Steelers Great Blasts Mike Tomlin And The Defensive Coaching Staff For Tactics Deployed Against The Ravens

The Pittsburgh Steelers saw their 2024 season end at the hands of their rival, the Baltimore Ravens. Pittsburgh lost its Wild Card round matchup in Baltimore on Saturday night as the team put up an embarrassing performance and lost the game by a score of 28-14. There were plenty of issues to point to in the loss. The offense was completely lifeless in the first half, the Steelers committed multiple penalties on special teams, and the defense couldn't contain the run from the Ravens. 

Historically, Pittsburgh has been the only team in the NFL that has truly been able to play well against Baltimore while also shutting down Lamar Jackson. Jackson is one of the most threatening quarterbacks in the league, as he is an elite passer and the best runner of the football at the position. 

The quarterback ran for 81 yards against Pittsburgh on Saturday night, and his legs were certainly a big factor in the win. Former Steelers outside linebacker James Harrison took to social media and disagreed with Pittsburgh's defensive game plan.

Harrison is referencing the way the Steelers were defending the zone option from the Ravens offense. A zone option is when the quarterback has the option to give the ball to the running back, or pull it and take it themselves. 

They typically make this decision by reading the last defender on the line of scrimmage, which is usually a defensive end or outside linebacker. It was clear the Steelers coached their defense throughout the week to crash down on the running back, which would force Jackson to hold onto the football.

If the Ravens ran this zone option to the right side, TJ Watt would crash down as if Derrick Henry had the ball no matter what. In recent matchups the defense would play this scheme the opposite way, which always seemed to be effective. The worst part about this is that the Steelers rarely had anyone behind Watt to play Jackson if he did keep the ball. This often led to decent a decent gain for the Ravens, which usually meant a first down or their offense being ahead of schedule on the downs.

On only one instance did the Steelers have Watt play Henry, and then have a linebacker scrape across the formation to play Jackson. Payton Wilson filed in behind Watt to play Jackson, and it worked as the Ravens barely gained a yard. This should have been the plan in every single one of these situations, or Pittsburgh should have just played Jackson like they had in the past.

To make matters worse, the defensive staff chose to play the zone read in this way to minimize the damage done by Henry. He still found a way to average more than seven yards per carry, and he rushed for 186 yards and two touchdowns in the game.

Steelers' Mike Tomlin And Teryl Austin Directly Responsible For This Decision

Head Coach Mike Tomlin plays a heavy role in the defense, as does Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin. They each certainly played a role in having the defense defend the zone read in this manner, and it is maddening that they thought it would work. Pittsburgh was getting killed on it early in the game, yet no adjustments were made. 

This is why the fanbase gets so infuriated by this coaching staff. Tomlin and his staff try to do things a specific way, and when it clearly does not work there is no attempt to fix it. Baltimore was able to run the ball down the Steelers throats in the game in what was a completely embarrassing performance. Execution by players could have been better, but the game plan for this game was certainly flawed.

What do you think of what the Steelers defense was planned to do? Let us know in the comments below!

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