There is still one Week 16 game left to be played (Cincinnati Bengals at Denver Broncos) Monday night, but there have already been some surprises in the NFL this week: the New England Patriots losing in overtime to the New York Jets when they had a chance to lock up the AFC’s number one seed, after winning the coin toss and inexplicably deciding to kick off; the Washington Redskins winning the NFC East with their win over the Philadelphia Eagles; the Atlanta Falcons ending the Carolina Panthers bid for perfection; and the St. Louis Rams beating the Seattle Seahawks. But the biggest shocker was the Pittsburgh Steelers losing to the Baltimore Ravens.
PITTSBURGH STEELERS WEEK 16 LOSS TO BALTIMORE RAVENS IS WEEK’S BIGGEST SURPRISE
Mike Tomlin’s team had a lot to play for on Sunday while the Ravens had nothing to gain by winning the game, except to hurt the playoff chances of their division rival. Recently the Steelers have looked like one of the hottest teams in the AFC, and they came into Week 16 in the driver’s seat for one of the AFC Wild Card spots. Coming into Week 16 quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and company knew that if they won their final two games against the Ravens and the Cleveland Browns they would make the playoffs. It was that simple. But with their loss to the Ryan Mallet led Ravens and the Jets’ win over New England, the Steelers now need help to get into the playoffs. Pittsburgh must now win in Week 17 against the Browns, and the Jets must lose to the Buffalo Bills in order for the Steelers to make the playoffs.
John Harbaugh’s Ravens now have a total of five wins this season, and two of them have come against the Steelers. Pittsburgh is scoring 26.3 points per game (fifth highest in the league), but after posting at least 30 points in six straight games the Steelers offense looked uninspired and out of synch on Sunday. Big Ben, and the rest of the potent Steelers offense, managed to put up only 17 points against a, at best, mediocre Baltimore defense. The Ravens are giving up an average of 25.1 points per game (22nd in the NFL), and the Steelers should have had much more success against them.
But instead Roethlisberger couldn’t manage to throw one touchdown to offset the two interceptions he tossed, as he threw for only 215 yards, and Pittsburgh’s offense sputtered. Big Ben was missing throws he usually makes, and wide receivers Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton combined for only four receptions for 47 yards (41 yards came from Wheaton).
The normally high-flying offense was only 2-of-8 on third downs, and they failed to convert a fourth-and-one from Baltimore’s 25-yard line on their first drive of the game. Numbers like that are not a recipe for success. The defense was not exactly stellar, but the Steelers were good enough on that side of the ball on Sunday to win the game. The lack of offensive output from the Steelers was shocking and it cost them the game and possibly a postseason berth.
I still believe the Steelers are a team no one wants to face in the playoffs, but they first need to get into said playoffs, and now they need help to do so.
