The Pittsburgh Steelers were back on the field Saturday for the Wild Card Round of the postseason when they traveled to play the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium. The Steelers were losers in the contest, but that doesn’t mean every player had a good or bad performance.

Players who play well can be considered ‘Winners’, while those who left a lot to be desired can be called ‘Losers’. It may sound harsh, but it is the crux of this exercise.

Let’s check in to see who fell on which side of the ledger after the latest game…

Winners

Cam Heyward
Stat Line: 10 tackles, 3 solo, 2 TFL

I really struggled to find a genuine winner for this game, but when looking at the stat line combined with how players showed up on the screen, Heyward deserves the honor. The same week he was named to 1st Team All-Pro by the Associated Press, Heyward capped off a tremendous season with another solid game. Heyward didn’t make the splash plays many may have wanted, but he was solid in every aspect of the word.

Corliss Waitman
Stat Line: 5 punts, 51.4 ave., 0 TB, 5 Inside 20

Maybe this is a season-long behind the scenes winner, but when you look at what Waitman had to do in 2025, it was impressive. Coming in after Cameron Johnston’s injury, and he doesn’t miss a beat. He hopped on that “moving train” and had only one truly bad punt, the shank in the snow in Cleveland. He was great as a holder and punter, and deserves some positive recognition after the season has concluded.

Losers 

Mike Tomlin
Stat Line: Blame starts here, no playoff win since 2016

Where to begin? Another double-digit deficit at halftime? Another playoff loss? The team visibly not prepared for a division rival they are playing for the third time this season? The blame starts with Tomlin and bleeds its way down to player execution. There is so much more to dig into here, and I’ll do so in separate articles. But for now, Tomlin is the biggest loser of them all.

1st Half Performance
Stat Line: Trailed 21-0

When you consider the Steelers recent postseason failures, there is always a trend. Getting down by multiple scores before the offense wakes up and the defense starts to settle in. Despite being down just 7-0 at halftime, 14 unanswered 2nd quarter points made it a 21-0 score at halftime. Same old song and dance.

Run Defense 
Stat Line: BAL: 50 attempts, 299 yards, 6.0 ave., 2 TDs

Losing is one thing, but getting dominated in the run game is another. We’ve seen this defense collapse down the stretch in every possible way. Patrick Mahomes carved them up through the air, and the Ravens gashed them with the ground game…twice. Did the Eagles break the Steelers? I don’t think so, they just showed the world this is the most overrated defense in the NFL. Is it the players or the coaching? The answer to both is yes.

Pass Defense
Stat Line: Lamar – 16/21, 175 yards, 8.3 ave., 2 TD, 0 INT, 1 sack for 10, 132.0 Rating

While the Steelers couldn’t stop a JV team in the run department, the pass defense wasn’t any better. More miscommunication in the back half, players jogging around the field, and Lamar Jackson just picking his spots when it matters most. The Steelers secondary did have to hold up with the pass rush not getting home, but there were penalties and players running wide open all evening. When it rains, it pours.

3rd Down
Stat Line: BAL: 10/15, PIT: 5/11

This loser is two-fold. We’ll call it a BOGO (Buy One, Get One). The Steelers 3rd down defense was atrocious, never being able to get off the field as the Ravens converted on 10 of their 15 3rd down attempts. On the offensive side of the ball, the Steelers 5 of 11 wasn’t horrible, but too many of those conversions came in the second half when it all felt like it was too-little-too-late. The Steelers couldn’t win on the weighty downs, on either side of the ball.

Rushing Offense
Stat Line: 11 attempts, 29 yards, 2.6 ave.

When the game gets out of hand quickly, it can tilt the game into a pass-happy attack to try and somehow get back into the contest. But as I said earlier, the score was 7-0 after the first quarter and the Steelers just never tried to run the ball. The Steelers wanted to throw the ball, and that was the plan for this game coming into it, and avoiding the running game let the time of possession tile heavily in the Ravens’ favor.

Time of Possession
Stat Line: BAL – 39:33 / PIT – 20:27

Speaking of time of possession, the Steelers were almost doubled up in this category, again. Remember when the Steelers recipe for success was to control the time of possession and get timely takeaways? The Steelers couldn’t run the ball in this game, and the defense couldn’t stop the run. That’s a recipe for losing the time of possession, and ultimately the game.

Red-Zone
Stat Line: PIT – 0/0 / BAL – 3/4

Just like on 3rd downs, the red-zone was a very telling statistic for this Steelers team. Let’s start on offense, the Steelers never even reached the red-zone once. Not once. The unit didn’t even get to the Baltimore side of the field until the second half, and their scores came outside the red-zone. But think about that, not one trip to the red-zone. Meanwhile, the Raevns’ red-zone offense was perfect. Their only failure was when they took a knee to end the game. The red-zone woes on both  sides of the ball never got rectified down the stretch.

Takeaways
Stat Line: 0

The Steelers recipe for success, as stated earlier, was to dominate the time of possession, don’t turn it over, and get key takeaways to turn the tide. Whether you like this philosophy or not, that’s what the Steelers want to do to claim victory. The Steelers only did one of those three things vs. Baltimore Saturday night, and that was not turning the ball over. The takeaways dried up really fast, and without it they didn’t stand a chance in Baltimore.

Justin Fields “Package”
Stat Line: Never used, too predictable

Remember when everyone was talking about how Fields athleticism was going to help spur the Steelers offense. To give them an added dynamic to the offense? What happened to that? What happened was the coaching staff, and maybe player execution, was unable to use Fields without being unbelievably predictable. This could have been a really good facet of the Steelers offense, but instead it turned into nothing more than something the opposition has to prepare for, yet not face. Maybe that was Tomlin’s plan all along, knowing he’d never put Fields out there other than a decoy or specific short-yardage situations.

Another Tumultuous Offseason
Stat Line: Here we go again

Buckle up folks, it’s going to be another crazy offseason. One position group shows that perfectly. Quarterback. One year after completely overhauling the position, the team could be doing it again. All three quarterbacks on the roster, Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, Kyle Allen, are all free agents this offseason. Who will be back? Who won’t? What about the coaching staff? Are major changes coming? Like I said, if you’re a die hard fan this offseason could be memorable for a variety of reasons.

The Loyal Fans
Stat Line: Falling for it year after year

While Mike Tomlin is the biggest loser after this game, a close second would be us, the fans. The people who follow this team closely, live and die for every game, and put their hard earned money out there for things like jerseys, tickets and other gear. We are the losers for falling for this farce every week. We are the ones who get conned into thinking things will be different. There were new players this season, but the same result. While some want to point at the common denominator, I look at this team and realize without major changes, not just in the roster, nothing will ever change. It’s just rinse and repeat.

If you want a more detailed look at the above list, check out my “Let’s Ride” podcast in the player below where I outline each Winner and Loser, and MORE!