Steelers to watch in Wild Card game with Ravens
The Pittsburgh Steelers will play their AFC North rival Baltimore Ravens on the road Saturday, January 11 (8 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime Video, NFL+). As the No. 3 seed, the odds favor the Ravens, but during the 2024 NFL regular season, the Steelers split the series, 1-1. Pittsburgh, who is 3-1 against the Ravens in the playoffs, lost the last match to Baltimore during the 2014 wild-card round. With the Steelers looking to end their playoff drought, we present three Steelers players to watch in the wild card game.
Mason McCormick
It was confirmed by head coach Mike Tomlin that the rookie guard, who has started 14 regular season games (and saw action in 17), broke a hand and was being fitted for a cast and brace and then be evaluated throughout practice. After practice on Tuesday, McCormick said, “I’m definitely optimistic… It’s feeling better already.”
Should McCormick be unavailable on Saturday, the Steelers have Max Scharping on their depth chart, as well as Spencer Anderson. Anderson has been utilized at left guard in limited reps this season, but Pittsburgh will be taking appropriate steps in practice to assure their offensive line depth is readied for the match ahead.
Russell Wilson
Wilson has been under scrutiny during the slide the Steelers took at the end of the regular season, but he has more postseason experience than fellow quarterbacks Justin Fields and Kyle Allen. Not starting Wilson would be an error on the part of the Steelers staff unless he showed up on the injury report late this week.
While it’s easy to place blame on Wilson for the offense’s woes, overall he is surrounded by playmakers that need to step up in support, especially in catching passes thrown to them.
Wilson could prove to be an X factor in this game. Having a full season against AFC and AFC North opponents, twice against the Ravens, Wilson – a consummate professional – came to Pittsburgh to help the team become champions. His leadership will be vital to a wild card win.
Does that mean the Steelers won’t look at opportunities to send Fields into the game? That’s an unknown, but expect Pittsburgh to be looking for any edge on Saturday.
Donte Jackson
The cornerback has returned to practice after suffering from back issues. “(Jackson) feels good. But again, we’ll watch him throughout the course of the week and see what his participation does in terms of the possibility of his inclusion,” Tomlin said on Tuesday.
“Everybody’s been having great energy. Guys getting hype. You’ve got to get that energy…that’s what it’s going to take. Worry about this one. Saturday night. Primetime. Against a division opponent. You don’t get better than that.” – Donte Jackson
Expected to be available on game day, Jackson’s return would help alleviate the need to put Cory Trice on an island like Teryl Austin did against the Cincinnati Bengals in the regular season finale before having James Pierre take more reps.
With Zay Flowers of the Ravens contending with a knee injury that kept him out of practice, and may prevent him from playing on Saturday, getting a full compliment of cornerbacks ready to enter the defensive backfield for the Steelers is a positive.
Donte Jackson, Broderick Jones, Mason McCormick, Justin Fields, and Beanie Bishop Jr. spoke to the media following practice on Tuesday, January 7. @PondLehocky pic.twitter.com/NlOfwm6KOY
— Steelers Live (@SteelersLive) January 7, 2025
