The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off a winning performance in Week 17, a 30-23 win over the Seattle Seahawks, and with it being the team’s nineth win many fans’ hopes were resurrected as the team is pressing towards a hopeful AFC Playoff berth. The hope is there is a better performance on the horizon on Saturday in Week 18 when the team travels to play the Baltimore Ravens.

What exactly do the Steelers need to do to claim their tenth victory of 2023? Let’s break it down by offense and defense…

Offense

Protect the ball

It is no secret by now how important protecting the football is for this team. The Steelers are 2nd in the NFL in turnover differential with +11, and that recipe for success won’t change. Keep it clean in the turnover department, and be on your way to the 10th win of the season and keeping your postseason hopes alive.

Run the rock

The Steelers are coming off a 200+ yard performance vs. the Seahawks, and there is no reason why they shouldn’t be able to do the same vs. the Ravens back-ups. With Baltimore likely to rest the vast majority of their starters, the Steelers should be able to dictate the style of play in Week 18. That style should be running the ball to control the clock, and the tempo, like they did last week in Seattle.

Finish strong

Finishing strong isn’t just about finishing the regular season on a high note, but also finishing things off by way of third down conversions and in the red-zone. The Steelers had a whopping 7 trips to the red-zone last week, but only converted on 3 of those trips. Yes, Najee Harris took a knee instead of scoring, and others saw the team just playing for a score to make it a two-score game. Nonetheless, if they get 7 trips against Baltimore, put up 5 touchdowns and prove you belong. Finish strong.

Defense

Get after the QB

Believe it or not, but the Steelers have given up fewer sacks than the Ravens this year, and that was with Lamar Jackson being healthy the entire season. Lamar won’t be playing Saturday, and getting after Tyler Huntley behind some back-ups along the offensive line shouldn’t just be priority No. 1, but also a necessity to win.

Take it away

The Ravens are first in the NFL with a +12 turnover differential, but the Ravens have turned it over 17 times this season (4 more than the Steelers in 2023). Again, with Huntley at quarterback, you can scrap some, if not all, of the trends as it pertains to the Ravens offense. Nonetheless, the Steelers taking the ball away, regardless of who is playing, remains a necessity.

Stop the run

While the Steelers won the game Sunday in Seattle, there were moments where the defense was getting gashed by the run. Kenneth Walker averaged over 5.0 yards per carry, and don’t think for a second Justice Hill can’t duplicate that kind of success against the Steelers run defense. If you want to win and stay alive, you have to make the Ravens, and Huntley, one-dimensional.

I talk about this, and MUCH more on the latest episode of “Let’s Ride”, and you can hear that podcast in the player below this article. In the meantime, be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the team as they gear up for game time!