PITTSBURGH — The Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills met on Sunday, but the AFC’s best team may have played earlier in the day in Pittsburgh.
Well, it’s premature to call the Pittsburgh Steelers the best team in the AFC. But Sunday’s 18-16 victory over the Baltimore Ravens reinforced Pittsburgh’s status as one of the best teams in the NFL and a legitimate Super Bowl contender. While the rest of the NFL world may only now be realizing it, the Steelers have long felt like they belong in the upper echelon of the league.
“It’s something we talked about,” Steelers cornerback and reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month Beanie Bishop Jr. said during a one-on-one interview with CBS Sports. “This organization has six Super Bowls. They know what it takes. They’re just trying to bring the Lombardis back to Pittsburgh. Everybody’s here for a reason… We’re making an effort to win the AFC North and win a Super Bowl .this year.”
As for winning the North, the Steelers (8-2) strengthened their chances of winning on Sunday, their first game of the year against a division foe. The Steelers defense was dominant against the Ravens, limiting reigning league MVP Lamar Jackson to 16 of 33 passing and Derrick Henry to 65 yards rushing. The Steelers defense also forced three turnovers (which 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 came from a Steelers defender, when rookie linebacker Payton Wilson intercepted 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 last of those turnovers was former Raven Patrick Queen’s forced fumble recovery deep in Baltimore territory. The turnover and subsequent field goal by Boswell gave the Steelers a 9-7 halftime lead after the Ravens had just taken their first lead moments earlier.
Baltimore (7-4) was not at its best on Sunday. Similar to their Week 8 loss in Cleveland, the Ravens beat themselves with unforgivable penalties, dropped passes and breakdowns in the secondary. Jackson also struggled with his accuracy all day. But the Steelers’ defense also had a lot to do with the Ravens’ lack of offensive success.
Jackson was sacked twice, but was constantly harassed by TJ Watt (who had the first of Pittsburgh’s two sacks) and the rest of Pittsburgh’s pass rushers. When he snapped the ball, Jackson had several of his passes batted away by perennial defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, who has returned to his Pro Bowl form this year after being hampered by injuries all of last season.
“For the back end, just put a cast on your guy,” Bishop said when asked about the Steelers’ success against Jackson. “It’s like playing street basketball. Guys move around trying to get open, not having too many routes, obviously, because he’s struggling. For the guys that run, keep him in front of you, and inside you’re going to have help and other guys will come.”
Henry broke free for a 31-yard run that set up his short touchdown run late in the first half. But if we take that run into account, King Henry was limited to 34 yards on 12 carries.
“Be level-headed,” Bishop said in evaluating Pittsburgh’s success against the NFL’s leading rusher. “Guys in their gap, winning their one-on-one matchups. Coming off their blocks and stuff like that, and most importantly, not being afraid to tackle him. A lot of their big careers on tape are guys being afraid to tackle… We don’t have afraid to attack and that was shown because we were able to limit the 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 on Sunday. On his final trip to the red zone, Wilson threw an ill-advised pass that was intercepted by Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey in the end zone.
As tough as it was at times, the Steelers’ offense outscored the NFL’s top-ranked scoring offense. Pittsburgh had more first downs than Baltimore and outscored them in the second half (after being outscored 199-93 in the first half). Perhaps the most impressive statistic was that the Steelers rushed for almost as many yards as 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 company off the field.
Wilson continued to strengthen his relationship with George Pickens, who is finally living up to his billing as one of the NFL’s premier playmakers. Pickens caught eight passes for 89 yards on Sunday, including his decisive 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 six field goal games in the same season (by contrast, Ravens kicker Justin Tucker , missed two field goals in the first half that turned out to be costly). .
Speaking of Wilson, the nine-time Pro Bowler is now 4-0 as the Steelers’ starting quarterback. In Wilson, the Steelers have a quarterback who has been there before and knows what championship-caliber football is like. Wilson helped lead Seattle to its first Super Bowl title in 2013 and nearly led a successful defense of that title.
After Sunday’s game, Wilson was asked to compare this Steelers team to the Seahawks teams. Wilson didn’t talk about that, but he did allude to Pittsburgh having the ingredients that championship teams possess.
“On those championship teams, Super Bowl teams, we had a lot of 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 stop against a really good offense on a 2 point conversion to keep the lead. Having a great kicker in Boz is the kind of championship moments you have to have.
“We haven’t done anything yet, though. We have a lot more football to play, and that’s the part we embrace and 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 change and their current four-game winning streak that includes thrilling wins over the Commanders and Ravens in consecutive weeks. The Steelers may not be the best team in the AFC, but if they continue to stay the course, they can put themselves in position to battle the Chiefs for AFC supremacy when all is said and done.
