The Pittsburgh Steelers are kings of the north once again after winning the AFC North for the first time since the 2020 COVID season. The Steelers will host the Houston Texans on Monday Night in the Wild Card round, looking for their first playoff win since 2016. They got into the playoff and clinched the division after Ravens rookie kicker, Tyler Loop missed the game winning field goal, leaving Ravens fans stunned and Steelers fans ecstatic. This game had many highs but it also had a lot of lows, but is there ever a Steelers game when this doesn’t happen? 

Good: There were many good things to take away from this win. One thing would be, the adjustments that the offense made halfway through the game after a rough start: going three and out, then going for it on fourth down and not getting it. The play calling was horrible and the faithful let them hear it in the stadium.

The next two drives would be a field goal and then a turnover on downs at the Ravens one-yard line which cost the Steelers points. In the second half the Steelers offense changed with them utilizing the ground game and getting quick passes for solid yards and first downs. The Steelers scored a touchdown or a field goal on every drive for the rest of the game which led to a two-point lead with under a minute to go in the game.

Another good thing in this game was Aaron Rodgers. He played an outstanding game leading this team down the field multiple times to scores and led the game-winning drive. He went 31-47 for 294 yards and one touchdown. He looked poised and was not ready for this to be his last game of his career. He started slow but after he was able to open up the offense near the end of the second quarter he looked unstoppable. He made huge throws to keep drives alive and get into scoring position. 

Bad: Even though there were some positives to take from this win there was a lot of bad as well. The defense allowed Derrick Henry to run for 126 yards. This first half felt like every big Steelers game for the last 10 years: they started out deflated and sluggish. The Defensive line finally was able to slow down Henry in the second half only allowing 15 rushing yards on eight carries.

Let’s keep on talking about the defense. Where do I even begin T.J. Watt. Did he remember what he’s supposed to do on a football field? It sure did not look like it. I’m a big T.J. fan, but there really is no way he should have played in this game. He looked slow and not as agile as he typically is. I give him credit, for playing after having collapsed lung just a few weeks before. T.J. really was never a factor in this game with him recording just 2 tackles and 1 pass defended the entire game. He did record on interception, but the ball was deflected by Alex Highsmith and went directly into T.J. arms. In my opinion he should not have played or not play as much as he did since it was pretty apparent he still was hurt and didn’t make an impact on the game.

The Ugly:  There was a lot of ugly in this one for the Steelers and these mistakes were crucial and almost cost them the game. The most ugly thing in this game was how bad the Steelers secondary played, especially in the fourth quarter.  They allowed two big touchdown throws to Zay Flowers. Before that, the first big play was a 38-yard touchdown to Devontez Walker. On that play Jalen Ramsey got burnt and was never able to come close to catching Walker. That just can’t happen. 

With 10 minutes left in the fourth it was a 13-10 Steelers lead, but the Ravens had the ball at the 50-yard line. Keanu Benton and Alex Highsmith came blitzing through with no blockers on them and Lamar Jackson stepped up and split between the two where he was able to hit Flowers for a 50-yard touchdown where he burnt Patrick Queen. Why is Queen covering a speedy receiver deep down the field? Where are the safteys? You just can’t have your linebacker come all the way back in the secondary to guard their best wideout. It just can’t happen. Jalen Ramsey and Chuck Clark need to be better and make those plays and not allow the team to get burnt. 

Then late in the 4th quarter, Jackson rolled out and found another wide open Flowers for a 64-yard touchdown. Ramsey, Asante Samuel jr., and Kyle Dugger all got burnt with all three of them playing in zone coverage. On the play the Steelers lined up close to the line which was their first mistake. Even if the Ravens ended up pitching it to Henry there was enough coverage to tackle him and only allow a few yards at most. Instead they didn’t do that and allowed a huge play because Ramsey never backed up far enough in coverage and didn’t know where the receivers were down field. Dugger was in coverage but ended up getting burnt off the line and for Samuel he should have taken the deep secondary but instead he played on the outside.

These mistakes continued to pile up. On the Ravens last drive it was almost a mistake that officially lost them the game. On a 4 & 7 with 20 seconds left Lamar Jackson delivered a pass to Issiah Likely who caught the ball with Jalen Ramsey covering him at the Pittsburgh 23-yard line. Ramsey came down but instead of going for the ball to knock it out, he instead went for the interception which allowed Likely to grab it and bring it in easily. Even though the Steelers secondary made a lot of bad mistakes they still were able to win the division off of the missed field goal by rookie kicker Tyler Loop. 

The Steelers will play Monday Night against the Houston Texans for a chance to win their first playoff game since 2016. D.K. Metcalf will return for the Steelers right in time for their playoff push after having his two game suspension lifted by the NFL. I think the Steelers will play close in this one and will have chances in the game to give them the win and advance to the divisional round.