Steelers Daily News & Links: Ravens Lose in Dramatic Fashion; Raheem Morris Responds to Mike Tomlin

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? The Baltimore Ravens lost in dramatic fashion to the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night, as Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely’s right foot was barely out of bounds on a catch in the back of the end zone on the final play of the game. The Ravens would have tied the game at 27-27, pending an extra point, if Likely was in bounds.

? Chiefs rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy had an impressive NFL debut. Kansas City has another lethal weapon. According to NFL Media, Worthy is the fifth receiver to catch a touchdown of 30+ yards and run for a score of 20+ yards in the same game.

? Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris responded to Mike Tomlin’s comment that he better be prepared for Justin Field packages.

“Mike told me to prepare for Justin Fields, so we did,” Morris said. “Russell is going to go out there and present the challenge he’s always presented to teams. But there are roles that guys are going to play, so expect the expected. And that’s what we’ll do.”

With Wilson’s status for Sunday’s game up in the air due to calf tightness, Fields could be the starter.

? Former NFL quarterback and current analyst for The Athletic, Chase Daniels, is concerned about Russell Wilson’s lingering calf injury. He thinks it could be a long-term issue.

“I’m worried about the Steelers. A calf issue is one of the worst injuries for a quarterback because you can’t drop back, you can’t move out of the pocket, & you can’t be yourself. Russell Wilson won’t be the same Russell Wilson. That’s his game,” Daniels wrote on X.

? Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that the Steelers are unsure if Russell Wilson will play on Sunday.

“After nursing a calf injury during training camp, Russell Wilson felt tightness in his calf (Thursday). That’s not encouraging,” Schefter said via ESPN’s NFL Live. “The Steelers are unsure whether he’ll be able to play on Sunday. We’ll probably have a better idea (Friday). If he can’t go, then Justin Fields would wind up starting against Atlanta. We’ll see how Wilson is feeling on Friday.”

? NFL Vice President of Broadcasting Onnie Bose explained how the league scheduled the Steelers-Chiefs Christmas Day game on a Wednesday.

“Go back to 2020 and the covid year. We learned that we can be pretty resilient and flexible in a lot of things,” Bose said on the Ross Tucker podcast. “That informs our ethos.”

“Getting to a Wednesday game was challenging, but if you do the math, you know, you can play Sunday to Thursday. Teams do it regularly. So, what’s the shift? Play Saturday to Wednesday. We did a lot of work on that,” Bose continued. “We kind of had to focus on a division. And we got to a place where it’s a couple of teams from the AFC North (the Steelers and Ravens). It’s the Texans and the Chiefs. Desirable combinations. Pitt-Baltimore, KC-Houston on Saturday of Week 16, and you come back with KC at Pittsburgh and Baltimore at Houston on Christmas. It felt really exciting.”

? Former Steelers nose tackle Chris Hoke said on the Joe Starkey Show that he can see the Steelers finishing 8-9.

“I went through the schedule and I marked win, loss, win, loss,” and he came up with only eight wins,” Hoke said. “I think [the offensive line is] average at best because you got guys trying to work in positions, you got Spencer Anderson at left guard . . . he has no starts, only a few snaps in the NFL,” said Hoke. “You got Zach Frazier who has no starts in the NFL but, I think, has a huge upside and then Broderick Jones, where’s he at, how’s he going to play?”

? Former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky thinks the Steelers will get destroyed by the Falcons if Russell Wilson holds onto the ball too long.

“If he holds onto the football this weekend, Pittsburgh will get stomped by Atlanta,” Orlovsky said on Get Up. “That’s my big concern in this game, because Jessie Bates, who’s the Atlanta Falcons’ safety, and now Justin Simmons, I’d say they’re in the conversation for great liars, because as a quarterback you sit there and look at ’em and go ‘I don’t know what they’re doing.’ And that forces you to play hesitant football, and all of a sudden interceptions or sacks become, and we know that’s the story of Russell Wilson, holding onto the football and sacks.”

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