The Pittsburgh Steelers walked out of Sunday night with a 26–24 win, an AFC North title, and a playoff home game — but buried inside that celebration is a defensive problem that nearly handed the Ravens the division on a silver platter.
Twice.
On nearly identical concepts.
To the exact same part of the field.
With nobody there to stop it.
Baltimore didn’t stumble into those touchdowns. They diagnosed a structural weakness in Pittsburgh’s coverage — and attacked it twice in the biggest moments of the game.
First Quarter: 4th-and-3, Walker Walks In
Early in the first quarter, Baltimore faced 4th-and-3 from the Steelers’ 38-yard line and aligned in a wide trips bunch. Pittsburgh showed pressure and presented what looked like a seven-man rush before bailing Kyle Dugger into the low hole as a spy and underneath helper.
Jalen Rams ey was the innermost defender over the bunch. Given the down and distance and the six-man pressure, he was clearly playing sticks first, expecting a quick throw.
Instead, Baltimore ran a classic bunch switch:
A fade
A drag
And a deep crossing route
The pressure never got near Lamar Jackson. Ramsey had to guess. And because Pittsburgh had no backside help defender in the deep middle, Devontez Walker ran across the field completely untouched for an easy touchdown.
Ramsey got beat — but the deeper problem was schematic. Wide bunch formations almost always include deep crossers. Leaving the deep middle empty while telling your DBs to sit on the sticks is not just risky — it’s structurally unsound.
Baltimore punished it immediately.
Fourth Quarter: Same Problem, New Wrinkle
After Pittsburgh had just taken the lead with under three minutes remaining, the Ravens went right back to that same weak point — this time from a tight stack with a backfield wrinkle.
Devontez Walker was the outside receiver on the stack. Zay Flowers was inside. Isaiah Likely aligned in the backfield inside a tackle who was in a wide split.
Baltimore showed toss action to Derrick Henry, and nearly the entire Steelers defense reacted.
The routes overloaded Pittsburgh vertically and horizontally:
Likely ran a wheel that turned into a fade.
Walker ran a straight go.
Flowers slipped out of the stack and ran the deep crossing route.
Joey Porter Jr. Stayed disciplined and carried Walker. Two linebackers chased Likely’s wheel/fade. Kyle Dugger tried to get over the top of the vertical stress. Jalen Ramsey buzzed into the low hole, appearing to remain responsible for spying Lamar Jackson.
Once again — nobody was left in the deep middle.
Flowers crossed the field untouched and walked into the end zone — the same result, to the same space, for the same reason.
This Wasn’t Bad Luck — It Was a Bad Structure
Presnap, there was no clear deep middle defender.
Post-snap, there was still no deep middle defender.
On both touchdowns, there was no backside help opposite the passing strength.
That strongly suggests the Steelers were guessing run or quick game in both situations and building their coverage structure around that assumption. Baltimore countered with deep crossers — and Pittsburgh had no structural answers built into the call.
You can point to individual mistakes — Ramsey buzzing low, Samuel slipping, linebackers chasing vertical routes — but those mistakes only became catastrophic because the coverage had no safety net.
There was nobody home.
Final Thought
Pittsburgh survived. They won the game. They won the division.
But Baltimore exposed a real coverage flaw — one that showed up twice, on two nearly identical concepts, in the biggest moments of the game.
Two missing help defenders.
Two empty deep middles.
Two touchdowns that nearly changed the season.
Better offenses won’t miss that window.
And if the Steelers don’t fix this, the next time they see it, they might not be so lucky.