4 takeaways from Steelers sloppy 19-14 win vs. Ravens in Week 12
By Tommy Jaggi
The Steelers may have beaten the Baltimore Ravens in Week 12, but here’s why it feels like Pittsburgh lost.
What a slop fest this was. Both the Steelers and the Ravens seemed like they couldn’t give the ball away fast enough to their opponent early in Wednesday afternoon’s Week 12 matchup. While Mike Tomlin’s team eventually came away with the win, Pittsburgh felt like real losers in a game that initially promised to be one of the most anticipated contests of the season (back when it was scheduled to be played on Thanksgiving night).
The Steelers held just a 12-7 lead going into the first half, and they would have been losing if not for poor clock management on the part of the Ravens (allowed time to expire just one yard away from a score). Eventually, Pittsburgh went on to seal the deal in a game that featured all defense for the Steelers and virtually no offense (at least not in the red zone).
However, the biggest concern after the win was the significant knee injury starting outside linebacker Bud Dupree suffered in the second half of the game. Here are my takeaways from the Steelers win over the Ravens:
Diontae Johnson is both good and bad
When Diontae Johnson is on his game, he is one of the most electrifying receivers in the NFL. In a blink, he can snatch the ball out of the air and cut on a dime. He has the ability to make defenders look silly on any given play and he knows how to move the chains with the ball in his hands. Unfortunately, we did not see that Diontae Johnson on Wednesday afternoon.
Against the Ravens, Johnson was awful. He had multiple drops in this contest – one of which could have helped Pittsburgh secure the win much earlier if he would have reeled in a perfectly thrown ball from Ben Roethlisberger. Johnson also had a fumble in this game that fortunately shot out of bounds.
While he may have caught 8 balls in this contest, he ultimately managed just 46 yards on 11 targets, and his impact on this game was negative overall. Johnson is incredibly inconsistent still, and it would be awful if he had a game like this in the playoffs.