Steelers ground top-flight Ravens offense with stellar defensive performance

With the Baltimore Ravens coming to town in Week 11, Steelers fans had every right to be concerned. MVP frontrunner Lamar Jackson led the league's top offense through the first ten weeks of the season, and slowing down an offense averaging 31.8 points per game seemed like no easy task.

But that was before the Ravens ran into the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Year after year, these two bitter AFC North rivals compete in chippy, hard-hitting slugfest that, more often than not, result in low-scoring affairs decided by a field goal. We thought things would be different this time around. Even though Pittsburgh's defense allowed a mere 16.2 points per game entering Week 11, holding Jackson and company under 20 points seemed like an impossible task.

On the contrary. This spectacular defense carried an offense even with an abysmal performance by quarterback Russell Wilson.

On the second play of the game, edge rusher Nick Herbig raked the ball out of Derrick Henry's arms for a forced fumble, recovered by the Steelers. Late in the second quarter, Patrick Queen sought revenge on his former team with a forced fumble and fumble recovery of his own. Heading into the tunnel at halftime, the Steelers held the Ravens to just seven points.

We thought Baltimore would make adjustments to rack up points in the second half, but it never happened. Late in the fourth quarter, Steelers rookie linebacker Payton Wilson came down with one of the best interceptions you will see this year.

But it wasn't just big plays by Pittsburgh's defense that got the job done; it was sound play by the secondary and getting Baltimore's offense off the field on third downs that ultimately did the trick.

Steelers' defensive showing vs. Ravens proves they are Super Bowl contenders

I've held off on saying this until we saw Pittsburgh face a hard stretch of the schedule, but it's safe to say now: the Steelers are Super Bowl contenders in 2024. After getting the job done against a quality Commanders team in Week 10, Mike Tomlin's team extended their win streak to five straight with an upset win over the Ravens in Week 11.

What's almost most impressive about this win is that they didn't need the offense to play well to completely contain the most dynamic offense in the league. Russell Wilson threw 36 passes but turned his opportunities into only 205 yards on a mere 5.7 yards per attempt with a costly interception in the endzone.

Thankfully, Pittsburgh's defense made Baltmore's passing game just as ineffective. Lamar Jackson finished the contest completing just 16 of 33 pass attempts for 207 yards (6.3 yards per attempt) to go with one touchdown and one interception and a passer rating of 66.1.

If the Steelers and Ravens squared off again right now, we couldn't expect this type of performance... but then again, this is T.J. Watt and the Pittsburgh Steelers we are talking about. They can shut down Jackson and the Ravens as well as any team in the league.

Eventually, Pittsburgh held onto an 18-16 win. The victory gives them a game-and-a-half advantage over the Ravens in the AFC North as well as the head-to-head tiebreaker against their biggest rival. This Steelers team is on the fast track for a playoff spot, and Super Bowl aspirations are not unreasonable.