5 Steelers surprises in Saturday’s loss against the Ravens
Our SCU staff and contributors pick the “surprises” from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ latest matchup each week. Check out more below to see which plays and situations surprised us the most!
The Pittsburgh Steelers lost their fifth game of the 2024 season, 34-17, to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday. The loss reduced the Steelers to a tied record in the AFC North over the Baltimore Ravens. However, Pittsburgh still leads the division based on tiebreakers.
Here are some surprises from that game.
Steelers Turnovers
Usually a trustworthy veteran quarterback, Russell Wilson‘s two key mistakes cost the Steelers an opportunity to win the game.
The first mistake was not to slide on a 19-yard scramble in the second quarter. The Steelers, then tied 7-7 with the Ravens, had the ball at the Ravens 23. Wilson’s fumble occurred at the Ravens 4, and swung into an 8-play, 96-yard drive that positioned Baltimore with a 14-7 lead.
Near the beginning of the fourth quarter, Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick seemingly turned the tide with Pittsburgh trailing 24-17, when he picked off a Lamar Jackson pass and returned it 25 yards to the Steelers’ 33-yard-line. Two plays later, however, Wilson would throw a pass behind intended target TE MyCole Pruitt. That pass would be intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey, sealing the Steelers’ fate.
Ravens Near Turnovers
On two separate occasions, the Steelers were able to force the Ravens into putting the ball on the ground but were unable to capitalize.
On the Ravens first possession of the game LB Alex Highsmith strip-sacked QB Lamar Jackson but the ball was recovered by Baltimore’s Ronnie Stanley. Desmond King would fumble a Corliss Waitman punt following the Steelers first possession, but that ball too would be recovered by the Ravens.
Derrick Henry
One week after bottling up the league’s leading rusher Saquon Barkley to 65 yards, the Steelers relinquished 162 yards to Ravens RB Derrick Henry and gave up a total of 220 yards on the ground.
The Ravens 220 rushing yards are the most the Steelers defense has given up all season, with the next-highest total being 157 to the New York Giants. They did not allow 100 yards rushing to eight different opponents through 14 games.
Fourth Downs
The fourth quarter began with the Steelers facing a 4th-and-6 from the Baltimore 45. Wilson stepped back to pass as the Steelers looked to convert, but sent a deep pass sailing over the head of WR Calvin Austin to turn the ball over on downs.
This series lead to the four plays of doom in the game:
- Derrick Henry 44-yard run.
- Minkah Fitzpatrick interception.
- Najee Harris three-yard run.
- Marlon Humphrey pick-six.
The next fourth down situation was setup poorly by Pittsburgh as a 3rd-and-11 at midfield finished with Calvin Austin receiving a screen pass and losing a yard. Rather than go for it again on 4th-and-12, down 31-17 the Steelers simply booted the ball away. The defense would give up a 6:09, 11-play, 86-yard drive that ended in a 23-yard Justin Tucker field goal making the final score 34-17.
Boswell Shank
You know things aren’t going well when one of the league’s best kickers commits a bad penalty on a kickoff. But that’s precisely what happened in the third quarter.
After tying the game 17-all with a Wilson to Cordarrelle Patterson touchdown pass, Boswell would line up and kick the ball out of bounds in the landing area, which resulted in the Ravens offense starting on their 40-yard-line.
The great field position gave the Ravens an opportunity to quickly answer with a 6-play, 60-yard drive that put them up 24-17. They would not look back from this point.
