Among the NFL Wild Card fixtures, the bout between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens was one of the most anticipated, as it promised a tight affair. In reality, however, the matchup was a one-way traffic, as Lamar Jackson & Co. dominated the Steelers 28-14.
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While many admittedly did not expect to see the Steelers losing so haplessly, Nightcap host Shannon Sharpe was not surprised. The legendary tight end knew that for the Steelers to contain the deadly duo of Derrick and Lamar, Mike Tomlin would have to instruct his defenders to focus majorly on them, allowing the Ravens wide receivers to make their mark.
As expected, Shannon Sharpe’s pre-game hunch proved true, as Mike Tomlin employed eight men near the scrimmage line to contain Derrick Henry’s run.
Lamar, skilled with his running game, could easily bypass this, however. He distributed the ball to his receivers, causing the Steelers’ defense to break down. This disorganized Steelers secondary was unsurprisingly overrun by Derrick Henry, with the game effectively decided by halftime, the score reading 20-0.
“The Ravens dominated this game even though the Steelers came out and sped up the tempo in the second half. [But] I really never was worried because they had to commit too much to stop the run. There’s a couple of plays that I saw where they had eight men on the line of scrimmage. Not eight men in the box, but eight men at the line of scrimmage!”
Interestingly enough, Nightcap co-host Chad Johnson agreed with Sharpe’s assessment; albeit with a twist. Chad argued that the only way to counter the Ravens’ offense was to go toe to toe with them offensively. Ocho believed that OC Arthur Smith should have devised a game plan that could maximize Russell Wilson and George Pickens’ abilities to outscore the opponent.
“The Ravens dominated from the start to finish. I said it before the game started that for the Steelers to have a chance in this game, you got to counter Lamar Jackson, you got to counter Derrick Henry and the production that they were going to produce. You weren’t going to have drives… Arthur Smith had to call a different type of game… the game plan should have been finding different ways to get the one offensive weapon you have.”
Despite the idea sounding radical, the former Bengals WR makes a valid point. Conceding without scoring is like taking out a loan and not doing anything with the money. Over-committing defenders is risky, and not counter-attacking afterward is a misuse of that risk.
At the very least, controlling the tempo and attacking back could have given them a fighting chance — something the Steelers tried doing in the second half with some success.
