The Steelers are losing their mojo at a critical juncture in the AFC playoff seeding push

BALTIMORE – This week, the Pittsburgh Steelers dubbed their Week 16 game against the Baltimore Ravens a “game of t-shirts and hats.”

A win would have clinched the AFC North and a home playoff game for Pittsburgh. Instead, they left with frowns instead of division champion uniforms after a 34-17 loss Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium.

Pittsburgh lost in the most uncharacteristic and least like Steelers way possible: dominated by the Ravens on both sides of the line of scrimmage and deficient in turnover margin, while simultaneously missing opportunities to win in this contest. A fumble near the goal line by quarterback Russell Wilson and an interception to Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who returned it for a touchdown, were two game-changing plays that had the Steelers on the wrong side.

“You have to control the run and the offensive line,” Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said. “The turnover game is always important in such encounters. We have failed in both areas. So if you do that, you should expect to lose.”

Derrick Henry ran 24 times for 162 yards and the Steelers gave up 220 total yards on the ground. The Ravens had seven rushing plays of more than 8 yards; Henry’s longest run was a 44-yard run on the first play of the game after Wilson missed a deep shot into the end zone – broken up by All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton – intended for wideout Calvin Austin, which opened the fourth quarter .

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Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted Jackson from the Pittsburgh 11-yard line on the next play. Two plays later, however, he made his way into the end zone.

“Sudden change” was an area where the Steelers struggled against Baltimore, defensive lineman Cam Heyward said.

“It’s just that the recipe we had tonight wasn’t conducive to winning this game,” Heyward said.

If they don’t “acknowledge” their performance and learn from it, the mistakes will continue, Heyward said. The Steelers have a home game against the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs on Wednesday, Christmas Day.

“We’re going to play good teams week in and week out, especially going into the playoffs,” Heyward said. “There is no sad team there.”

It’s the most brutal stretch of the Steelers’ schedule, whose defense has allowed 38, 27, 14 (against the Cleveland Browns) and 34 points, respectively, in the last four games. The Steelers went on a bye in Week 9 and scored 14.9 points per game. The competition has certainly proven tougher and injuries have increased on both sides. Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is using Wilson differently than Justin Fields, who started the first six games of the season and was among a significant list of inactive players for the Steelers on Saturday — including cornerback Donte Jackson, safety DeShon Elliott and defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi.

“It’s a team game. “It’s a complementary game,” Heyward said, mentioning last season’s win at Baltimore in Week 18 that ultimately gave the Steelers a run into the playoffs, with Mason Rudolph at quarterback an example of how injuries are part of that game are. “When we’re at our best, we play really good complementary football.”

Tomlin said missed tackles by the defense were a problem for the second straight game. On Jackson’s 9-yard touchdown to Isaiah Likely with 5:52 left in the first quarter, a late Ravens move clearly rattled the Steelers’ secondary and left Likely wide open up the middle.

“It’s definitely concerning,” Tomlin said of dealing with the problems. “We have to do better.”

To do this, his team has to “go back to the laboratory”. For fullback Alex Highsmith, it comes down to who is the more physical team.

“When we are successful, we break the blocks and make tackles,” he said. “We didn’t do that enough today. You just have to be physically fitter, especially against a team like this. They are one of the best in the league and we have to be physical when we play them.”

The Steelers seemed allergic to loose football for much of the game. Twice in the first six minutes the Ravens put the ball on the ground – once when Highsmith strip-sacked Jackson, and again during a punt return. In neither case did the Steelers manage to get the ball back, and with less than two minutes left, they missed a third chance with a blown punt.

“I just think we need to start faster,” said outside linebacker TJ Watt, who entered the game with an ankle injury and was kept quiet (one solo tackle, three total). “We have to get going. … We have to rely on our brothers in run defense. We just have to do things that make the defense good. We didn’t do that tonight.”

The Steelers are not incapable of passing the ball. But Pittsburgh hasn’t done well enough to have subpar quarterback play that relies on a depleted receiving corps. George Pickens missed his third straight game, and Wilson sorely misses him in the deep passing game, although Austin is doing his best to fill that role. Ben Skowronek had two early goals and appeared to be in rhythm with Wilson, but left in the first quarter with a hip injury and did not return. Tight end Pat Freiermuth had three catches for 16 yards on three targets. Wilson threw for more than 200 yards (217 on 22 of 33 passing) for the first time in three weeks and looked like the best version of himself as he rotated out of the pocket and dropped a dime on a play or two.

“Things happen,” running back Jaylen Warren. “We are a team that usually counterattacks. We don’t view this as a loss of momentum.”

However, Wilson definitely showed his 36 years on this earth with about 11 minutes left in the second quarter. After a second-and-6 from the Baltimore 23-yard line, Wilson fell behind with nothing but grass in front of him. A millisecond of hesitation passed before he took off, but it looked like he would make it to the end zone. But Ravens defender Ar’Darius Washington closed the gap and Wilson turned awkwardly, trying to get a final block. In an instant, Wilson was in the air and the ball was on the ground.

“I looked at the play in the sense that there are two great opportunities there,” Wilson said, referring to the fumble and pick-six in the fourth quarter.

“Unacceptable,” he added of the fumble.

One thing Wilson wouldn’t do is keep his head down, he said.

“We’ve done a lot of good things all year,” said Wilson, who missed the first six games of the season with a calf injury. “We can’t let a game like this put us in a negative mood because there’s a lot more that we’re playing and looking for.”

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The Steelers are losing their mojo at a critical juncture in the AFC playoff seeding push

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