Steelers @ Ravens Film Room - Passing Out Flowers - A Vintage Performance by Rodgers
Screenshot via NFL+
Like a lot of the Steelers wins this season, playing this brand of ball doesn’t feel super sustainable, hence why there’s already 6 notches in their loss column. With that being said, I despise the Ravens with every fiber of my being, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the all-22 of this game, specifically the Steelers offense. I’ve got some flowers to pass out:
I think back to the loss at Cincinnati earlier this season, and how bad the secondary looked at the time. We often had Ramsey at NB, with Slay and JPJ outside, and someone from that bunch wasn’t able to do their job…I’ll let yinz speculate. Anyway, I said after that loss that James Pierre and Brandin Echols needed more playing time expeditiously (I’m paraphrasing), and thank goodness that’s exactly what happened. These days, you can usually find Echols (#26) in the slot, JPJ (#24) and James Pierre (#42) outside, and Jalen Ramsey (#5) at FS. Since the Steelers made that adjustment, DB play has improved significantly. In the play above, we see Brandin Echols get a PBU on a shot in the end zone to Zay Flowers. Flowers’ speed and acceleration are out of this world, so this is a hell of a rep from 26. I think I can speak for everyone and say that we’re glad to have Echols on board.
We got a vintage Aaron Rodgers performance on Sunday, didn’t we? In the play above, the Ravens are in Cover 1, and Rodgers holds that FS in the middle of the field with his eyes for JUST a split second. That split second before he commits to DK Metcalf (#4) is all the time Rodgers needed to drop that ball in a bucket for him for 28 yards. Beautiful throw and a beautiful job by Rodgers to manipulate the rookie FS Malaki Starks - the rest is on Metcalf who makes an awesome catch on the sideline. Rodgers was able to take advantage of single-high looks all day long with his eyes and with play-action.
Here’s another single-high look shading to DK Metcalf’s side of the field. No manipulation tactics here, though. We’re just gonna throw to the other side of the field. As soon as Calvin Austin III (#19) gets a step, Rodgers telegraphs this thing perfectly where only his guy can get it for 31 yards. This is a real far cry from the guy that we have had throwing the football for the month prior to this game, but I digress. When Rodgers is playing with confidence, there’s few that have ever been able to spin a football the way he can. Regardless of your thoughts or feelings about him, you gotta admit that it’s pretty cool to see him competing and making a playoff push in what is likely his last year playing football.
The offensive line has been one of the few consistent units this year, in my humble opinion, and Sunday in Baltimore was no different. Andrus Peat/Broderick Jones almost feels like a wash to me, although it’s worth noting that Peat has been called for pre-snap penalties in back-to-back weeks now. We’ll be in the OT market this offseason, I’m sure. For now, though, this unit is playing at a high level. This play (above) was the first play of the second half, so fresh bodies for both sides, and Aaron Rodgers had all day long to dance around and wait for DK Metcalf to get open for a 41-yard gain.
This was a massive win for the trajectory of our season, no doubt. The win would mean a hell of a lot less if we don’t handle business against the Dolphins on Monday.
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