BALTIMORE —The Pittsburgh Steelers may have saved their 2025 season with an improbable upset win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, and they did it by leaning on one of the things they've been the worst at.
You may have heard a statistic that's been going around lately, that the Steelers hadn't completed a pass over 20 air yards since Week 8. Sunday's game in Baltimore came in Week 14. That's a long time to go between passes that aren't even exceptionally long for 2025.
The Steelers heard it, too. And they entered the week of practice for the Ravens game determined to do something about it.
It wasn't just because it had been a while since they had done it. In Week 13's loss to the Buffalo Bills , the Buffalo defense spent a large portion of that game effectively daring the Steelers to pass the ball on them, and the Steelers did every little to make them pay for that choice.
The Ravens need no inducement to prioritize stopping the run, and in general, attacking them with downfield passing is something that the Steelers have had success with over the years as a result.
"I just think that's the way we needed to play," head coach Mike Tomlin said. "We needed to be aggressive. We've just been in here a lot. We are familiar with them in this environment, and that's what's required."
It's one thing to look at what the Bills had done to the Steelers, to look at the way the Ravens like to play and the way they would respond to the Steelers' showing weakness on tape, and say "hey, we should probably open it up and throw the ball down the field this week."
It's an entirely different thing to do it. And boy, did the Steelers do it. They broke through the 20-yard ceiling on the first offensive play of the game, with Aaron Rodgers connecting on a 52-yard pass to DK Metcalf that set up an opening-drive touchdown.
In the second quarter, Rodgers again connected with Metcalf on a 28-yarder that led to a field goal. On the opening drive of the second half, it was another deep shot from Rodgers to Metcalf for 41 yards, setting up another Boswell field goal. On the next drive, it was a deep pass to Calvin Austin III that preceded a Jaylen Warren touchdown.
The Steelers scored five times in the game: three touchdowns and two field goals. Four of those five drives were fueled by a pass that traveled at least 20 yards in the air. The other as a field goal that followed James Pierre 's interception of Lamar Jackson .
They clearly caught the Ravens off-guard with their game plan, even after they showed their ability to go to that well early in the game.
But how? And why did it work? After all, there were plenty of good reasons that the Steelers were not highly successful in deploying a deep passing game leading up to Week 14.
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf tries to make a catch against the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 7, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
They don't have a great depth of talent at wide receiver, with most teams able to pay extra attention to Metcalf and still easily handle the rest of that crew. Rodgers has not been particularly accurate when he has gotten opportunities on deep balls. And the Steelers' offensive line has not pass protected well enough this season to give offensive coordinator Arthur Smith the confidence enough to put Rodgers in jeopardy by giving him deep drops and asking him to hold onto the ball.
I asked Metcalf a couple of weeks ago about the team's inability to get connected in the deep passing game, after a contest where Rodgers had tried one or two deep shots but failed.
"I think we've just gotta keep trying it," Metcalf said. "One a game is not gonna cut it. But once we start going deep a lot more, those deep balls will start opening up."
They certainly did that on Sunday. They also preyed on Baltimore's obsession with stopping the run, using play action on the first play to get safety Alohi Gilman going the wrong direction just long enough to make space for Metcalf down the sideline.
The offensive line held up the protection, and Rodgers delivered a strike, and in an area where the Steelers had failed time after time, they succeeded. Then they did it again and again and again.
What was different this time around? Well the Steelers changed their distribution of reps at the wide receiver position, throwing Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Adam Thielen into the mix in place of Roman Wilson . But they had a combined one catch. They couldn't had that big of an impact? Not in the game, but maybe earlier in the week, according to Rodgers.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in a game against the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 7, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
"Well, I hate to sound like a broken record, but it's all about practice when you're out there and executing in practice like we did this week," Rodgers said. "It gives you confidence to make some of those plays, and I thought it was our most crisp week of prep on the field. I think off the field we've already been good. I thought the energy was good. I'm not a big believer in coincidences. So, I've got to think that just Marquez and Adam out there made a difference from a professionalism standpoint. Not saying those other guys don't have professionalism. I love all of our other guys, but I just think there was an extra level of focus this week.
"And you know, Art wanted to be aggressive on the first play. As you guys were talking about, we hadn't completed a pass in over 20 yards in a while. We took a shot, and DK got it, and then he was kind of on one, but then he was on one in practice on Thursday. He was on one in practice on Friday as well. So, love that from our guy. I think he even ran down on a punt. So, proud of DK. Proud of our defense standing out there at the end and that the offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage from a pass game standpoint. We didn't run it very well, but when we had to have some conversions on third down and we made some plays."
The offensive line continued to do its job throughout the game, even when Baltimore seemed to realize that the Steelers weren't even really trying to run the ball and started to come after Rodgers. They blocked up a blitz to allow to Rodgers to find a wide-open Jaylen Warren for a long catch-and-run score, and even when backup left tackle Andrus Peat left with a concussion and fourth-stringer Dylan Cook was inserted, they were still able to keep Rodgers upright.
Pittsburgh Steelers left tackle Andrus Peat in a game in a game against the Baltimore Raves on Dec. 7, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
The Ravens did not have a sack and managed just one quarterback hit throughout the game.
""I thought the pass protection was excellent," Rodgers said. "AP went down and'Cookie' stepped in and played pretty well,. Obviously we gave him a little help on the first couple. I'm proud of him for stepping in. The line really gave me a lot of time today. There were some extensions I kind of got out of a couple of potential sacks. But for the most part, a super clean day, and you know, to still be recovering from my injury and to not really get hit a whole lot, I don't know if I was on the ground one time without being clumsy and falling down. So, that's a good day, a good feeling tonight. Appreciate those guys."
Metcalf said it was just going to take more attempts for the deep passing game to click, and maybe the other vets being at practice this week really did unlock something for Rodgers in this offense. It certainly helped beat the Ravens, and in a crucial game for the team, that's more than enough.
But can they turn it into something they can rely on going forward? That's another story. If the first thing an opponent is going to do is try to punish a team for not being able to correct obvious previous failures on tape, the second thing it's going to do is try to take away what appear to be strengths.
The Ravens spent an awful lot of that game with just one player on Metcalf in an effort to stop the run.
Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 7, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
"I didn't see much safety over the top, and I think that was a big, big thing on how we were able to throw the ball downfield," Metcalf said. "I'm not going to tell the defense what to do or not to do. But if they're going to go one-on-one with me, so be it."
You can bet the Miami Dolphins — already the team that uses the most Cover 2 in the league — won't make that mistake next week.
The Steelers' offense, given the talent available, is unlikely to ever be the unit that is relied on produce victory, but if they can more regularly unlock some deep passing, they can certainly help take the pressure off.
Even when the Steelers' defense hasn't been statistically dominant, it's been able to make enough splash plays to secure victories through turnovers and big stops in weighty moments. They did that same thing on Sunday, intercepting Jackson once, asking him twice in crucial moments despite allowing over 400 yards and over 200 on the ground.
With more deep passing, the offense can become an actual complement to that. The Steelers didn't become the Greatest Show on Turf St. Louis Rams this week. They just completed four deep passes over the course of the game, and each one of them were a key factor in a scoring drive in a contest that ended in a one-score margin.
It took most of the season, but the Steelers finally unlocked critically important to their offense. Now let's see if they can continue to take advantage of it.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Saunders: How the Steelers Finally Unlocked Their Deep Passing Offense — And What It Means Going Forward
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