Steelers vs Ravens: Winners and losers in close Week 18 win

Steelers winners: the defensive stars

Some weeks you just need your great players to play great, and this was one of those weeks for the Steelers. The offense and defense both were struggling as a whole, but the defensive stars ended up making the difference. T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward, and Minkah Fitzpatrick were all key in the Steelers winning this game.

Watt was his usual disruptive self. While he only ended up tying for the NFL sack record, it wasn’t due to a lack of effort. Watt was constantly in the backfield and had half a sack taken away by penalties. He was a force as usual for the defense. Heyward was in the same boat, as he was a monster along the line and was constantly disrupting the play.

Fitzpatrick proved to be a great last resort as well. He had a few key plays, but towards the end of the game, his hit that broke up a wide-open pass saved the game. He was great in his usual deep safety role. While the defense as a whole wasn’t pretty, the stars came to play. Without them, this game wouldn’t have been won.

It wasn’t a pretty outing by any means, but the Steelers gutted out a close one and are now primed for the playoffs. There are plenty of issues that need to be addressed if this team wants any chance of progressing in the playoffs. That said, this team did something most thought they wouldn’t and they should be commended for that.