The Pittsburgh Steelers have lost back-to-back games for the second time this year as they fell 34-17 to the Ravens on Saturday. The Steelers offense moved the ball much better than the previous game, but costly turnover might be the biggest story. If not, then a beat up secondary or continued missed tackles could also be the culprit. Regardless, the Steelers still control their own destiny when it comes to winning the AFC North.

So without further ado, here are some of the numbers involved in the Steelers Week 16 loss to the Ravens.

-1

For the first time since Week 10, the Pittsburgh Steelers were on the wrong side of the turnover margin. With one takeaway of their own, the Steelers turned the ball over twice against the Baltimore Ravens. Unfortunately, the Steelers turned the ball over the first time inside the 5-yard line as Russell Wilson was running toward the end zone. Not only did this take potentially 7 points off the board for the Steelers, the Ravens answered with an 8-play, 96-yard drive for a touchdown. The Steelers other turnover, which came only two plays after Minkah Fitzpatrick got his first interception of the season to keep the Ravens off the scoreboard, led directly to 7 points as Russell Wilson’s pass was returned for a touchdown.

220

In what was likely the biggest game-changing stat other than the turnovers was the Ravens’ 220 rushing yards on 38 carries. With a 5.8 yards per carry average, the Steelers simply could not slow down the Ravens rushing attack. It was the first time the Steelers had given up over 200 yards since giving up 215 to the Ravens in Week 14 of 2022, which just so happened to be the other loss to the Ravens in the last 10 games. Leading the way was Derrick Henry who finished with 162 yards on 24 carries.

0

Despite the Steelers having one sack for the game when Alex Highsmith forced a fumble which the Ravens were able to recover, the statistics, according to the Steelers media website, had the Steelers with no quarterback hits. According to Pro Football Reference, it was the first time the Steelers did not register a quarterback hit since Week 14 of last season against the New England Patriots.

4.9

Although the Steelers defense had problems stopping the run, their offense ran the ball pretty effectively. The Steelers finished the game with 117 rushing yards on 24 carries which equates to a 4.9 average. Jaylen Warren led the way with 48 rushing yards on 12 carries for a 4.0-yard average while Najee Harris had 42 yards on 9 carries for a 4.7-yard average. Russell Wilson also added 27 yards on 3 carries for a 9.0-yard average.

40%

One way that the Steelers and Ravens did not separate themselves in this game was when it came to third down conversions. The Steelers had a 40% conversion rate as they were 4 for 10 on third downs. Likewise, the Ravens offense had the exact same conversion rate of 4 of 10. The only difference between the two teams was the Steelers were 0 for 1 on fourth down attempts while the Ravens did not go for a fourth down play in the game.

2 vs. 5

When looking at red zone efficiency, the numbers could be slightly misleading. The Steelers had a 100% conversion rate in the red zone as they were 2 for 2, but the Ravens were only 60% in the red zone as they were successful in scoring touchdowns on 3 of their 5 drives. So while the Steelers had a better percentage, the fact that the Ravens reached the red zone five times compared to the Steelers’ two times allowed them to score more red zone touchdowns.

20:14

Despite the Steelers ultimately losing the game by 17 points, this game was tied with just over 1/3 of the time left to go in the game. The Steelers tied the game on a 12-yard touchdown pass to Cordarrelle Patterson with 5:14 left in the third quarter, but after the score things fell apart. Although the next play brought a kickoff out of bounds, starting with the ball at the 40-yard line is only 10 yards farther than the rules now for a touchback. But the Ravens went 60 yards and 6 plays and never reached third down to score what was ultimately the game-winning score of a 7-yard touchdown pass to Mark Andrews. The Steelers ensuing drive failed on the 4th & 6 at the Baltimore 45-yard line on the first play of the fourth quarter. After the Ravens got the ball almost to the Steelers 10 yard line on one play, Minkah Fitzpatrick got his first interception in the season. But two plays later Russell Wilson threw the pick six which gave the Ravens a 14-point lead. After this, the Steelers only managed 27 yards of offense on their final two possessions with only three first downs where both drives ended in a punt.

2

Unfortunately, the Steelers happened to catch the Ravens in one of their better performances of the season. Not only were they able to score their first defensive touchdown of the season, it was also only the second game of the year where the Ravens had multiple takeaways with the other being in Week 7 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Additionally, the Ravens came into this game as the most penalized team in the NFL averaging 8.5 penalties for 71.9 yards per game yet only had 2 accepted penalties for 10 yards on the day. Both of the penalities were false starts on the offense each for 5 yards. The Ravens did have one other offensive holding call but was declined.

4

There’s not a lot of time for the Steelers to mull over this loss as in four days they will be hosting the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas Day. Even though there are a lot of things that need corrected, the Steelers barely have enough time to recover physically before they have to take the field again and will not get much on-field preparation, if any.

0

it’s the second time this season where the Steelers have not put a tally in the win column in back-to-back games. Although the Steelers were playing two of the best teams in the NFL the last two games, this time they lost by a combined 31 points in the last two games compared to a total of 6 points the last time they had a two-game losing streak.

So there are some numbers to help put the Steelers Week 16 loss in perspective. Even though the Steelers still control their own destiny to win the AFC North, their margin for error has been erased..

So what numbers from Sunday’s game stand out to you? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.