Steelers turn Ravens’ gamble into game-changing mistake that could propel them to an AFC North title
Jaylen Warren’s TD grab that sealed the Ravens’ fate was Baltimore’s own doing. Now, the Steelers are back on top of the AFC North.
There is a point in every game where the tables turn, and a team takes advantage of an opportunity to propel itself to victory. On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers had a few of those. The offensive revival that went down in Baltimore was thanks in large part to DK Metcalf’s best game in a Steelers uniform.
But there was also a play where the Steelers caught the Baltimore Ravens with their hands in the cookie jar, and it came back to bite them. Now, Pittsburgh is back atop the AFC North after a quick hiatus.
To break down the game-changing play, I spoke with Kyle Crabbs of A to Z Sports NFL.
Ravens gambled and lost on Jaylen Warren’s TD catch
Kyle: You won’t find very many easier touchdowns than this one for Aaron Rodgers. The Steelers came out in a 2×2 formation with Rodgers in the shotgun facing a 3rd & 4 on the fringe of scoring territory. Baltimore postured with a heavy pressure presence, mugging defenders in both A-gaps and showing Cover 0 on the back end with no deep defenders.
There was just one problem — The Steelers had too many touchdown targets to choose from. Ravens safety Alohi Gilman blitzed as the snap, along with both mugged up defenders in the interior gaps. It left TE Pat Freiermuth streaking up the seam wide open uncontested, while RB Jaylen Warren released fast to the flat.
The Ravens did look to drop rookie EDGE Mike Green as an add-on but he was quickly out-leveraged by Warren as Rodgers quickly dropped the ball down to Warren for a fast completion and a first down. But because the Steelers caught the Ravens in a blitz (and presumably an incorrectly called one based on Freiermuth being uncontested), there was no one left in pursuit to chase down the ball.
In short, the Ravens busted coverage here.
Ravens tried to give the Steelers a taste of their own medicine
Rob: To credit the Steelers here, you don’t see defenses bust coverages when they can stick to the script. As Kyle alluded to in his analysis, the Ravens had to dial up what is known as a simulated pressure. They were struggling to get home with four, and the static man coverage was getting tormented by DK Metcalf and Aaron Rodgers.
So Baltimore tried to get exotic. They bring the safety from depth and insert him as a blitzer while dropping Green off the edge. Sim pressures are very similar to what former Steelers DC Dick LeBeau created with his zone blitz.
But there are inherent flaws and potential castorophe baked into these designs. If one person misses an assignment, has their eyes in the wrong place, or decides to be an independent contractor, you have a wide-open back racing up the boundary and a TE screaming up the seam uncovered, just like the Steelers did.
Ultimately, the Steelers turned the Ravens’ gamble into a game-changing opportunity that now has them back atop the AFC.
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