Returning from a one-game absence because of a hamstring injury, outside linebacker Nick Herbig went largely unnoticed in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 13-6 loss Sunday to the Cleveland Browns.
Except, of course, for one play.
Herbig, making his sixth start of the season, couldn’t wrap his hands around a ball that he had in his grasp late in the first half with the Steelers trailing 10-3. The would-be interception featured a clear path to the end zone and a tying touchdown for Herbig.
All he had to do was hold onto the ball.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t (think about it),” Herbig said Monday when asked how much the drop had bothered him. “You have have to make plays. Big-time players making big-time plays in big-time games. I didn’t. That’s the stuff that keeps you up at night.”
Herbig played 79% of the defense snaps as he continued to fill in for T.J. Watt, who missed his third consecutive game with a partially punctured lung that required surgery. Herbig, though, didn’t have a tackle or assist on any of the 41 snaps he played against the Browns. His inclusion on the official stat sheet consisted of that lone pass “defensed” against Shedeur Sanders with 2 minutes, 46 seconds left in the half.
The Steelers never got a tying touchdown — or any kind of score aside from field goals — against Cleveland. And so they must defeat Baltimore on Sunday night at Acrisure Stadium to win the AFC North for the first time since 2020.
A win would provide the Steelers with a home playoff game and a chance to end a string of early playoff exits that dates to 2017. Herbig would like to end that drought for Watt, who is 0-4 in playoff games, and defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, who is 1-8 in postseason play.
“It hurts you not as a player but as a friend, a comrade,” Herbig said. “I feel like those players are my big bros. They put blood, sweat and tears into this game, this organization and this city. Not to have that type of success as a competitor that you long for, it’s something you think about as a younger guy.”
Switching sides
After spending his first five seasons with the Ravens, inside linebacker Malik Harrison switched sides in the rivalry and has started eight games for the Steelers. That includes the Dec. 7 game in Baltimore.
Harrison was on the field for 15 snaps, ceding playing time to Cole Holcomb as the Ravens rushed for 217 yards against the Steelers. Since then, the Steelers have allowed 156 rushing yards combined in three games.
“Guys making plays, being more physical, just doing our job,” Harrison said. “Those three things can stop anything.”
The Ravens, though, have exceeded 200 yards rushing in each of their past three games against the Steelers, including postseason. The Ravens also got 216 yards rushing and four touchdowns from Derrick Henry on Saturday.
“The last three weeks we have shown we can stop the run,” Harrison said. “With us being physical, it shows we can get the job done.”
When he was with the Ravens, Harrison was 2-7 lifetime against the Steelers. One of those wins came last December, and he added a postseason victory at the Steelers’ expense in January.
“I’m over here,” Harrison said, smiling. “I’m ready to end their season. We have to have a great week.”
Keeping perspective
Rookie first-round pick Derrick Harmon is trying to take an even-keel approach heading into the season finale. He prefers that over riding the emotional ebbs and flows that came with the Steelers’ 13-6 loss to Cleveland that kept them from clinching the division title.
“I always said don’t let a loss get to your heart and don’t let a win get to your head,” Harmon said.