3 Steelers to blame for another early playoff exit

The Pittsburgh Steelers were riding high and improved to 8-2 after a statement win against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 11. They led Baltimore by 1.5 games in the division after that win with just seven games to play. Unfortunately, Pittsburgh would go just 2-5 the rest of the way, including dropping each of their last four regular season contests - one of which came against that same Ravens team.

The result of Pittsburgh's lackluster finish to the regular season was the team making the playoffs as a No. 6 seed in the AFC and having to play against the Ravens once again on the road. Expectations were low for Pittsburgh heading into this game and somehow, they underperformed those low expectations, falling 28-14 in what was a mostly uncompetitive game.

The Steelers made a little bit of a push in the third quarter but by then it was too late. It was a new season with a select few fresh faces, but the end result was the same for a Steelers team that can't get out of its own way. They've now lost five straight postseason games. They haven't made it to the AFC Championship Game since 2016 and haven't made a Super Bowl appearance since 2010.

Virtually the whole organization deserves blame for yet another embarrassing showing, but these three individuals deserve more blame than most.

3) Omar Khan's roster was just not good enough

This was a fairly predictable outcome. There's a reason why this game featured the largest spread of Wild Card Weekend. The Ravens were expected to win comfortably, and they did just that.

The Steelers didn't just lose, they were dominated in every facet of this game. On offense, they couldn't generate anything in the first half. They only started to show signs of life in the third quarter when the game already felt over. On defense, they could do nothing to stop Derrick Henry or Lamar Jackson on the ground, and even had a hard time containing Baltimore's air attack despite the absence of Zay Flowers.

It's hard to blame them for not getting much going on the defensive end against this Ravens team, especially with both T.J. Watt and Cameron Heyward suffering injuries, but their offense was just brutal for most of this game. Their quarterback looked like the same "washed-up" guy he was with the Denver Broncos, their running game was non-existent despite Arthur Smith's presence, and their team has virtually no weapons outside of George Pickens, who is inconsistent in his own right.

This roster is simply not good enough. They should've played better than they did, but it's abundantly clear who had the better team in this matchup. At the end of the day, there's a reason this continues to happen. Until major changes are made, it will only continue to happen. That starts with Khan's team building.

2) Russell Wilson no-showed until it was too late

Russell Wilson's numbers looked pretty good overall. He completed 20 of his 29 passing attempts for 270 yards and two passing touchdowns. Those numbers by themselves look plenty good enough to be on the winning side of just about any game. Unfortunately, Wilson waited too long to get going.

By the time that the first half ended, the Steelers were trailing 21-0. Wilson had completed six of his eight passing attempts for 44 yards. He did have one big play called back thanks to a Steelers penalty, but Wilson had 44 passing yards at the halfway mark of this game. He completely no-showed when this game was within reach. Wilson also only targeted Pickens twice (with the second time being the play that was called back), which is inexcusable in its own right.

For a good chunk of the season, Wilson was playing as well as he had in years. He was making Mike Tomlin's controversial decision to remove Justin Fields from the starting lineup and have Wilson take his place once he was healthy enough to do so look like a genius move. Unfortunately, Wilson struggled down the stretch of the regular season, and those struggles carried over into the first half of this game.

He deserves some credit for playing well in the third quarter, but once Baltimore's defense tightened up again in the fourth, he had no answers to even threaten the Ravens. For much of this game, he looked like a quarterback Pittsburgh would be better off without.

1) Eventually, Mike Tomlin has to take some heat for Pittsburgh's playoff failures

It feels like the same exact thing happens every single year. The Steelers get off to a strong start where they look like a team that can potentially make some noise in the playoffs before struggling down the stretch of the regular season, backing into the playoffs as a low seed, and getting steamrolled in their first playoff game.

The Steelers were outclassed in this one from start to finish. The Ravens led this game 21-0 at halftime. Pittsburgh showed signs of life in the third quarter, but immediately after that happened, the Ravens ended up milking the clock and got a couple of key stops to put this game away. The Steelers never got back to within one score.

On one hand, Tomlin deserves credit for getting Pittsburgh to the playoffs virtually every year, especially when, in recent times, he's done so despite subpar quarterback play. However, getting blown out in the first round just can't be good enough. The end result wasn't entirely Tomlin's fault, but his hands aren't clean in this either.

His team's play-calling in the first half when this game was within reach was completely unacceptable. On their third drive of the game, the Steelers were in a third-and-short situation. They threw behind the sticks on third down, and on fourth-and-inches, opted to punt instead of going for it, giving the dynamic Ravens offense the ball back.

Tomlin isn't the one calling the plays, but he hired Arthur Smith. This has been an issue in the past, and while the Steelers likely would've lost regardless, they had to force the issue against this Ravens team. His refusal to do that played a huge role in the team's demise. Adding that onto his lackluster postseason record in recent showings, the Steelers have a real reason to consider moving on from him this upcoming offseason (even though they almost certainly won't.)