Several former Wisconsin Badgers were nowhere to be seen on Saturday night as the Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the Baltimore Ravens 28-14 in the Wild Card round.
Quarterback Russell Wilson did deliver a respectable performance leading the Steelers’ offense, finishing with 270 passing yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. But otherwise, the group of former Badgers on the Steelers’ defense struggled to impact the game.
Related: Tracking former Wisconsin Badgers in 2025 NFL playoff Wild Card Weekend
The most notable stat line is T.J. Watt’s — zero tackles, zero sacks and zero pass deflections. He failed to register a single statistic as the Ravens totaled 464 yards of offense including a franchise record 299 rushing yards.
Watt hasn’t registered a sack since he suffered an ankle injury in the Steelers’ Dec. 15 loss to the Eagles. He’s played in four games since that date, tallying seven total tackles, one run stuff and one pass deflection. His lack of effectiveness rushing the quarterback was a big part of the Ravens’ ability to control the game.
The #s: Ravens set a single-game franchise record with 299 rushing yards, including 186 by Derrick Henry. The 299 rushing yards are the most the Steelers ever have allowed in a playoff game, and the most any team has surrendered since the 2012 Packers, who gave up 323 in a… pic.twitter.com/MWHlGn9kV2
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 12, 2025
Linebacker Nick Herbig had a similar outing, failing to record a single tackle. Other notable former Badgers on the Steelers’ defense are Isaiahh Loudermilk (three total tackles, two solo) and Keeanu Benton (four total tackles, two solo).
In all, those four defensive linemen combined for seven total tackles (four solo), zero tackles for loss and zero sacks.
Saturday’s result is the Steelers’ fifth consecutive playoff loss dating back to 2017. The Ravens with the victory move on to face the Texans or the Broncos, pending Sunday’s results.
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