The Pittsburgh Steelers Are Who We Thought They Were

Just as quite literally everyone anticipated, the Pittsburgh Steelers were easily bounced out of the NFL Playoffs at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night.

The 28-14 box score might not showcase just how much of a blowout this game truly was—the Steelers never had a chance. And that’s what the public believed would happen, with nearly 90 percent of the bets on DraftKings backing the Ravens.

Defensively, nobody in the whole state of Maryland had an answer for Derrick Henry, who rushed for the most casual 186 yards and two touchdowns. Offensively, Russell Wilson looked like the shell of a quarterback that Sean Payton ousted from the Denver Broncos. Completely broken.

Let’s not get it twisted. The Ravens are a very good team and won this game convincingly without wide receiver Zay Flowers, arguably Lamar Jackson’s top target. The Ravens have all of the tools required to make a deep playoff run; there’s no denying that.

But this Steelers organization is sputtering right now. Too proud to embrace a rebuild, they’ve been wandering the quarterback desert since Ben Roethlisberger retired. Steelers fans tried to anoint Kenny Pickett and then got way too excited when the combination of misfit toys, including Justin Fields and Wilson, got off to a hot start. 

It was quite obvious even early on that the Steelers were overrated. Again, damn near everybody expected this horrid performance out of them in Baltimore going into Wild Card weekend.

The Steelers finished their season on a five-game losing streak. They have not won a playoff game since 2016, and the pressure on head coach Mike Tomlin is starting to build despite his legendary status.

Like any fanbase after an embarrassing playoff exit, some Steelers fans are calling for Tomlin’s job already. While that might be premature, Pittsburgh has more questions than answers heading into a pivotal offseason.

Throughout Saturday night’s beatdown, both defensive stars Cameron Heyward and T.J. Watt were shown on the sideline battling injuries. 

Heyward, the Pittsburgh native, is 35 years old. The future Hall of Famer’s best days are behind him. Watt turned 30 himself this season and finished this season playing his last 193 snaps without recording a single stat. That’s not exactly Defensive Player of the Year worthy for a key defensive star that isn’t getting any younger.

Offensively, both Wilson and Fields are free agents. The Steelers will find themselves in the middle of the quarterback conversation, likely through free agency, as both Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders will be selected before the Steelers are on the clock in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Other free agents include running back Najee Harris, offensive tackle Dan Moore, and wide receivers Mike Williams and Van Jefferson. 

The Steelers have some difficult questions to answer, but the rest of us already knew that.