Use all the necessary qualifiers you want, including the fact that Aaron Rodgers was throwing DK Metcalf–style routes to, well, someone who wasn’t DK Metcalf, in the frantic, waning moments of the game. That T.J. Watt is recovering from surgery due to a collapsed lung. That receiver Calvin Austin III was out, further depleting the wide receiving corps. That behemoth tight end Darnell Washington broke his arm in the first half. That most of the Steelers’ secondary was on the injury report.
And still, Sunday was one of the most inexcusable losses of the Mike Tomlin era. Pittsburgh fell to a previously three-win Browns team (technically still eligible for the No. 1 pick in the draft) by a score of 13–6 in a game that could have clinched an AFC North title and knocked the Ravens out of contention. Now, Pittsburgh has to host the same Ravens team that put up 41 points against the Packers on Saturday without Lamar Jackson. Jackson, too, will have another week to heal from a back contusion and potentially make an appearance in this winner-go-home contest.
