The Pittsburgh Steelers felt happiness when they won the AFC North title. Wide receiver DK Metcalf felt relief.
Metcalf got a reprieve of sorts on Sunday when the Steelers rallied for a 26-24 victory over the visiting Baltimore Ravens in a winner-take-all season finale for the division championship at Acrisure Stadium. Metcalf was forced to watch from home while serving the second game of a two-game suspension from the NFL for an altercation with a fan on Dec. 21 in Detroit.
When the Ravens’ Tyler Loop missed a 44-yard field goal attempt as time expired, Metcalf’s instincts took over.
"I jumped up, put on my clothes," Metcalf said on Monday. "And I was headed to the stadium."
The Steelers (10-7) won their first AFC North title since 2020 and will host the Houston Texans (12-5) next Monday night in a Wild Card playoff game.
The Steelers needed to win only one of their last two games to clinch the AFC North title. However, they lost to the Cleveland Browns 13-6 while Metcalf sat out the first game of his ban and nearly missed the playoffs while he was gone.
Metcalf spoke with the media on Monday but would not go into detail about the incident in Detroit or the suspension.
"I feel full responsibility for my actions and that's it," Metcalf said. "I've got the most respect and confidence in my teammates still going out there and performing to the best of their abilities."
The Steelers missed Metcalf against the Browns when they didn’t score a touchdown and three wide receivers combined for just eight receptions. The Steelers were also without Calvin Austin III (hamstring) in that game.
Austin returned on Sunday and caught the winning touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers, a 26-yard play that put the Steelers ahead 26-24 with 55 seconds left. Austin finished with three receptions for 55 yards and four wide receivers combined for 13 catches.
"It was good to have Cal back," Rodgers said of Austin. “Cal is a great player. He's one of the sweetest guys on the team and just a guy who really wants to do right all the time. I was trying to get him to give me some confidence on what he wanted on the backside, and he finally -- on that one he did it again. He wouldn't kind of put a stamp on something, so I said all right, hitch and go. He ran a good route.
Rodgers passed for 294 yards against the Ravens after throwing for 168 in the loss in Cleveland. The Steelers running backs helped fuel the passing game on Sunday when Kenneth Gainwell had eight receptions for 64 yards and Jaylen Warren added five catches for 33 yards.
"There were other plays he made that were instinctive and some show up in the stat box, and some don't, but really proud of all our guys and excited to get DK back,” Rodgers said.
And Metcalf is quite excited to return after having been targeted a team-high 99 times in the regular season. He had 59 receptions for 850 yards and six touchdowns after being acquired from the Seattle Seahawks in an offseason trade and signing a five-year, $150-million contract.
The Steelers were on a three-game winning streak when Metcalf was suspended, averaging 28.0 points a game.
"We were definitely starting to hit our stride as an offense," Metcalf said. "I think we found our groove and hoping we can pick that back up.”