The Pittsburgh Steelers ended the regular season with more of a whimper than a bang, losing four straight entering the playoffs. The Steelers are also on a historical losing streak in the postseason, as they have lost five straight playoff games and have allowed 30 points in each of those five playoff games. That’s the longest streak in NFL history.
Quarterback Russell Wilson has averaged 174.5 passing yards per game, and accounted for five touchdowns compared to four turnovers during this four-game losing streak. Scoring has been an issue, as the Steelers have averaged 14.3 points per game in Weeks 15-18. What can Pittsburgh do to spark the offense against the Baltimore Ravens this weekend? More Justin Fields could be an option.
“I’m certainly open to utilizing Justin,” head coach Mike Tomlin told reporters, via the Steelers’ official website. “He has an awesome skill set. We’ve done some of that in the past. We’ve done less of it in recent weeks. He experienced an injury a couple of weeks back that slowed some of that. But certainly in an effort to win this game. I am open to any combination or combinations of the division of labor in an effort to do so, and so I’m certainly open to that as we develop plans this week.”
Since being benched for Wilson, Fields has played sparingly. He’s attempted one pass, which fell incomplete, and rushed seven times for a total of 58 yards.
Steelers vs. Ravens is the first playoff game to feature one team on a four-game losing streak, and one team on a four-game winning streak. The two rivals split their meetings in the regular season, with Pittsburgh pulling out an 18-16 defensive victory at home in Week 11, and then the Ravens got revenge in the form of a 34-17 beatdown in Week 16.
The Steelers defense will have to be up to the challenge of containing Lamar Jackson and that explosive Ravens offensive attack, but the Steelers offense is also going to have to play much better than it has in the last month.
