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It was an ugly performance in all three phases on Sunday.
If you are looking for a single reason why the Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, I wish you luck. This loss was truly a team effort and there are plenty of fingers to point. Here are the big takeaways from this week’s loss.
The tackle of Kenny Pickett gets worse every time we watch it.
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At first viewing, the tackle that Baltimore Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith put on Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett was brutal. Upon further review it was illegal and a case could be made it was a dirty play altogether.
Smith slung Pickett down early in the Steelers loss to the Ravens, putting Pickett into the concussion protocol and being the primary reason the Steelers ended up losing. But it is important to note before watching the video below, Smith wasn’t flagged for this play at all.
Taking Pickett down by the facemask as he bounced his head off the turf isn’t easy to watch. Pickett tried to return to the game but was pulled again quickly after showing symptoms and ruled out after only a handful of plays.
Now, thanks to the hit by Smith, Pickett could be out next week against the Carolina Panthers. Mitch Trubisky filled in for Pickett on Sunday and threw three interceptions.
Obviously Smith grabbed Pickett’s face mask, slammed Kenny into the ground and as the video shows, still had a hold of the face mask when Kenny was on the ground.
No penalty.#Steelers #Ravens #NFL pic.twitter.com/6xfriNRXYj
— Obviously (Not) Tomlin (@Tomlin_Sense) December 11, 2022
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For the sake of the future, Pittsburgh needs to move on from these coaches.
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At this point, the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to play the last four games of the season in an unusual position. It hasn’t been often Pittsburgh has a month of football left and nothing to play for.
This season has been a lesson in transition after the retirement of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. And if we are being honest, the bulk of the coaching staff hasn’t responded very well. This is why head coach Mike Tomlin and the front office need to take a fresh start at multiple positions on the coaching staff.
Before I go on, you read that correctly. I am not advocating Tomlin be a part of this. There are plenty of fans who believe this team cannot progress with Tomlin as the head coach and you may be right. But the pool of head coach candidates out there are filled with nothing but unknowns at this point and this team still benefits from his leadership.
Having said that, offensive coordinator Matt Canada and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin need to go. Canada has proven time and time again this season he doesn’t fully grasp the complexities of an NFL offense or how to best utilize talent.
But let’s not let Austin off the hook either. He is coaching a unit with tons of high draft picks and a massive chunk of the payroll and can’t figure out a way to stop the run. Personally, I think Austin has gotten a pass this year because so many fans are throwing all their vitriol at Canada and they are missing how poorly Austin has managed his side of the football.
If the Steelers are going to be contenders next season and beyond. bringing in outside coaches, young, talented guys who are thinking of the future of the game and not living in the past is the only way any of this works.
let us know in the comments below what coaching changes you would make this offseason.
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The Ravens rushed for 215 yards on Sunday.
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After the Pittsburgh Steelers 16-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, head coach Mike Tomlin was solemn even by his standards in the postgame press conference. It had to be tough to watch his defense get run on all game long.
Tomlin noted that he thought the defense just wore down at the end and couldn’t contain Ravens running back J.J. Dobbins. This is a point linebacker T.J. Watt refuted in his postgame press conference but it seemed pretty obvious.
Even before Ravens starting quarterback Tyler Huntley went down with an injury, the Ravens weren’t a real threat to throw the football. But knowing that, when Huntley was injured and undrafted rookie Anthony Brown replaced him, the threat to throw went down even more.
At that point, the Ravens offensive line just imposed its will on and undersized Steelers defensive front. There’s no denying this group was spent but this is something many of us have talked about going back for several seasons about how this group isn’t big enough or strong enough to hold up when teams really want to run the ball.
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Mitch Trubisky finished with three interceptions on Sunday.
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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky came in for an injured Kenny Pickett on Sunday but was unable to lead the Steelers past the Baltimore Ravens. A big part of that was due to the three interceptions Trubisky threw.
But surprisingly, after the game, Trubisky was pretty upbeat after the game and while he did admit he was overly aggressive at times didn’t seem too broken up about how poorly he played and said he felt great to be back out there with the guys.
You have to appreciate just how nonchalant Trubisky was. After all, he got benched after four starts for Pickett and came in with no first-team reps. Trubisky did note he puts in the work on preparation each week and that is why he felt like he was able to run the offense as well as he did.
Trubisky finished with 276 passing yards on 22-of-30 passing. Trubisky led the offense down to a late touchdown to tight end Pat Freiermuth but it couldn’t counter the three interceptions.
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The Steelers failed to stop the Ravens even when they knew the run was coming.
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You often hear coaches use the phrase, “take what the defense gives you” but on Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens offense took what it wanted against the Pittsburgh Steelers defense.
Despite being down to the team’s third-string quarterback, an undrafted rookie and zero threat to throw the football, the Steelers defense couldn’t slow down the Ravens rushing attack.
After the game, even Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt admitted that everyone in the stadium knew Baltimore was going to run the football and the defense just didn’t do their job to stop them.
The Ravens finished with 215 rushing yards and averaged 5.1 yards per rush. More impressive was Baltimore running back J.K. Dobbins. He had 120 of those yards on just 15 carries for an 8.0 yards per rush average.
Meanwhile on the other side of the ball, the Steelers struggled to run the football against a run defense that has struggled. Najee Harris led the Steelers with 33 rushing yards in his worst game since the bye week.
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The Steelers couldn’t score and couldn’t stop the run on Sunday.
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Going into Sunday’s game with the Baltimore Ravens, the Pittsburgh Steelers had an opportunity to keep their slim hopes alive for a successful season and make a statement against a good team. It didn’t happen as Pittsburgh handed the Ravens a 16-14 win on a platter thanks to missed opportunities on offense and a subpar effort by the defense.
Things got off to a tough start for the Steelers with quarterback Kenny Pickett going out with a concussion after only one pass attempt. Veteran Mitch Trubisky came in with an opportunity to provide Pittsburgh is a spark and make a case for himself, but fell flat. Trubisky threw three interceptions, two of which were just awful decisions by him that completely negated his 276 yards passing.
Defensively, the Ravens did whatever they wanted to the Steelers D when it came to running the football. Even after losing their own starting quarterback to a concussion, the run game just pushed on as an overpriced and under-coached defensive unit got pushed around to the tune of 5.6 yards per carry.
The loss drops the Steelers to 5-9 on the year and really changes the perspective of the season with just four games left. Next week the Steelers travel to Carolina to take on the Panthers before finishing with two more AFC North games in the final three.
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Kenny Pickett is out and the defense is struggling.
Considering how dominant the Baltimore Ravens have been in the first half, the fact that the Pittsburgh Steelers only trail 13-7 at halftime is remarkable. Here are three big takeaways from the first half.
Kenny Pickett will not return.
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Early in Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett took a huge hit by Baltimore linebacker Roquan Smith. He initially cleared concussion protocol but after returning to the game was pulled and replaced by Mitch Trubisky.
The team has now announced that Pickett does have a concussion and is out for the rest of the game. The Steelers emergency quarterback, should something happen to Trubisky is tight end Zach Gentry.
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Mitch Trubisky led the Steelers to a touchdown when he returned to the lineup.
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Veteran Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky lost his starting job to the rookie Kenny Pickett. But on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, Trubisky came in to replace an injured Pickett and immediately marched the Steelers down for a touchdown.
Trubisky started the first four games of the season before getting benched in favor of Pickett. But Trubisky handled it like a professional throughout the process and now seems to be getting a second chance. The Steelers currently trail the Ravens 10-7 after a one-yard touchdown run by running back Najee Harris.
We will keep you updated on the status of Pickett’s injury as information becomes available.
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