The Pittsburgh Steelers got a big 26-24 win over the Baltimore Ravens, and they will be playing in the Wild Card Round at home on Monday Night Football. That win definitely did not come easy, as the Ravens missed what would have been a game-winning field goal as time expired. The offense definitely stepped up in the second half, as that's where 23 of their 26 total points came from. A missed extra point almost ended the season in the Steel City, but the team managed to prevail at the very end.
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Steelers' Jaylen Warren stiff arms a Ravens defender on a run.
Fans and the media have had a lot of doubts about different parts of the offense. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers silenced some of them in his post-game press conference, but it was not his own group of doubters that he tried to get to quiet down. He mentioned that he was trying to accomplish something with a specific tight end since training camp and it finally came to fruition on Sunday evening.
"There are some things that happened in the game that we've been trying to get to the entire season that hadn't really shown up," Rodgers said. "Like Pat [Freiermuth] on the second-to-last drive had a big double-up stutter down-the-middle completion. We've been talking about that thing since Latrobe and haven't really had a lot of opportunities, but he ran just an absolute beautiful route that kind of set us up."
Many fans have brought up the idea of trading away tight end Pat Freiermuth due to his lack of usage throughout the season. People know of his great ability as a receiving threat over the middle and in the red zone, but that has not shown up much throughout the 2025 campaign. Rodgers finally found a good time to hit him deep over the middle during the contest, and he took full advantage of it.
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Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth makes a touchdown catch during Pittsburgh's 33-31 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals win Week 7 of the 2025 NFL Regular Season.
On that exact play, Rodgers hit Freiermuth between the hashmarks down the field for a 31-yard completion, which was the longest play of the day for the Steelers. That got them down to the five-yard line, and they later punched it in to score a touchdown to take a 20-17 lead. Without that big play on 3rd and 8, there is a good chance that Pittsburgh ends up losing that game, as they would have to settle for a field goal or consider going for it on 4th down.
Freiermuth had five targets on the game. He had three receptions for 51 yards, which means he averaged 10 yards per catch on the other two passes he hauled in. Overall, it was not an amazing day for him, but nobody can say that he did not make any contributions to a team that won its division. Hopefully, he will get some more chances to catch passes in the upcoming Wild Card game.
Steelers Will Need Everyone To Contribute In The Playoffs
The Houston Texans are definitely a scary defense that has made numerous talented offenses look slow and sluggish. They can match up against anyone in the NFL, and they have a real shot of making the Super Bowl despite not winning their own division. The Steelers opened up as 2.5 underdogs at home, which shows how much everyone respects the unit.
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Steelers' Rookie Troy Fautanu in his first preseason game versus the Houston Texans.
Despite that, the Steelers cannot come out and play scared. If they do, they will be setting themselves up for yet another playoff failure. Everyone on the offense needs to work extra hard to get open and make life easier for Rodgers.That does include Freiermuth; he needs to make things happen in the middle of the field and keep the Texans from only guarding the outside portions of the field all night long
What do you think about Rodgers silencing the doubters for Freiermuth after winning the AFC North? Do you think he will find a role again in this offense? Let us know in the comments or on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.
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