Sometimes it’s not that complicated. Sometimes it’s actually the cliché that tells the story.

That was the case Saturday in Baltimore, as the Ravens prevented the Steelers from winning the AFC North Division and instead secured a spot in the 2024 playoffs with a final 34-17 victory, a result that was fueled by turnovers and takeaways favored was wasted. ‘Tis the season for giving, and the Steelers have been overly generous to an opponent far too talented to need such generosity.

Whenever these teams meet, and they have at least twice a season since 1996, the games are always closely contested. A look at the numbers supporting the “hard-fought” team shows this: The last nine and 15 of the last 19 have been single-scoring games.

And when history warns so strongly that these games will be decided on less than 10 percent of the total number of snaps, turning the ball over is suicidal. In the lead-up to each of these rock fights, concern for football is emphasized and even preached. And every time one of the participants fails to heed the warning, they are forced to learn the same painful lesson and feel their pain as they watch their rivals celebrate their misery.

The Steelers entered this game with a record of 10-4 in 2024 and 8 wins in the last 9 of this series, and today they woke up with a record of 10-4 and 8 wins in the last 10 of this series on turnover/sales ratio .

There were the actual turnovers – 2 by the Steelers (a lost fumble by Russell Wilson and an interception by CB Marlon Humphrey) to 1 by the Ravens (an interception by FS Minkah Fitzpatrick) – but just as significant to the 34-17 were the three more The Ravens put the ball on the ground several times and somehow managed to recover it each time.

Yes, the Ravens’ ground game dominated, led by Derrick Henry’s eye-popping 162 yards on 24 carries (6.8 average), and yes, Lamar Jackson finally did to the Steelers what he did to every other team in the league. However, if the Steelers had, say, taken two of those three opportunities while the football was running unattended, the overall feel of the game would be different depending on when those opportunities arose.

The Ravens got the ball first, and on the sixth play Alex Highsmith knocked Lamar Jackson out of bounds, but the guy Highsmith didn’t block – LT Ronnie Stanley – fell on the ball and saved Baltimore’s day. The first time the Steelers got the ball, they went out on a three-pointer, but when James Pierre picked off punt returner Desmond King, the ball was recovered by Ravens ILB Chris Board and advanced another 12 yards to the 41-yard line. Steelers line.

Those are two sudden changes of possession that could have happened in the first six minutes of a game historically decided by a point, but didn’t. If you fail to capitalize on both, you lose games that in the past were decided by a score.

“We didn’t do what we needed to do today to secure the win,” coach Mike Tomlin said, “so I congratulate the Ravens on their performance. In particular, we didn’t control the running game. We never did that. If you don’t do it.’ No, you have to make some splash plays or win the turnover battle decisively, and we didn’t do that either. We had chances on a few balls that we obviously didn’t get. We turned the ball over on the run-in, which took 7 points off the player board, and they had a pick-6. The rest is history, as they say.

The “turnover that took 7 points off the board” came in the form of a fumble by Russell Wilson that prevented the Steelers from taking a 14-7 lead with 10 minutes left in the first half and CB Marlon Humphrey’s early pick-up. 6 In the fourth quarter, a 24-17 deficit turned into a 31-17 deficit, which almost put the exclamation point on the outcome.

“I thought we had a chance to get into the end zone,” Wilson said. “I tried to defend and got hit right before I hit the ground and the ball came out. I was just trying to score a touchdown and go for it.

It’s clear that the Steelers need to improve other aspects of their performance – immediately – if they want to successfully navigate the challenges that lie ahead next month.

According to the players and coaches themselves, the duel has been very difficult lately, and all too often misunderstandings arise at the most inopportune moments. To be fair, the defense started the game against the Ravens without three starters – CB Donte Jackson, SS DeShon Elliott and DE Larry Ogunjobi – and then the unit was without 75 percent of its starting secondary Joey Porter Jr. for most of the game . was sent to the sidelines with a knee/calf injury.

The offense isn’t dynamic enough to consistently generate chunk plays, meaning touchdown drives end up being 10 plays, 73 yards or 8 plays, 88 yards. And when you have to rely on so many snaps to change the scoreboard, you run the risk of a penalty, a sack or a drop ruining the whole thing. It can be argued that George Pickens’ hamstring injury has had a profound impact there, but in just a few days, Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs will come to town with a chance to clinch the top spot in the AFC – and the bye that comes with it in the first round of the playoffs – with a win on Christmas Day.

“It’s hard, but who said football was easy,” Cam Heyward said. “We’re talking about it. If you’re a veteran or a pro, you take care of your body tomorrow, but you also watch film, be it this game or the opponent’s. That’s how we do it.” We don’t make excuses. We deal with what we have and we move on.”

Admittedly, it’s hard to imagine that after playing the Eagles and Ravens in the last two weeks, but the Steelers will know that if they win their final two regular-season games – against the Chiefs and then the Bengals, both at Acrisure Stadium – They will win the AFC North Division, the No. 3 seed in the playoffs, and likely a Wild Card Round game against Denver or the Chargers, also at Acrisure Stadium.

“We can’t worry about the next two,” Wilson said. “We just have to worry about the next game. We have to play on Wednesday. It will be a great atmosphere when we come home in front of our fans. Obviously we’ve been out in the past.” Playing in front of our fans and Terrible Towels for two weeks, so on Christmas Day, is a special day. You know it’s going to be a great fight, so the best thing we can do is keep our heads up.

“I think the best thing we can do is just look forward to playing in front of our fans, coming home and fighting for what we came here for and that opportunity is still in front of us .”