Steelers need win and help for playoff berth
MEMORABLE SERIES MOMENT
Ravens 27, Steelers 21
Dec. 30, 2007 at M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore
The Steelers were locked into hosting a wild-card round game the following week in the playoffs so they rested Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu and Hines Ward for the finale against the 4-11 Ravens. Willie Parker was also out, having suffered a broken leg on his first carry the previous week. So, the wheels were off for this game, the only one DC Dick LeBeau lost to a rookie QB while with the Steelers. Troy Smith was that rookie QB, and the defending Heisman Trophy winner benefited from Willie Reid’s fumble on the opening kickoff to get the Ravens off and running. They were up by 27-7 late in the third quarter, and the Steelers scored on two Charlie Batch TD passes in the game’s final seven minutes as the Steelers finished 10-6. The AFC North champs then lost in the playoffs to Jacksonville the following week.
TALE OF THE TAPE
“I’ve watched a little bit of Robert Griffin in some relief roles earlier in the year. He didn’t throw a lot because they were up, but he kind of looks like he’s been lifting some weights, so I now refer to him as RG4, because he looks bigger, stronger and thicker. It hasn’t slowed him down or made him less elusive. He still looks like a guy who can be deceptive and yet be able to throw the ball. Everything that Lamar Jackson does, they’re going to do, I believe, with Griffin. But he’s not going to have the game sense that Lamar has. Lamar can suck the entire secondary up while climbing the pocket. All eyes are on him and he’ll put everybody in conflict. You come up and he’ll beat you with a pass, and vice versa. Griffin won’t have that same effect.” — Steelers Radio analyst Craig Wolfley.
TOP QUESTION
Can the Steelers score two offensive touchdowns?
Well, JuJu Smith-Schuster is finally looking like the player he was his first two seasons with the team. He could be a big part of a Steelers offense that scored two touchdowns on Dec. 1 — the only game in the last two months in which the offense has scored two TDs. The Ravens will be without massive DT Brandon Williams, so the Steelers should have a better chance to establish their running game. Also out for the Ravens is FS Earl Thomas. Cornerbacks Jimmy Smith and Marcus Peters are questionable.
THREE QUESTIONS: With CB JOE HADEN
Q: What is the challenge of going into a game and thinking what if?
JH: “At the end of the day, we’re all professional athletes. Every time we line up against another team in a stadium where there’s a real game, you should want to play your best, make plays, and do what you gotta do. When I was in Cleveland, we were out after Week 10. So you had to come out there and put good tape out there. Whatever you put on game tape, that’s your resume, so making sure that no matter what circumstance you’re in you always put your best foot forward and always continue to ball. That’s what pros do, so I really expect that everyone on our team can do that.”
Q: Did you play with the Browns when Robert Griffin III played QB against the Steelers in the 2016 regular-season finale?
JH: “Yes, I sure did. I really like RG3. He’s been getting the raw ends of the deals, but he’s still in the league. He’s still doing what he’s gotta do. He’s a backup for them, but he’s got a good arm and he likes to run with it, so we’ve got to continue to treat him like a mobile quarterback.”
Q: What do you mean by ‘raw deals’?
JH: “Raw end of the deal, I mean when he got to Cleveland everyone was talking about how he just talked too much, basically. But when he got to Cleveland, he was just a humble, good teammate to me. He got a lot of bad press. He’s a good dude, though.”
GAME BREAKDOWN
What to look for from the Steelers this afternoon in Baltimore
ON OFFENSE:
In the aforementioned series history, the Steelers went into the 2007 finale and the playoffs without Parker. Well, this week, and possibly into the playoffs, the Steelers have their next best potential “Fast” running back in Kerrith Whyte. Like Parker, Whyte was a backup in college with 4.3 speed, but, unlike Parker, Whyte was drafted — in the seventh round by the Bears. Since the Steelers picked him up off the Bears’ practice squad, Whyte’s carried 21 times for 121 yards to average 5.8 yards per carry. He leads the team in yards per carry during that span over James Conner 5.3 (14-74), Benny Snell 3.5 (62-217), and Jaylen Samuels 2.9 (21-60). Whyte should, and might, be the primary ball carrier in a game in which the Steelers need a solid performance on the ground.
ON DEFENSE:
The Steelers are healthy against a Ravens team that will be without 1,000-yard rushers Jackson and Mark Ingram, best lineman Marshal Yanda, and probably top receiver Mark Andrews. They might also be without second-leading receiver Marquise Brown. In just Jackson, Ingram and Andrews, the Ravens will be without 53 percent of their season’s yardage from scrimmage (rushing + receiving), not to mention their 66 percent passer Jackson. Griffin, the new QB, might be mobile, but he’s rushed 12 times for only 20 yards this season. In Gus Edwards (5.2) and Justice Hill (3.9), the Ravens have quality depth at RB, but they’re not the inside-outside rushing combo the Steelers defended in the OT loss to the Ravens in Pittsburgh.
PREDICTION
Stats from the last five games are meaningless in this handicap, due to so many Ravens reserves taking the field. But, still expect a low-scoring game as the Steelers will undoubtedly play conservatively on offense and wait for their defense to capitalize on a Ravens mistake. If a lack of Steelers mistakes and field position can set the Hodges offense up for two touchdowns, they can pull this one out and hope for a Titans loss to make the playoffs. The Steelers are favored by two, so let’s ride with it. … Steelers, 17-13.
BY THE NUMBERS
13: Combined interceptions, forced fumbles and fumble recoveries this season by T.J. Watt that leads the NFL. The average combined total for the NFL Defensive Players of the Year winners this decade is 7.
24.5: Combined sacks by Watt (14) and Bud Dupree (10.5) are the second-most in team history by a pass-rushing duo. They need 3 sacks today to tie the 2008 combo of James Harrison (16) and LaMarr Woodley (11.5) for the team record.
55: Catches this season by Diontae Johnson leads all AFC rookies and is only three behind NFL leader Terry McLaurin.
75: Yards receiving by Smith-Schuster was gained on a season-high seven catches in the earlier game against the Ravens. Last year at Baltimore, he caught 7 for 78.
80: Consecutive regular-season games played by Alejandro Villanueva when he takes the field today in Baltimore. It’s the third-longest streak of active NFL offensive tackles.
DOWNLOADS
n From the Elias Sports Bureau, here’s what the Steelers need to qualify for the playoffs: 1) win plus a TEN loss or tie; 2) tie plus a TEN loss; 3) TEN loss plus an IND win plus an OAK loss or tie; 4) TEN loss plus an IND win, and PIT ties OAK in strength-of-victory tiebreaker, which will happen if ALL of the following teams win: MIN, GB, KC AND MIA.
n Yet another Steelers front office official said this week that he’s concerned that Polamalu won’t be voted into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot if he continues to say making the Hall of Fame doesn’t matter to him. Polamalu said that in an interview with Jim Rome two weeks ago.
n Mike Tomlin recently said he monitored rookie Devin Bush’s snap total early in the season to prevent him from hitting the proverbial rookie wall later. Bush said this week that, “I don’t think I hit a rookie wall, or whatever it is. I don’t know what I would feel if I did. But I don’t think I did. I think I’m on the right track. I’ve got the right guys around me to keep my head straight and put me in the right position to not be able to hit that wall.”
n Smith-Schuster was rounding into earlier form this week, but he stood by his post-game belief from last Sunday that he should’ve caught (and scored with) Hodges’ fourth-down prayer against the Jets. “I feel I still could’ve had it,” Smith-Schuster said. “It touched the tip of my fingertips. As a person in the moment being there, and thinking of the ways of what you could’ve done to win the game for your team, that’s how I think of it.”
n Paxton Lynch is the Steelers’ backup QB today. It’s almost two years to the day since Lynch played his last game. He started for Denver against Kansas City in Week 17 of 2017 and rallied the Broncos from 14 down in the fourth quarter to tie the game on a TD pass to Demaryius Thomas with 2:53 left. The Chiefs kicked a field goal to win. Here’s Steelers OC Randy Fichtner on Lynch’s state of readiness: “The expectation is he would understand what he would be asked to do. I know he has been here long enough and is sharp enough. He has asked all the right, good questions for many weeks. He has been very sharp in the meeting room. What rust might come out in-game? Who’s to know. That has been the thing with any of the quarterbacks that have played. You just hope that the big mistake wouldn’t occur. I do like where he is at right now. Mentally, there is a confidence level. I think he would love to play in this game.”
PARTING SHOT
“Obviously, there is a professional side and you have to be locked in, but you have to make sure, at the same time, I am enjoying the game that I love so much and just having fun.” — Steelers rookie QB Duck Hodges.