Winners and losers from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 28-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Saturday night’s Wild Card game.

WINNER

P Corliss Waitman

Waitman came on, fired the ball continuously and gave the Steelers good field position. He deserves a lot of credit for that, as Pittsburgh struggled early on. Waitman had weakened towards the end of the year, but ended 2024 on a positive note. He is under contract and expected to be promoted to camp next year while the team evaluates Cameron Johnston’s rehab.

WR Mike Williams/Van Jefferson/George Pickens

For receivers who play vertically. When the offense woke up in the second half, Williams, Jefferson and Pickens were caught offside. Williams with a nice switch/release for 37 yards, Jefferson with a 30-yard touchdown against a broken coverage and Pickens with a great hole shot for 36 yards that made the score 28-14 and at least 14 halfway interesting.

ILB Elandon Roberts

Roberts was the only front-seven player to earn high marks against the run, holding his own against Derrick Henry. His efforts alone didn’t produce anything close to good results, but his attitude and mentality are what Pittsburgh needs more of. The same goes for SS DeShon Elliott, who continued to impress as a consistent and reliable tackler in the open field. He led the team in total tackles.

LOSER

HC Mike Tomlin/DC Teryl Austin

Tomlin is here in part because the Steelers’ playoff losing streak continues. Now he has suffered six defeats in a row, he has to admit that, although it does not affect his job security. The Steelers know how to get to the playoffs, but have no idea when they arrive.

In the game, the early decision to punt instead of going for it on 4th and literal inches drew a lot of criticism. Rightly so. Baltimore turned the possession into a 13-play touchdown drive to take a 14-0 lead.

Austin and Tomlin’s game plan had few answers against a Baltimore offense that matched their style and was barely slowed down. Repeated failures as the defense gave up big points again in another playoff loss.

Interior Line/D-Line/EDGEs

Almost the entire front seven is housed there. Coach and scheme play a role, but Pittsburgh was also simply overwhelmed on the front line by Baltimore’s beefy front line. The Steelers couldn’t get out of the blocks, missed tackles and once again weren’t fundamentally healthy, which was a crucial component in having a chance against the Ravens. To name just one person: DL Larry Ogunjobi seemed to have an extremely lackluster game.

Even Alex Highsmith and TJ Watt did little in this game, although Highsmith did get a sack early in the second half. They didn’t match her caliber or salary.

The Ravens simply took the fight to the Steelers, who failed to counter effectively in what didn’t even seem a fair fight, and they set individual and collective records against Pittsburgh. Unacceptable performance in a single-elimination game.

CB Cam Sutton

Sutton could compete with tight ends in difficult situations, but was completely inferior in the passing game. On a replay, TE Isaiah Likely bounced it like a basketball on a downfield crosser. Sutton hasn’t played well since returning from a midseason suspension. Pittsburgh will need to look for new options at slot corner in the offseason to compete with Beanie Bishop Jr. The Steelers haven’t created any quality options or competition in the slot this offseason.

The “Plan” by Justin Fields

Less on the individual and more on the collective. Despite the media hype surrounding Fields’ appearance in this game, his impact was almost invisible. He was used in the opening attack to deliver a successful third and short ball, but was rarely seen for the rest of the game. Pittsburgh falling behind didn’t help, but with nothing going on offensively, the Steelers wouldn’t have been crazy to try Fields more often.

It certainly wasn’t The The reason for the loss, and I don’t want to make mountains of it, but yeah, burning the boats just set the Steelers on fire.