Steelers Post Game – Time for changes after loss to Ravens

As expected by many, the Pittsburgh Steelers 2024 season became a one and done in the playoffs as the Baltimore Ravens made best use of their two most dangerous weapons and handed the Steelers their fifth straight loss to close their season, winning by a score of 28-14.

The moment the final gun went off, I immediately thought “oh boy, how long will it take for Steelers fans to start calling for Mike Tomlin’s job?” Let’s get something very straight right here and now. This season’s failures and Tomlin losing his fifth straight playoff first game is NOT his fault. This year’s wild card loss was simply due to a lack of talent on the field. 

However, the first half was just a nightmare for the Steelers’ defense. For a bit I was thinking Russell Wilson is just not the answer. Then you look at the first half stats, and it is shocking. Alarming even. Heading into the locker room at halftime the Steelers were down 21-0 and the Ravens were in control on offense for 20:27 of the first two quarters. Russell Wilson only had his offense on the field for 9:33.

To add more insult to injury Baltimore had 41 offensive plays in the first half and the Steelers just 18. More damage…the Ravens made 19 first downs. Pittsburgh? Two. That’s right. Just two. Pittsburgh’s defense just had no answer for Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. Between those two and several other offensive players, Baltimore amassed 308 yards in just one half! Pittsburgh had only 59 total yards.

It appeared at halftime the Steelers were heading for yet another blowout. Even announcer Al Michaels suggested maybe Justin Fields should start the third quarter. I had said Russell Wilson might be playing for his job. Wilson finally had some time to work with for the rest of the game with the Steelers having 27 offensive plays in the second half and finished the game with an additional 221 yards to finish with 280. 

It was almost a tale of two halves. Had the Steelers prevented the three scores by Baltimore in the first half, the Steelers would have been in this game outscoring the Ravens 14-7 the rest of the way. But again, the defense had no answer for Jackson and Henry. Just look at the numbers for those two players alone. The game plan was to stop Derrick Henry and key on him and Jackson. Right. Henry ran through the Steelers like swiss cheese rushing for 186 yards. His per-carry average was 7.2 yard. Henry scored twice and had one run for 44 yards. 

Lamar Jackson also took off with the rock 15 times and added 81 yards for an average of 5.4 per carry. He too had one long run of 20. In the air Jackson proved he is not a liability in the postseason with 175 yards passing missing on just five of 21 passing attempts and putting up a quarterback rating of 132.0. He was sacked just once and threw for two of the four Baltimore touchdowns. 

Back to that first half, on eight third down conversion attempts, the Ravens converted all but one. The Steelers, on the few attempts they had, five in all, converted just one. I had said Russell Wilson, and the offense had to come out and attack immediately with my suggestion that a bomb downfield on the first offensive play would be a good idea. Wilson did in fact throw on the first play, but it was a short attempt to Pat Freiermuth that fell short for an incomplete attempt. Pittsburgh’s lone first down came on that first series and they would not get another until the third quarter. 

In the end, Pittsburgh had only 11 first downs and Baltimore made 29. The time of possession won by Baltimore was over a 19 minute difference (39:33 to 20:27). The Ravens’ 299 total rushing yards becomes the most allowed by a Steelers defense in team playoff history. There is no excuse for yielding 464 total yards as Pittsburgh totaled only 280. 

Let’s talk about that Steelers’ defense. In the first half especially, it was already mentioned that there was no stopping Derrick Henry. However, there were many missed tackles. I also can still see Lamar Jackson faking a handoff to Henry and then taking the ball himself for a positive yardage gain. The problem with that play was the fake TOTALLY fooled star linebacker T.J. Watt as he went for Henry and tackled him even though he did not have the ball. I was embarrassed for Watt. Now, speaking of T.J., he may have had the most shocking stats of the night. 

Let’s review the final defensive statistics for the Steelers. Look down the list of players that made tackles or sacks, and you will NOT find T.J. Watt’s name anywhere. Watt made no tackles, had no sacks, not even an assist. To me that is shocking. When Watt is not making plays, the defense seems to crumble. In this five-game losing streak that culminated with the season ending defeat at the hands of the Ravens, Watt basically disappeared. In those five games he made exactly 14 tackles. That is less than three per game. Of those 14, only half were solo tackles. In tackles for a loss, he had just two. Additionally, just two quarterback hits. 

So, had opposing defenses figured out Watt or is his play just regressing? This has certainly been a down season for Watt and this 2024 campaign was one where he did not suffer any major injuries and in fact played in all 17 regular season games and the matchup in Baltimore for the wild card game. With a career that began in 2018, his 12 sacks this season are the lowest of his career outside of the 5 ½ he registered when he only played 10 games of the 2022 season. 

So now that the Steelers are out how do they get back to winning a playoff game? In my opinion they do not need an overhaul of the roster, but rather some significant changes in personnel. My suggestion for change is bold and while I’m sure many Steelers fans will either think I’m out of my mind or disagree, significant changes must be made.

First and foremost, Mike Tomlin goes nowhere. He’s a proven great coach and just because he can’t win an opening playoff game, the last one coming in 2016, does not mean he needs to be fired or traded. Tomlin is not the problem. He’s not playing the game. What I do think needs to happen is that defensive coordinator Teryl Austin needs to be replaced. The Steelers have some exceptionally talented players on defense and their failures at the end of the season in the five-game losing streak was a combination of poor play but also, I think schemes had much to do with the results. 

The Steelers need to find a defensive guru much like they once had in Dick LeBeau to come in and come up with game plans to stop or slow down some of the league’s better offensive players. I do think some changes in who takes the field defensively need to be made.

As for the offense, this is where I would propose the major changes. Let’s begin at quarterback where I think Russell Wilson did enough this season to warrant a return in 2025. However, we still need to find that franchise quarterback, so I have a solution that is going to make fans question my sanity.

If the Minnesota Vikings make the decision to bring back Sam Darnold and put rookie J.J. McCarthy on the trading block, there will be many teams seeking to make a trade for McCarthy even though he missed the entire 2024 season due to injury. How can the Steelers get in the running for his services if he is in fact up for a trade? Here’s where I make the bold suggestion. I would offer the Vikings T.J. Watt for starters. In return the Steelers may possibly get the franchise quarterback they desperately need. Russell Wilson could mentor the kid and as for Justin Fields, I would not resign him because I simply don’t think he fits the mold of a franchise QB.

Next, I would rethink bringing back Najee Harris. True he s a strong runner and often gets good yardage after getting hit, but I think the Steelers should focus on making sure Jaylen Warren goes nowhere and then find another solid back to replace Harris. Arthur Smith should be kept onboard too as the offensive coordinator as he called good game plans but just didn’t have the players to make Pittsburgh’s offense dangerous.

The next offensive change I would make is to either trade George Pickens or cut him. Listen, the kid was warned many times to grow up and become more mature. He isn’t getting it. Following the loss to Baltimore when he met the press, someone asked him if he was optimistic about the offense. His answer was a simple one-word response…NO. That kind of attitude and his demeanor to date for me just doesn’t speak to what it means to be a Steelers player. He is not the prototypical Steelers type of player. Sure, he is incredibly talented, but he is a distraction. Antonio Brown went down this same path and while he was one of the league’s best players, he was a locker room cancer.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in dire need of a shakeup. They have talent and you also must consider as we look back at the 2024 season, offensive linemen James Daniels and rookie Troy Fautanu missed the entire season where they may have helped protect Russell Wilson. Fautanu was Pittsburgh first overall draft pick and looked promising in training camp so his return next season will be huge. Nate Herbig also missed the season so, yet another offensive lineman was not available. 

Defensively DeMarvin Leal ended up on IR as did rookie Logan Lee who may have brought something to the table. Roman Wilson came to the Steelers from the national champion Michigan Wolverines but was injured in training camp and never made it back. He could have provided another weapon to the offense. Back on defense Cole Holcomb who was playing so well before an injury ended his season in 2023, never made it back to the field in 2024. 

I know Steelers Nation is frustrated with this playoff drought our team is in and that should be expected. But Steelers fans everywhere need to stop blaming Mike Tomlin and just know that our team was simply not good enough to compete for the Super Bowl this season. Listen, I’d rather be in the playoffs then to have missed making it there. Just imagine if you were a fan of the New York Jets. It’s been 14 years since they’ve been to the post season. The Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons are in their seventh year of not tasting a playoff game.

Art Rooney II and Omar Khan have some especially important decisions to make this offseason. First there are the unrestricted free agents they will need to make decisions on. If they don’t offer new contracts we could lose players like Najee Harris, Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, James Daniels, Donte Jackson, Elandon Roberts, Cameron Sutton, and Van Jefferson. Mike Williams was brought in from the Jets and while he caught a touchdown pass in Baltimore, is he worth bringing back next season? Jaylen Warren is a restricted free agent but I’m sure the Steelers will bring him back.



This offseason will be one of the most interesting in recent history for the Steelers. At the end of last season, Mike Tomlin vowed to come back and fix the problems that created a one and done in Buffalo.  Once the team reached a record of 10-3, it appeared that all was well and good with the Steelers. Then came the crash and burn that was the final five games of the season. I think this team is not that far off. Fix some defensive scheming issues, create a more potent offense, and then you will see a different Steelers team.