Former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky thinks the Pittsburgh Steelers have to avoid third-and-long situations against the Baltimore Ravens in Saturday night’s Wild Card game. If they don’t, he believes the Steelers have no chance.
The Steelers have faced an average of third-and-8-and-a-half situations during their four-game losing streak.
“If they get in third-and-long they’re dead. If they get into third-and-obvious against this defense under Zach Orr that’s kind of figured out how to live in that Mike Macdonald world, they’re dead,” Orlovsky said on ESPN’s NFL Live.
“On first down this season, the Steelers rank last in yards per play (4.5), 31st in success rate (37%) and 29th in QBR (40).
“This is a bad football team on first down. Offensively, they are a very bad football team,” Orlovsky said. “Their mindset has to be they got to be first down, second down, first down. They have to be so much better on first down to even think about having a chance to win this game.”
To help the Steelers’ woes on first down, Orlovsky thinks the Steelers need to mix things up.
“I would play Justin Fields on first downs,” Orlovsky said. “It’s a bad first-down offense in Pittsburgh, and it has been for a couple weeks now. Number one, they’re worst in yards per play. That’s both the pass game struggling and the run game. They don’t get to the second level. That means success rate’s bad and QBR performance, because everything is stacked against them, is poor.”
Orlovsky posted a clip on X of a failed toss play in the Steelers’ Week 18 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. To say the least, the run blocking has been subpar in recent weeks.
One thing is clear, the Steelers have to be better in the fundamentals if they want any chance of pulling off an upset against the Ravens. They’ve been a sloppy unit on all levels over the last four games.