Simply as fairly actually everybody anticipated, the Pittsburgh Steelers had been simply bounced out of the NFL Playoffs by the hands of the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday evening.
The 28-14 field rating may not showcase simply how a lot of a blowout this recreation really was—the Steelers by no means had an opportunity. And that’s what the general public believed would occur, with almost 90 p.c of the bets on DraftKings backing the Ravens.
Defensively, no person in the entire state of Maryland had a solution for Derrick Henry, who rushed for essentially the most informal 186 yards and two touchdowns. Offensively, Russell Wilson appeared just like the shell of a quarterback that Sean Payton ousted from the Denver Broncos. Fully damaged.
Let’s not get it twisted. The Ravens are an excellent crew and received this recreation convincingly with out huge receiver Zay Flowers, arguably Lamar Jackson’s high goal. The Ravens have the entire instruments required to make a deep playoff run; there’s no denying that.
However this Steelers group is sputtering proper now. Too proud to embrace a rebuild, they’ve been wandering the quarterback desert since Ben Roethlisberger retired. Steelers followers tried to anoint Kenny Pickett after which acquired manner too excited when the mix of misfit toys, together with Justin Fields and Wilson, acquired off to a sizzling begin.
It was fairly apparent even early on that the Steelers had been overrated. Once more, rattling close to everyone anticipated this horrid efficiency out of them in Baltimore going into Wild Card weekend.
The Steelers completed their season on a five-game shedding streak. They haven’t received a playoff recreation since 2016, and the stress on head coach Mike Tomlin is beginning to construct regardless of his legendary standing.
Like several fanbase after an embarrassing playoff exit, some Steelers followers are calling for Tomlin’s job already. Whereas that may be untimely, Pittsburgh has extra questions than solutions heading right into a pivotal offseason.
All through Saturday evening’s beatdown, each defensive stars Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt had been proven on the sideline battling accidents.
Heyward, the Pittsburgh native, is 35 years previous. The longer term Corridor of Famer’s greatest days are behind him. Watt turned 30 himself this season and completed this season enjoying his final 193 snaps with out recording a single stat. That’s not precisely Defensive Participant of the 12 months worthy for a key defensive star that isn’t getting any youthful.
Offensively, each Wilson and Fields are free brokers. The Steelers will discover themselves in the midst of the quarterback dialog, doubtless by way of free company, as each Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders might be chosen earlier than the Steelers are on the clock within the 2025 NFL Draft.
Different free brokers embrace operating again Najee Harris, offensive deal with Dan Moore, and huge receivers Mike Williams and Van Jefferson.
The Steelers have some troublesome inquiries to reply, however the remainder of us already knew that.
