Steelers vs. Ravens Week 12 Matchup did show us one great thing

Steelers in the Red-Zone

The Ravens are the best-built team in the NFL to slow this short passing game and most of the Steelers’ offense. Their secondary is filled with players that are solid at man coverage and tackling and they make a lot of plays closer to the line of scrimmage. The Steelers, even with dealing with an unheard-of amount of drops, still moved the ball down the field significantly better in this rough performance than they did in the first game.

As a result, the Steelers held the ball for 33 minutes in the second game. In the first game, the Steelers’ time of possession was just 24 minutes. If the Steelers could have scored a touchdown 4 of the 5 times they were in the RedZone they could have had 31 points. Had they scored all 5 times they would have had 35 points. Had they won by that margin there wouldn’t be nearly as much to complain about offensively, even with all of the drops.

The run game did improve when Dotson was in at guard and Feiler was moved to tackle. It is a short week, so I don’t know if the Steelers will roll with that lineup yet, but it is definitely worth considering as Chuks hasn’t been able to do anything in the run game this season for the Steelers. Meanwhile, the Steelers should look more towards Anthony McFarland Jr. in the Washington game, as his speed could help with the ineffectiveness of Pittsburgh’s run blocking.