Steelers report card: Grading Pittsburgh’s win over the Ravens
By Tommy Jaggi
Defense: B
Yes, the Steelers surrendered an eye-popping 265 rushing yards to the Ravens, but let’s point to some of the factors that caused this. Pittsburgh lost the time of possession battle in blowout fashion. In the first half, the offense could hardly pick up a first down.
Pittsburgh opened the game with guns blazing on defense, but they clearly got gassed as the game went on – thanks in large part to an offense that couldn’t sustain drives. In addition, the Steeler were without nose tackle, Tyson Alualu, for most of the game. He has been an incredible player for them this year, and you could see the difference when he left the field. Baltimore was able to run up the middle much more successfully.
However, outside of a shaky run defense, I thought the Steelers defense did a good job in this contest. they forced Lamar Jackson into throwing 2 interceptions, and they nearly had a 3rd if the ball doesn’t wiggle loose when Joe Haden hit the ground.
What was most impressive was the Pittsburgh was able to hold Lamar Jackson to just 13 of 28 for 208 yards in the passing game. The pass rush got after him early and often, and Jackson ultimately finished with just a 12.5 QBR in this contest.