The Steelers honestly didn’t catch much of interest on tape on Sunday, so this will likely be one of the shorter iterations of Varsity & JV in the foreseeable future. But let’s get into it.

University

EDGE TJ Watt

Watt had two sacks to move within one league lead. He also forced a fumble early in the game with a tackle on Jalen Hurts. And with the ankle injury looking more like a scare than anything serious, No. 90 will have a lot to prove against the Ravens as the Steelers look to secure their first division title since 2020.

EDGE Alex Highsmith

Highsmith made several plays early, particularly in the running game. He also had a total of one sack and two tackles for a loss.

KChris Boswell

I often forget to include Boz here, which isn’t intentional – we’ve just gotten so used to his brilliance that it’s become routine. Regardless, it should be celebrated more. He went 2-for-2 on field goals, including a 49-yarder.

TE Pat Freiermuth

Freiermuth continues his best season since his rookie season with another touchdown. It looks like he is set to set a new career high as he is just one point away from matching his current career high of seven points.

LB Mark Robinson

The depth linebacker forced the fumble on the punt return and stripped the ball from Cooper DeJean, leading to a Steelers field goal.

Junior varsity

LB Patrick Queen

How often will we see missed tackles from No. 6, especially on crucial downs? This has been a constant problem for Queen all season and it hit the Steelers too often on Sunday.

RB Najee Harris

I mean, you can’t drop that pitch, especially after the Steelers made great use of the Flea Flicker to put them in scoring position. The Steelers could have tied the game. Instead, the Eagles scored to make it 27-13, and that was all she wrote.

Secondary

AJ Brown and Devonta Smith did whatever they wanted. Brown had eight catches for 110 yards, while Smith added 11 catches for 109 yards and each receiver caught a touchdown. Joey Porter, James Pierre, Donte Jackson – they were all at the mercy of the Eagles’ passing game and were far more likely to be losers in this battle.

Run blocking

The Steelers couldn’t do anything in the run game, even against lighter boxes with strong personnel. Broderick Jones had a particularly poor game when it came to creating running lanes. The Steelers are one of the worst teams in the NFL in terms of rush efficiency. Lots of yards doesn’t necessarily mean a great running game, and they couldn’t even get the yardage part right on Sunday.

Mike Tomlin

With 10:40 left in the fourth quarter, they stormed into opponent territory and lost two possessions without the offense touching the ball again. This was the definition of a cowardly move. I didn’t necessarily expect the Steelers to win this game, especially given the injuries, but you can’t back down in situations like this. If anything, you have to be more aggressive to take advantage of the opportunities that come your way, and the Steelers haven’t done that.

Arthur Smith

Smith called a bad game. The Steelers couldn’t run, couldn’t pass, couldn’t get first downs (3 of 10 on third down) and had five three-and-outs. Overall, the Steelers lost time in the possession battle by 40 to 20 minutes – you won’t win a game if the other team has the ball twice as long as you. The Steelers will have to bounce back big time against a Ravens defense that is far more prone to giving up big plays.