Interestingly enough, we are going to kickoff our film room sessions this week by focusing on special teams; because there’s a lot to focus on!

The special teams unit had both positive and negative takeaways from the loss in Baltimore. Here are some of those plays, and how they impacted the game.

Berry’s first two punts

Berry’s first punt was a 28-yard shank out of bounds, which gave the Ravens the ball at their own 44 yard line to start their first drive.

Baltimore converted on their first third down attempt, and would’ve been in field goal range if not for an Illegal Use of Hands penalty, which backed the Ravens up on their next third down attempt. The poor punt could’ve put the Steelers in an early 3-0 hole, with Ravens kicker Justin Tucker being incredibly accurate from distance on his field goal tries.

Luckily it didn’t turn out this way, but Berry has to boom it consistently, which he appears to have corrected the rest of the game, including his very next punt: a 61-yard boot, which unfortunately out-kicked his coverage and allowed the dangerous Devin Hester his only meaningful return yards of the game (14 of his 15 yards total for the day came on this punt return).

Back-to-back penalties

The next boo-boo for the Steelers special teams unit came with 8 minutes left in the 2nd quarter, when Ryan Shazier was called for a Neutral Zone Infraction on 4th down. Baltimore accepted the penalty and moved up the field 5 yards.

This is significant, as the Steelers were called for a Roughing the Kicker penalty on the very next play.

I had a big problem with this call in real-time, as did Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin. (Who I could lip read saying “bad call”.)

Watch as #29 Shamarko Thomas comes up the middle, and his shoved into the Ravens punter by #41.

Yes, it was a bad call, and it gave the Ravens a first down, and new life on what were two opportunities to get the ball back. Luckily Pittsburgh’s defense showed up again, stopping the Ravens drive on the ensuing third down attempt, forcing the Ravens to punt it away.

Blocked punt

This was the straw which broke the camel’s back. #28 Sean Davis completely misses a block, allowing free access to Pittsburgh’s punter, Jordan Berry.

I’m also not sure what #21 Robert Golden, the Steelers special teams captain standing next to Davis, sees on this play. His role is to be the last line of defense for Berry, and he completely misses the punt rush as well.

This was the worst play of the day in my opinion, one that made it impossible for Pittsburgh to recover from, as the blocked punt was returned for a touchdown.

Shamarko downs a punt

This was without a doubt the play of the game for the Steelers special teams. Berry blasts a 51-yard punt, which is caught, and downed, at the Baltimore 4 yard line by Shamarko Thomas.

The awareness of “Shark” to know where he is on the field, and keep the ball (or himself) from crossing the goal line is a lot tougher than it looks. His momentum his carrying him forward, as he throws the ball behind himself to help pin the Ravens deep in their own territory.

I won’t comment with how that next Ravens drive ended; that’s for another film room segment. However, the Steelers have to clean up penalties and be more consistent on special teams if they hope to compete in future contests.