If the Pittsburgh Steelers hadn’t found a way to beat the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, the noise surrounding head coach Mike Tomlin’s job and this franchise would have become deafening. But the Steelers took all that negativity from the past two weeks and used it to beat their biggest division foe and take a one-game lead in the AFC North. Here are our big takeaways from the win.
The passing offense soared and the run game crashed and burned
This was the best game of the year for Aaron Rodgers but it practically came at the expense of the run game. A win is a win but to see Rodgers throw for 284 and the Steelers rush for only 34 yards is disconcerting. Going into late December, being able to run the football will be a key to winning when the weather turns bad.
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Second-half defense as usual
Social media called it during halftime that the defense would come out after a strong first half and falter and this is exactly what happened. It’s a crazy anomaly that is becoming all too common and if not for a late rally would have cost the Steelers the game. The Steelers defense allowed 420 yards.
Adam Thielen starts?
Pittsburgh wasted no time getting new receiver Adam Thielen on the field, putting him in the starting lineup. Roman Wilson was a healthy scratch to make a spot for Thielen and while he only had one catch for four yards on that one target, it was clear his presence demanded more attention from the Ravens defense than Wilson would have.
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Bounce back game for Alex Highsmith
We have been critical of Highsmith and his lack of production but he was definitely the defensive player of the game this week and not just for the sack that sealed the win. Highsmith came to play and, despite getting dinged up, was all over the field on Sunday in a huge performance.
Why can’t they do this every week?
Seeing how the Steelers played on Sunday in contrast to the performance they put on against the Buffalo Bills begs the question, why can’t the Steelers team we saw against Baltimore show up every week? This is where the criticisms of head coach Mike Tomlin come into play. Getting these guys in the right state of mind has to fall on the head coach on some level.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Steelers vs Ravens: 5 big takeaways from the win
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