Takeaways: Steelers finalize season with win over Ravens
Steel City Underground presents post-game takeaways from every Pittsburgh Steelers game of the 2023 NFL regular season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were on the road in Week 18 of the 2023 NFL season to face the AFC North division-leading Baltimore Ravens on Saturday afternoon. In another close game, soaked to the skin due to heavy rainfall, the Steelers earned another team win, 17-10, to finalize their regular season play.
On a day that T.J. Watt made a statement on why he should be the NFL Defensive Player of the Year after totaling 19 sacks on the season, leading the league, the Steelers defense limited what the Ravens were able to do offensively. Pittsburgh did so by calling on a major rotation at several defensive positions, including outside linebacker when Watt was injured (knee) and had to leave the second half of the game.
Elandon Roberts, Eric Rowe, Markus Golden… they made major contributions in the game regardless of their position on the depth chart. The fact that Baltimore sat many of their starters in order to be ready for the NFL playoffs has zero relevance to the outcome of this game because Pittsburgh played several of their own depth players.
The Steelers defense limited the Ravens run offense to just 106 yards on 25 carries. They sacked Tyler Huntley four times for a loss of 28 yards. The Pittsburgh defense also limited the Baltimore passing offense to just 146 yards on 15 catches. 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.
In three starts, Mason Rudolph led the Steelers offense in earning three wins. On Saturday, ball security was essential in a downpour that just never let up weather-wise. That required Rudolph to mainly hand the ball off primarily to Najee Harris, who posted his third straight 1,000 yard season in three seasons, and Jaylen Warren.
That didn’t mean Rudolph didn’t utilize the pass; he did, but he did so intelligently. His pass to Diontae Johnson went for a 71-yard touchdown per NFL stats. Rudolph finished the game 18-of-20 completions for 152 yards.
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There were fumbled balls due to the cold, wet conditions. Both Pittsburgh and Baltimore gave balls away and took balls back. Ultimately, the Steelers were able to do more with their opportunities.
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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 this season.
The team will now wait to see how the playoff scenario goes before they’ll find out if their efforts and record is enough to get into post-season play. Pittsburgh needs 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.
After an up-and-down season, the Steelers played some of their best football over the course of the last three weeks. If they make it into further play, they’ll need to build off of that momentum.
