out by Ravens
Watching Saturday night’s game, it’s fairly amazing that the Steelers beat the Ravens once this season, and had a shot to take down Baltimore for the AFC North crown until late in the season.
Because on Saturday, there was never a moment of doubt over who was the better team. The Ravens looked like a true Super Bowl contender, and light years ahead of the Steelers. When Baltimore had a 13-play touchdown drive without passing once, it almost seemed like the Ravens were bored and challenging themselves. According to Amazon’s broadcast, it was the first TD drive in the NFL all season with 13 or more runs and no passes. And the Steelers were helpless to stop it.
By halftime, the Ravens led 21-0. Lamar Jackson had a highlight touchdown pass, buying time for almost seven seconds before hitting Justice Hill for a 5-yard score. They had outgained the Steelers 308-59. The Ravens had 19 first downs and the Steelers had two. Playoff games aren’t supposed to look like that. Playoff teams aren’t supposed to look as inept as Pittsburgh did, either.
There was a glimmer of hope in the second half when the Steelers finally hit some 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 breaking a 44-yard touchdown run. Henry tied Terrell Davis’ NFL record with his fourth 150-yard game in the playoffs. It was stunning how easily the Ravens moved the ball on the Steelers during that drive, or most of the game really.
When you play that poorly in a playoff game, after losing four in a row to finish the regular season without ever holding a head in any of those games, touting a 10-win season seems completely empty. It felt like the Steelers were no closer to being a contender than some of the teams who have a top-10 pick in this year’s NFL Draft.
The difficult question is: How can a 10-win team also feel in some ways like one that should be rebuilding?
What can change Steelers’ playoff drought?
This isn’t the first time over the past few years the Steleers were blown out in a playoff game shortly after kickoff. They’ve trailed by at least 10 points early in each of their past six playoff appearances, and a few times by more than 20.
If what happened Saturday night was an outlier, showing little fight in a one-and-done playoff game, it might be excusable. When it has happened over and over for the better part of a decade, it’s a reason to justifiably wonder if big changes are needed, just to try something else.
“(That’s) my story, not this collective’s story,” this week when asked about the Steelers playoff drought, which dates back to the end of the 2016 season. “Many of these guys involved do not tote those bags. I happily tote those bags. But that’s not something I’m going to project on the collective.”
There are issues out of Tomlin’s control. The Steelers haven’t had good quarterback play since Ben Roethlisberger retired, and they’re always 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 remotely close. It won’t be easy for Pittsburgh to find one either. But Tomlin also needs to be scrutinized for why his team has looked so bad in the playoffs for many of their recent appearances.
If history is an indicator, Tomlin will get more opportunities to get the Steelers back to a point in which they feel like legitimate championship contenders. But at some point, Pittsburgh can’t just keep doing the same thing and expect to catch a team like the Ravens. But the loss to the Ravens was more evidence that something is going to have to change.
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