Steelers tasked with solving NFL's hottest defense when they face Ravens in wild-card matchup

It’s not lost on the Pittsburgh Steelers that their opponent in the NFL’s wild-card playoff round doesn’t just possess the league’s top-ranked offense but also the stingiest defense over the final eight weeks of the season.

Starting with their Week 11 meeting with the Steelers — when they didn’t allow a touchdown in an 18-16 defeat — the Baltimore Ravens have gone from fielding one of the worst defensive units in the NFL to statistically the best.

In their final seven games, including a 34-17 victory against the Steelers in the AFC North rematch, the Ravens embarked on a defensive turnaround that has included totaling NFL bests in fewest total yards, passing yards, yards per play and points per game.

It’s one of the reasons the Ravens (12-5) are nearly double-digit favorites to beat the Steelers (10-7) when they meet at 8 p.m. Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium for the chance to advance to the divisional round.

“I’ve seen a tremendous sea of change in some of the things that they’re doing over the second half of the year,” coach Mike Tomlin said earlier in the week.

And this sea of change has the Ravens playing their best defense since perhaps the 2000s when Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs were collecting paychecks.

“They’ve got elite players at all three levels,” tight end Pat Freiermuth said. “They all have been feeding off that.”

Of the NFL-high nine Ravens players who were selected to the Pro Bowl, four can be found on defense: tackle Nnamdi Madubuike, linebacker Roquan Smith, safety Kyle Hamilton and cornerback Marlon Humphrey.

While Madubuike and Smith have played familiar dominating roles at their respective positions this season, Hamilton and Humphrey had their star power solidified by a midseason position change. Hamilton went from playing several spots in the secondary to exclusively manning free safety. Humphrey settled in at the slot position after spending time at outside cornerback.

The results have been eye-opening.

The Ravens went from allowing 367.9 yards per game, which ranked No. 27, to giving up just 261.7 — a reduction of more than 100 yards per game. They are yielding 15.4 points, nearly 10 fewer less than the first half of season. They also are allowing a league-low 5.8 yards per pass attempt after permitting 7.9 — which was No. 29 — through 10 weeks.

“They are putting all their players in the right position now,” wide receiver Mike Williams said. “Throughout the weeks they found out where everybody is good at. Putting them in that position and sticking with that, not putting too much on their plate.”

Perhaps the biggest improvement by the Ravens defense has come on third down. They went from a No. 30 ranking to the top spot, cutting opponents’ conversion percentage from 46.7 to 29.7. Other changes involved making Ar’Darius Washington a full-time starter at safety and acquiring veteran cornerback Tre’Davious White from the Los Angeles Rams at the trading deadline.

“They calmed a couple things down,” offensive coordinator Arthur Smith said. “They’ve really simplified some things to me, and that’s what you’re seeing. They’ve gotten really good at it.”

The turnaround also coincided with the Ravens adding former defensive coordinator Dean Pees as a senior adviser. With the Ravens defense lacking stability in the first half of the season, Pees was brought back to assist first-year defensive coordinator Zach Orr.

“It’s very evident,” Tomlin said. “They remain aggressive schematically, but they do so while being prudent. They’re using a lot of bogus pressure, and that’s a signature of Dean Pees football. They’ll show the semblance of pressure but still distribute seven in coverage. That minimizes some of the one-on-one matchups on the back end, and that minimizes the potential for big plays. That’s a significant change for them.”

The Ravens finished the season on a four-game winning streak, which occurred immediately after the team’s bye. Orr, though, saw results starting to take shape when the Ravens faced the Steelers Nov. 17 at Acrisure Stadium.

“Even though we lost, it was the best we felt like we played, and it was the style of play that we wanted to play,” Orr said. “Physical, max effort, togetherness, guys not looking to point the finger or anything like that. I think that’s when it really started to turn. We realized we could build on that.”

The Ravens went 5-1 after that meeting, losing only to the Philadelphia Eagles. Aside from avenging that loss to the Steelers, they also scored wins over two other playoff teams in that span — Houston and the Los Angeles Chargers.

“It’s something that we all knew we could do, and we’re proud of it,” Hamilton said. “We finished the season strong, but at the same time, we’re about to go into the playoffs. No one really cares about that anymore. It’s a one-week life that we’re living, so we’re just focused on doing it against the Steelers.”