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The Pittsburgh Steelers are as guaranteed as anything in life
If you wanted a throwback game, you got one.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens have been two of the top offenses in the NFL this season, with the Steelers especially coming to life over the last month, averaging over 30 points per game. However, this was still a Steelers-Ravens matchup at the end of the day, and it looked like one of yesteryear.
Players fighting after every snap, defensive splash plays, and low-scoring on both sides were the three biggest features of the latest chapter in this rivalry. And although all the talk throughout the first half of this season has been that Lamar Jackson is Superman, the Steelers proved once again that they are his kryptonite.
Jackson finished the game completing less than 50 percent of his passes, going 16-of-33 for 207 yards, one touchdown and one interception (which we will GET to). The Steelers defense was fantastic all afternoon in containing Jackson, limiting the splash plays and keeping him hemmed in, preventing him from breaking off any big runs. Derrick Henry was largely held in check, as well, finishing with just 65 yards on the ground. And that’s without even mentioning the three takeaways they had.
On the second play from scrimmage, Nick Herbig forced a Henry fumble that was recovered by DeShon Elliott and set up one of Chris Boswell’s six field goals, the second time on the year he’s gone 6-for-6 in a game and accounted for all the Steelers’ points. At the end of the first half, Patrick Queen ripped a ball away from Isaiah Likely and recovered it, setting up Boswell’s third field goal to go up two at halftime. And the most impressive play of all, and one of the most impressive plays you’ll ever see, Payton Wilson ripped a ball away from Justice Hill as both were falling to the ground to come away with his first career interception, which led to the sixth and decisive field goal for the Steelers.
This game was the other side of the coin when compared to last week’s contest against the Commanders. Pittsburgh leaned on their offense and splash plays through the air against Washington, and the offense showed they could be trusted when called upon in those situations. Today, the Steelers’ offense struggled, especially in the red zone, scoring no touchdowns and losing possession on a bad Russell Wilson interception in the end zone. But the defense picked up the slack and won a rock fight, and that’s what you need to be a great team – you need to be able to win in multiple ways, which is something the Steelers have severely lacked in recent years. Now at 8-2, there are no more questions to whether the Steelers are “actually good.” The only question is how good are they, and how far can they go in the postseason. And right now, it looks like they can go pretty far. And while there are few guarantees in life, Pittsburgh shows year after year that you can bank on them being in the playoff picture and being a team to be reckoned with every Sunday.