Three takeaways as Steelers beat Ravens to stay in playoff hunt

The Pittsburgh Steelers were 17-10 winners over the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday evening to conclude a 10-7 regular season and remain in the playoff hunt as the NFL heads into the final day of its regular season on Sunday. Here are three takeaways from their win. 

1. The Steelers did their part. Now they have to hope.

The most important thing for the Steelers on Saturday was what they could control – their own game.

Given everything they had on the line and the fact the Ravens were playing a fraction of their starters having already clinched home-field advantage, a bye week and the No. 1 seed in the AFC, there should have been a reasonable expectation that the Steelers would get the win. 

It was not always pretty and a nonstop rain storm certainly played havoc on the play on the field, but the Steelers were able to do just enough to get the win and reach 10 victories for the first time since the 2020 season.

Now they have to hope. There are three possible results that could clinch them a playoff spot. They need either the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts to tie on Saturday night, the Jacksonville Jaguars to lose to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday afternoon or the Buffalo Bills to lose to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday night. If any one of those three results happen, the Steelers are in.

The Steelers have nobody but themselves to blame for this position. They lost head-to-head games (and the tiebreakers) to both Houston and Indianapolis and went through a four-day stretch in early December in which they lost back-to-back home games to two-win Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots squads. 

2. T.J. Watt's injury is a major concern

If the Steelers do happen to get in, they are not likely to have outside linebacker T.J. Watt. He reportedly suffered an MCL sprain in the win and had to leave the game late in the third quarter. That will likely sideline him for multiple weeks. 

Watt recorded two sacks before leaving the game, giving him a league-leading 19 for the season and making him just the fourth player in league history – since sacks became an official league start during the 1982 season – to record at least two 19-sack seasons.

Not having Watt would be a significant issue for the Steelers, especially with their other injuries on defense. Since Watt entered the NFL at the start of the 2017 season the Steelers are just 1-10 when he does not play and 70-33-2 when he does (with Saturday's win added in to that total). 

The Steelers are already playing without their top two middle linebackers (Cole Holcomb and Kwon Alexander) and several of their top safeties (Minkah Fitzpatrick, Keanu Neal and the suspended Damontae Kazee). Fitzpatrick said after Saturday's game he will play in the postseason if the Steelers get in. 

3. Mason Rudolph was not great but he did enough

After leading the Steelers to their first two 30-point offensive showings of the season over the past two weeks, Mason Rudolph was not quite as impactful on Saturday. Though the weather almost certainly played a role in that. He threw for just 152 yards (with 71 of them coming on one play) and fumbled three times, losing one of them. He did, however, complete the passes he should have (18-of-20) and did connect on a huge 71-yard touchdown pass with Diontae Johnson for the game-winning touchdown, which snapped a 7-7 tie in the fourth quarter.