PITTSBURGH — The Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills faced off on Sunday, but the AFC’s best team may have played earlier in the day in Pittsburgh.
OK, it is premature to call the Pittsburgh Steelers the AFC’s top team. But Sunday’s 18-16 win over the Baltimore Ravens did reinforce Pittsburgh’s status as one of the NFL’s best teams and a legitimate Super Bowl contender. While the rest of the NFL world may be just now realizing it, the Steelers have long felt like they belong among the league’s upper echelon.
“It’s something that we talk about,” Steelers cornerback and reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month Beanie Bishop Jr. said during a one-on-on interview with CBS Sports. “This organization has six Super Bowls. They know what it takes. Just trying to bring the Lombardi back to Pittsburgh. Everybody is here for a reason. … We’re making a push to win the AFC North and win a Super Bowl this year.”
As far as winning the North, the Steelers (8-2) strengthened their chances of winning that on Sunday, their first game of the year against a divisional foe. The Steelers defense was dominant against the Ravens, holding reigning league MVP Lamar Jackson to 16 of 33 passing and Derrick Henry to 65 yards on the ground. The Steelers defense also forced three turnovers (that led to half of their point tally) in addition to stopping Baltimore’s 2-point conversion attempt that would have tied the score with just over a minute left.
Fittingly, Sunday’s most impressive play was turned in by a Steelers defender, when rookie linebacker Payton Wilson picked off Jackson on a deep pass midway through the fourth quarter that set up the last of Chris Boswell’s six field goals.
The Steelers defense started and ended the half with forced turnovers that led to Boswell field goals. The latter of those turnovers was former Raven Patrick Queen’s forced and recovered fumble deep in Baltimore territory. The turnover and Boswell’s subsequent field goal gave the Steelers a 9-7 halftime lead after the Ravens had just taken their first lead moments earlier.
Baltimore (7-4) wasn’t at its best on Sunday. Similar to its Week 8 loss in Cleveland, the Ravens beat themselves with inexcusable penalties, dropped passes and breakdowns in the secondary. Jackson also struggled with his accuracy all day. But the Steelers defense had a lot to do with the Ravens’ lack of offensive success, too.
Jackson was sacked twice, but he was constantly hounded by T.J. Watt (who had the first of Pittsburgh’s two sacks) and the rest of Pittsburgh’s pass rushers. When he did get the ball off, Jackson had several of his passes batted down by ageless defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, who is back to his Pro Bowl form this year after injuries hindered him all of last season.
“For the back end, just plaster your guy,” Bishop said when asked about the Steelers’ success against Jackson. “It’s kind of like playing street ball. Guys are moving around trying to get open, not really having too many routes, obviously, because he’s scrambling. For the rush guys, keep him in front of you, and inside you’re going to have help and other guys coming.”
Henry broke loose for a 31-yard scamper that set up his short touchdown run late in the first half. But take that run away, King Henry was held to 34 yards on 12 carries.
“Being gap sound,” Bishop said when assessing Pittsburgh’s success against the NFL’s leading rusher. “Guys in their gap, winning their one-on-one matchups. Getting off their blocks and things like that, and most importantly, not being scared to tackle him. A lot his big runs on tape are guys being scared to tackle. … We’re not scared to tackle, and that showed in that we were able to limit big plays.”
Offensively, the Steelers once again started slow. Wilson threw for just 76 yards and was sacked four times in the first half. And the Steelers offense never solved the puzzle that was the Ravens defense in the red zone, as Pittsburgh was 0-4 in that department Sunday. On their final red zone trip, Wilson threw an ill-advised pass that was picked off by Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey in the end zone.
As rough as it was at times, the Steelers offense did outperform the NFL‘s top-ranked scoring offense. Pittsburgh had more first downs than Baltimore and outgained them in the second half (after being outgained 199-93 in the first half). Perhaps the most impressive stat was the Steelers rushing for nearly as many yards as a Baltimore (124 to 122 yards) despite the Ravens boasting the league’s top-ranked run defense. Pittsburgh’s success on the ground allowed them to control the ball for over 36 minutes while keeping Jackson and Co. off the field.
Wilson continued to strengthen his rapport with George Pickens, who is finally living up to his hype as one of the NFL‘s premier playmakers. Pickens caught eight passes for 89 yards on Sunday that included his clutch 37-yard grab late in the third quarter that helped extend Pittsburgh’s lead to 15-10.
Wilson made up for his pick by hitting tight end Darnell Washington (who was the intended target on his intercepted pass) for a 17-yard pickup on a third-and-7 play following Wilson’s pick of Jackson. The conversion set up the final field goal by Boswell, who on Sunday became the first player in NFL history with multiple six field goal games in the same season (conversely, Ravens kicker Justin Tucker missed two field goals in the first half that proved costly).
Speaking of Wilson, the nine-time Pro Bowler is now 4-0 as Steelers starting quarterback. In Wilson, the Steelers have a quarterback who has been there before and knows what championship-caliber football looks like. Wilson helped lead Seattle to its first Super Bowl title in 2013 and nearly led a successful defense of said title.
Following Sunday’s game, Wilson was asked to compare this Steelers team with those Seahawks squads. Wilson didn’t go there, but he did allude to Pittsburgh having the ingredients that championship teams possess.
“On those championship teams, Super Bowl teams, we had so much great talent,” Wilson said. “But the thing about talent is that you always have to have the work ethic, the drive, the will to win, the ability to win close games. The ability to win on offense in a big key moment to take the lead. … The defense making a huge, huge stop against a really, really good offense on a 2-point conversion to keep the lead. To have a big-time kicker in Boz. Those are the type of championship moments you have to have.
“We haven’t done anything yet, though. We’ve got a lot more football to play, and that’s the part that we embrace and that we enjoy. We’re just going to stay the course.”
So far, the Steelers have stayed the course, through a 3-0 start, a two-game losing streak, a quarterback switch and their current five-game winning streak that includes nail-biting wins over the Commanders and Ravens in consecutive weeks. The Steelers may not be the AFC’s top team, but if they continue to stay the course, they may put themselves in position to battle the Chiefs for AFC supremacy when it’s all said and done.
