Aaron Rodgers has ‘full confidence’ that Steelers will beat Ravens in Week 18

CLEVELAND — Instead of wearing division champion hats and T-shirts, Aaron Rodgers and the rest of the Pittsburgh Steelers wore a somber look on their faces after Sunday’s 13-6 upset loss to the Cleveland Browns.

Before he and his teammates began the trip back to Pittsburgh, Rodgers sent a message to his teammates ahead of next week’s home game against the Baltimore Ravens that will determine who wins the AFC North and the playoff berth that comes with it.

“I’m confident we’ll go home and win next week,” Rodgers said.

Why does he give Rodgers this confidence?

“Because we’ve been doing it all season,” he said. “We handled adversity well and when we had to play our best ball, we did. Except today.”

Rodgers is right. The Steelers overcame an ugly home loss to the Seahawks in Week 2 with three straight wins that gave them a sizable lead in the AFC North through five weeks. And after five losses in seven games leaving them at 6-6 in 12 weeks, the Steelers responded with four straight wins that put them on the verge of winning the division on Sunday with a week to play.

The Steelers are certainly capable of responding to adversity again, but it won’t be enough to get the job done. Simply put, they can’t afford another offensive performance like the one that took place Sunday in Cleveland. If they do, they’ll watch the Ravens celebrate a division title next Sunday on their home turf and dime.

While DK Metcalf’s absence (via his two-game suspension) was supposed to slow down the Steelers’ offense, it wasn’t supposed to stop it like it did on Sunday. In that regard, was Sunday’s game a chance for the Steelers offense to see how teams would play them without Metcalf?

“You could say that,” Steelers running back Jaylen Warren said afterward.

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Rodgers in particular was inexplicably lost after putting together a four-game stretch that evoked memories of his MVP seasons with the Packers. He threw low-percentage passes and made tough decisions, like his bomb to Scott Miller on fourth-and-1 from the Browns 22-yard line late in the first half that fell incomplete. The turnover on downs negated Jack Sawyer’s interception of Shedeur Sanders that gave Pittsburgh possession deep in Browns territory.

“One-on-one,” Rodgers said when asked about his decision to throw deep to Miller in that situation.

As he did late in the first half, Rodgers quickly put the Steelers in the end zone as the game ended. But he finished the game with three consecutive passes to Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who was closely covered by perennial Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward. Rodgers then yelled at the officials for pass interference, but to no avail.

“It was definitely interference,” he said afterward.

The fact that Kenneth Gainwell had gotten open underneath before Rodgers released the ball added insult to injury to Rodgers’ final incompletion.

The turning point of the game came on Pittsburgh’s second drive of the second half. Trailing 10-6, Rodgers engineered a 13-play drive that lasted more than eight minutes on the clock. Rodgers made several big plays on the drive, including a third-and-8 conversion against Miller. At this point, it looked like Rodgers and the Steelers were on the verge of another one-possession victory, which would have given them a 7-2 record this season in such games.

Instead, the drive ended with Rodgers inexplicably taking a sack on third down, which turned Chris Boswell’s 49-yard field goal attempt into a 54-yard attempt. Boswell’s kick missed the bottom post by less than a yard.

Rodgers and the passing game struggled, but the Steelers had a strong performance in Cleveland. Warren ran for 64 of the Steelers’ 131 rushing yards averaging 5.3 yards per carry. The defense forced two turnovers while limiting the Browns to just 78 yards on 25 carries. Alex Highsmith had two sacks and several more pressures from Sanders.

Pittsburgh’s secondary, playing without cornerback Brandin Echols, held Jerry Jeudy to zero catches in the second half after catching five passes for 54 yards in the first half.

Those things, however, were negated by an offense that went 3-of-15 on third down and 0-of-3 on fourth down.

“I don’t think we played badly,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said, to everyone’s surprise. “We just didn’t make enough plays. I thought they played well. I thought the game went the way you would expect, but we never made that signature play that got us over the hump. That’s usually the deciding factor in games like this and we usually make them. We didn’t make them today.”

Rodgers specifically was unable to make the big throw, or many other throws for that matter. Instead of getting easy successes, Rodgers either didn’t have any, or when he did, he often tried the hardest throw. Placing Rodgers in more advantageous situations will undoubtedly occupy much of offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s attention over the next week. However, it is up to Rodgers to capitalize on these opportunities.

“Not much,” Rodgers said when asked what the chances were heading into next week’s game. “We just have to execute better.”

It’s fitting that the Steelers’ season comes down to Sunday’s game against the Ravens. In a season where nothing has been easy, the Steelers will have to defeat their great rival if they want to continue playing beyond next week. It won’t be easy, but Rodgers believes the Steelers have what it takes to make it happen.

He is not the only one.

“One game doesn’t get us out of the way,” said defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, the Steelers’ longest-tenured player. “We’ve been playing some good ball lately. There’s still some things we can hang on to. Stopping the run, turnovers, controlling the ball, we’ve been good on offense. Give yourself a chance late. That’s all you can ask for.”