The Pittsburgh Steelers no longer control their own destiny for the playoffs after falling to the New York Jets in Week 16. Ahead of Pittsburgh's game against the Baltimore Ravens, Mike Tomlin admitted that the team is not built to overcome turnovers in its current state.
“It’s very specific how we have to engineer victory in the current state that we’re in, and possession of the ball and taking care of the football is such a significant component of that,” Tomlin said. “We didn’t take care of the ball well enough on Sunday. We didn’t care of the ball enough really in the last two weeks and that’s why we’re having the type of discussions that we’re having regarding performance.”
The Steelers have lost two consecutive games to the Buffalo Bills and the Jets due to turning the ball over. The main culprit for the turnovers has been Devlin Hodges, an undrafted rookie out of Samford.
With Ben Roethlisberger being out for most of the season, Pittsburgh has had to rely on Hodges and Mason Rudolph. Neither of them has shown that they can take care of the football.
As a matter of fact, Hodges and Rudolph have combined for 17 interceptions this season. Due to how the defense is playing, the Steelers can ill afford to turn the ball over on offense.
Following the devastating loss to the Jets, Pittsburgh is in a must-win situation versus the Ravens in Week 17. The Steelers will have to start Hodges under center once again with Rudolph being ruled out with a shoulder ailment.
Without a doubt, fans in the Steel City wish that Roethlisberger was able to return on Sunday against the Ravens.
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