The Ravens had a plan to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. It started with stopping their two biggest stars. It ended Sunday with another loss to their biggest rival, and questions about how next month’s Week 16 rematch in Baltimore might go any differently.

On offense, the Ravens wanted to keep outside linebacker T.J. Watt from taking over the game. On defense, they wanted to keep wide receiver George Pickens from hurting them deep. Their strategies worked — to a point.

Here’s a look at what the Ravens tried in their 18-16 loss and where it went wrong.

Stopping Watt

The Ravens knew they couldn’t let Watt, a contender for NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors, wreck another game. In his 14 games against Baltimore entering Sunday, the six-time Pro Bowl selection had recorded 16 sacks, 33 quarterback hits and four forced fumbles.

With Watt lining up primarily on the left side of Pittsburgh’s defensive front, away from star left tackle Ronnie Stanley, the Ravens had to give rookie right tackle Roger Rosengarten help. A lot of help.

Of Watt’s 28 pass rush snaps Sunday, he got chipped or double-teamed 20 times. Sometimes it was a tight end — Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar all got a shot — or fullback Patrick Ricard. Sometimes it was running back Justice Hill. One time it was even wide receiver Rashod Bateman.

Offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s strategy kept Watt largely at bay. He finished with just three pressures of quarterback Lamar Jackson, according to Pro Football Focus, and his one sack came after Jackson ran out of bounds on a third-and-11 scramble.

But the Ravens’ devotion to bumping Watt off his pass rush path seemed at times to do more harm than good. On those gotta-stop-Watt drop-backs, Jackson went just 8-for-18, with five incompletions coming on third down. The Ravens’ troubles on early downs, combined with their reluctance to send five eligible receivers downfield, became a burden in obvious passing situations.

The trouble was, the Ravens weren’t much better playing Watt straight up. Jackson finished 5-for-9 on those snaps, with a 16-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Zay Flowers and a handful of short completions. Overall, Jackson’s average time from snap to throw was 3.62 seconds, according to TruMedia, the slowest of his season. Open receivers and comfortable pockets were hard to find.

“We did what we always do, to be quite honest with you,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said Sunday. “You better play hard, fast and together when you play this group and when you play Mr. Jackson. His talents are unique. Their schematics are unique. Forget the minutiae of what it is you do. You better play hard, fast and together, or you have no shot. We always start there.”

The Ravens also seemed keen on avoiding Watt in the run game. With fellow outside linebacker Alex Highsmith, another strong run defender, sidelined by an ankle injury, the Ravens called 15 designed runs when Watt was on the field. They attacked his gap just once, with running back Derrick Henry running for 4 yards on a play where Watt had lined up on the opposite side of his usual spot up front. Watt later had a 3-yard tackle for loss after he was left unblocked on the weak side of a handoff to Henry.

“It really seemed like the momentum for them never really got there,” Watt said. “Obviously, they had a couple big chunk plays, but it was an absolute dogfight like we expected going into the game. It doesn’t matter how big the win is, a win is a win right now.”

Stopping Pickens

In his first three games with quarterback Russell Wilson starting at quarterback, Pickens had caught 14 of 21 targets for 276 yards and two touchdowns, averaging almost 20 yards per reception. And he’d burned the Ravens in Pittsburgh last year, too, finishing with six catches for 130 yards and a go-ahead touchdown.

Defensive coordinator Zach Orr’s strategy became clear early: The Ravens would take their chances against Pittsburgh’s run game, lining up with a two-high safety shell — the new starting duo of Kyle Hamilton and Ar’Darius Washington — that would discourage Wilson’s deep shots.

With Pittsburgh unable to get much movement against the Ravens’ run defense, Wilson didn’t have the same connection with Pickens in the first half. Wilson was just 12-for-20 for 76 yards and had a dreadful minus-0.51 expected points added per drop-back entering halftime, according to TruMedia. Pickens had just 28 receiving yards.

The Ravens’ two-high approach was working. Wilson would finish the game 15-for-24 for 113 yards and an interception, with two sacks, against coverages with at least two deep safeties. His average depth of target against those looks was just 5.1 yards downfield.

But the Ravens couldn’t play two-high forever. They needed curveballs. Late in the third quarter, on second-and-15, Hamilton and Washington lined up in a split-safety look, then changed at the snap. The Ravens were in man coverage, with Hamilton taking tight end Pat Freiermuth in the slot and Washington moving to a center-field role in a “Cover 1” look.

That left Pickens one on one down the left sideline with cornerback Brandon Stephens, who’s struggled against deep shots all season. Wilson knew where to go. Pickens froze Stephens with a double move and accelerated by him on a vertical route just as Wilson’s inch-perfect “moon ball” fell within his reach for a 37-yard gain.

Pickens’ success against Stephens — according to PFF, he had four catches on five targets for 62 yards, though just two of the receptions went for first downs — could spur another change in the Ravens’ secondary. Stephens was benched for part of the fourth quarter and played primarily in the slot and the box when he returned to the field, with trade deadline acquisition Tre’Davious White getting his snaps at outside cornerback. White allowed just two catches on four targets for 15 yards in his matchup with Pickens (eight catches for 89 yards overall), recording two breakups.

“I thought Tre had a really good game, has worked really hard to pick up the defense, and [there] are still a few things he can learn, like all of our guys are still learning things,” coach John Harbaugh said Monday. “I thought he played well, and he’s a nice piece for us back there, a great addition. I’m looking forward to his continuing role and his expanding role.”