Jon Gruden Thinks Ravens Will ‘Smoke’ The Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers enter their Wild Card Spherical matchup with the Baltimore Ravens as losers of 4 straight video games, and former NFL head coach Jon Gruden thinks that Pittsburgh’s season will finish on a five-game shedding streak. On The Barstool Rundown on Monday night time, Gruden mentioned that he doesn’t assume the Steelers have a lot of an opportunity towards the Ravens on Saturday.

“I’m off of Pittsburgh,” Gruden mentioned. “They haven’t seemed good to me on offense shortly…I believe the Ravens are essentially the most improved staff proper now within the AFC. Their protection is enjoying good. I believe they’re gonna smoke Pittsburgh.”

The Ravens cross protection struggled within the early a part of the 12 months, however it’s a bunch that’s been one of many NFL’s finest over the second half of the season, and all-around, the Ravens are a troublesome opponent. Lamar Jackson is once more an MVP candidate, whereas Derrick Henry has given the Ravens an actual menace within the backfield. They dominated the Steelers in a 34-17 win in Week 16 in Baltimore, and Gruden thinks an analogous consequence will play out on Saturday night time.

Given what we’ve seen out of the Steelers currently, it’s a good evaluation of how the sport will go. They’re a staff that simply can’t do a lot of something proper. Whereas their protection performed higher in Week 18 than it did the prior three weeks, the offense’s incapability to attain has been a severe situation. They haven’t scored greater than 17 factors throughout their four-game shedding streak. They’ve began sluggish and gotten completely killed within the time of possession battle, which they have been profitable routinely earlier within the season when the Steelers seemed like a professional contender.

The Steelers will actually need to work to wash up their offensive woes in the event that they need to have an opportunity towards Baltimore. Whereas it helps that it’s a staff they’re acquainted with, the identical could be mentioned for the Ravens, who ought to have an added little bit of confidence, given what occurred within the final sport between the 2.

The Ravens are a well-liked decide to make a run within the playoffs this season, and there gained’t be a lot religion within the Steelers on Saturday. It can take one of the best offensive efficiency in a month for Pittsburgh to have any likelihood. Their protection, which has been banged up and drained down the stretch, might want to discover a solution to cease Jackson, Henry, and the remainder of the Ravens offense. The Steelers traditionally have performed properly towards Jackson, although, so if they’ll discover a means to take action once more, issues might wind up of their favor on Saturday. However Gruden may wind up being proper that issues might be ugly for the Steelers, particularly if they’ll’t sort things offensively.