2023 Steelers Season Recall: Sweep of Ravens sets up postseason berth
Steel City Underground presents our 2023 Steelers Recall: A Look Back at Pittsburgh Steelers games and storylines from last season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were on the road in Week 18 of the 2023 NFL season to face the AFC North division-leading, and AFC-best 13-3 Baltimore Ravens. It was the most unlikely of games, as the depleted Steelers were unlikely to make the postseason after disappointing losses to two-win teams a month earlier. On their third starting quarterback, they were written off, but still not out of the playoff race heading into their final game of the regular season.
For those on the outside looking in, the game had little impact on anything else. Thus, the NFL did the Steelers no favors by scheduling the finale on a Saturday afternoon, rather than the usual Sunday 1 pm slate where most teams would play so no one franchise gained a competitive advantage.
Speaking of competitive advantages, the Steelers were done a favor by the Ravens, who already locked up the one seed and bye in the conference. As such, Baltimore rested many of their starters for what would be a game played during heavy rainfall that made it difficult for either side to do much offensively. The fact that Baltimore sat many of their starters to be ready for the NFL playoffs has zero relevance to the outcome of this game because Pittsburgh played several of their depth players.
Both teams limited their passing, as QB Mason Rudolph attempted only 20 throws. Rudolph would finish having completed all but two of those attempts for 152 yards and a touchdown. His biggest play was a pass to Diontae Johnson that went for a 71-yard touchdown.
Mason Rudolph started 3 games this season
Yet he had the SAME amount of starts with a 110+ Pass Rating (3) as Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert. pic.twitter.com/8rQIs9p4Ub
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 8, 2024
In fact, Rudolph adequately compares to his upcoming Wild Card round opponent, Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen. Allen went 60 of 89 (67.4%) for 765 yards, 3 touchdowns and 4 interceptions over his last three games. Rudolph was 53 of 71 (74.7%) for 716 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions over his last three games: a 120.4 QB rating compared with Allen’s 86.6.
Elandon Roberts, Eric Rowe, and Markus Golden made major contributions to the game regardless of their position on the depth chart. They sacked Tyler Huntley four times for a loss of 28 yards. The Pittsburgh defense limited Tyler Huntley and the Baltimore passing offense to 146 yards on 15 pass completions. And they did all of that by utilizing a rotation that included Myles Jack, Nick Herbig, Isaiahh Loudermilk, and others in the ‘next man up’ system.
Steelers LB T.J. Watt had two sacks against the Ravens too, that put him, for the third time in his career – and the only player to have ever done so three times – as the NFL leader in sacks with 19.0.
Both teams leaned on their run games in the inclement January weather. The Steelers would surprise everyone by outgaining the Ravens by rushing the ball too, as Najee Harris ran for 112 yards and a touchdown. Harris topped 1,000 yards with the effort, and achieved a milestone by rushing for 1,000 yards or more in all three of his seasons in the NFL. He officially finished the year with 1,035 yards and 8 rushing touchdowns.
Both of Harris’ 100-yard games came in the final two of the season with 122 and 112 yards respectively. Over the final three games, Harris had four rushing touchdowns and 312 yards, 4.3 per attempt, on 72 carries!
The Ravens’ vaunted attack would be mostly limited to Huntley scrambles. The Ravens’ backup quarterback gained 40 of the team’s 106 yards on the ground. RB Gus Edwards still gained chunks of yardage from the backfield, rushing 10 times for 48 yards. The Steelers defense limited the Ravens run offense to 106 yards on 25 carries.
The sloppy conditions meant RB Jaylen Warren also stayed busy, running nine times for 33 yards. He would catch five passes out of the backfield, finishing the season as the second-most targeted player on the Steelers offense with 61 receptions: the most by a Steelers running back since 2021 (Harris, 74) and 2017 (Le’Veon Bell, 85).
However, one of the most underrated plays of the game came on special teams as Godwin Igwebuike laid out-of-bounds to touch a short kick and give the Steelers the ball on the 40-yard-line after the penalty.
One of the smartest plays you'll see. 💯
Godwin Igwebuike fields the kickoff while laying out of bounds to force the penalty on Baltimore.
📺: #PITvsBAL on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/WxnOXJY8R6 pic.twitter.com/1CU8rcLj0w— NFL (@NFL) January 6, 2024
For the first – and only – time this season, the Steelers won their third-straight game… Pittsburgh would defeat the Ravens 17-10 to finalize their regular season play. The Steelers finished their regular season with a 5-1 record in the AFC North; their overall record was 10-7. They also went 2-0 against John Harbaugh and the Ravens during the 2023 season.
Yet, they would have to wait for other outcomes to decide if they’d make the playoffs. Pittsburgh needed the Buffalo Bills to lose, or a loss (or tie) by the Jacksonville Jaguars, or a tie between the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts for the easiest path into the playoffs: which we now know happened. With some help from the Tennessee Titans defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Steelers were going back to the playoffs!
We will cover the Wild Card game in Buffalo as our last entry of the 2023 Recall series soon. Stay tuned!
