The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing for a win-or-go-home Wild Card game against the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday. Since locking up a playoff spot in Week 15, Mike Tomlin's team hit a brick wall.
Against the Bengals in Week 18, the defense did its part to hold Joe Burrow and a talented Cincinnati offense to just 19 points and 6.0 yards per pass attempt, but Russell Wilson and the offense squandered an opportunity to seal a home victory in the season finale.
I win in Week 18 would have presented the Steelers with a very different scenario to begin the playoffs. Instead of playing on the road for a frigid playoff game in Baltimore against the league's top-ranked offense, Tomlin's team could have been in Houston against a struggling Texans team.
Because of their daunting route, the Steelers are not only the biggest underdogs for Wild Card Weekend, but they are tied for the worst odds to win the Super Bowl. Following their four-game skid to close the 2024 regular season, Pittsburgh is +9000 to win the Super Bowl this year, courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.
There are some glaring problems the Steelers need to deal with to improve their chances.
Steelers problems ahead of Wild Card Weekend
Wilson is in the midst of a discouraging four-game stretch and is coming off a performance against the Bengals in which he managed just 148 passing yards on 31 attempts (4.8 yards per attempt). This is also an Arthur Smith problem, as the Steelers are diligently sticking with a running game on early downs that hasn't been working, and the passing game lives and dies by Wilson's moonball.
Defensively, Teryl Austin's game plan in recent weeks has been a mess. The Steelers' defensive coordinator left cornerback Cory Trice Jr. on an island with superstar Ja'Marr Chase in Trice's first NFL start. To aid the secondary, Austin needs to dial up blitzes and find creative ways to generate pressure on quarterback Lamar Jackson this week.
Which issues can be improved on such short notice? Can the Steelers finally turn things around when it matters most? On the latest episode of the Still Curtain podcast, Tommy Jaggi and Shayne Kubas dissect Pittsburgh's biggest problems heading into the playoffs and make their predictions for the Steelers vs. Ravens Wild Card game on Saturday night.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.