Pittsburgh takes the AFC North, while Ravens fall out of a playoff spot.
In a rivalry usually defined by defense, the Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers put on an offensive show for the ages.
The host Steelers–with more weapons and deeper options–ended up on the winning side, outlasting Baltimore, 39-38, in front of 60,069 delirious Heinz Field fans. For Pittsburgh, the win clinched the AFC North Division title for the third time in the last four seasons.
It was the second straight bitter defeat in the Steel City for the Ravens, who were knocked out of playoff contention on Christmas Day 2016. In that game, Antonio Brown’s last-second touchdown handed Pittsburgh the division crown.
With the win, the Steelers completed their fifth season sweep of the Ravens–but the first since 2008. The Ravens have swept Pittsburgh three times.
Sunday night’s game was the fourth-highest-scoring game in Ravens team history, and second-highest such game on the road. And the 77 combined points were the most in the Ravens-Steelers rivalry, breaking the previous record by one point–a 42-34 Pittsburgh victory at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium in 1997. In that game, Pittsburgh came back to win after being down 21-0 at halftime.
But, make no mistake about it, the good thing about Sunday’s game is that the Ravens were able to go head-to-head with the Steelers’ galloping offense.
The Ravens went on an astonishing 31-6 run, scoring on five straight drives, after falling behind by two early touchdowns.
Baltimore gained a season-high 413 yards, exploiting the absence of Steelers inside linebacker Ryan Shazier, who sustained a possible career-ending spinal injury last week in Cincinnati. On the downside for Baltimore, the Steelers gained 545 total net yards, which was a season-high total for a Ravens’ opponent.
Quarterback Joe Flacco (20-for-35, 269 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, one sack, 88.9 rating) tied his season-high yardage total. Pittsburgh counterpart, Ben Roethlisberger (44-for-66, 506 yards, two touchdowns, three sacks, 99.7 rating), set career bests in attempts and completions. He also became the first player in league history to have three 500-yard passing games.
With the loss, Baltimore (7-6) dropped out of the sixth and final playoff seed. Buffalo now holds that spot due to tiebreakers. But the Ravens can get that playoff berth back by winning their last three games–a doable task–starting with a road trip to the winless Cleveland Browns (Sunday, Dec. 17, 1 p.m.; WJZ-TV; WIYY-FM). Those last three opponents (including Indianapolis and Cincinnati) have a combined record of 8-31.
Courtesy: Connecticut Post
Sunday night’s game would have gone in the victory column if it were not for the same way Pittsburgh has won four of its last five games–on the leg of Chris Boswell with a last-minute field goal. After Boswell’s 46-yard kick, the Ravens weren’t able to get into field-goal range. Flacco was sacked and stripped of the ball by TJ Watt to end the game.
The end was quite a contrast from a third quarter, which saw the Ravens’ defense rise up and force three straight punts. The offense rose up, too–amazingly–for a team that had scored only 29 third-quarter points all season long. A Justin Tucker field goal, a Buck Allen touchdown run, and a Patrick Ricard receiving touchdown bolted the Ravens to a 31-20 lead.
But even though the Ravens would eventually score their most points ever at Heinz Field – and most in Pittsburgh since getting 31 in 1999 at Three Rivers Stadium – Roethlisberger found Brown (213 yards, 11 receptions) for three passes for 90 yards, setting up touchdown runs by Le’Veon Bell (125 yards, 22 touches, three touchdowns) and Roosevelt Nix. Those scores brought Pittsburgh to within two, at 38-36, with 3:29 to go.
After the Ravens went three-and-out, the Steelers drove for the winning points. It was also their 95th straight win after leading by 14 or more points at any point in the game. The last such loss came over fifteen years ago–at Cincinnati in 2001. At home (85-year history) Pittsburgh is literally unbeatable in such situations — 216-0-2.
The Ravens lost for only the third time (in 34 games) under head coach John Harbaugh when scoring 30 or more points.
Just as in the teams’ first meeting in Week 4 at Baltimore, the Steelers got off to a hot start, scoring two quick touchdowns for a 14-0 lead and an eventual halftime lead, 20-14. It was the most points the Ravens had allowed in a first half since the earlier meeting with Pittsburgh (19).
Pittsburgh did so by working the middle of the field better on both sides of the ball, disguising coverages well and working their own tight ends down the middle of the field. The TEs had seven catches for 78 yards and converted six of seven third-down opportunities along the way. Jesse James was especially tough to handle; he gained 97 yards on ten catches.
The Steelers, with their deep arsenal of weapons, needed that production because Bell left the game in the first half with a leg injury. He would return to spark the Steelers’ late rally.
Before he left, Bell had six early touches for 48 yards and looked to repeat his earlier performance against the Ravens when he had 39 touches for over 180 total yards in the Steelers’ lopsided win.
Bell capped off an early 59-yard, eight-play drive with a 20-yard touchdown catch, breaking the tackle of safety Tony Jefferson. He later scored on a one-yard run to end a 90-yard, 12-play downfield sojourn.
Bell now has eight touchdowns in his last five games against the Ravens.
The Ravens, who are now 1-5 when the opponent scores first, faced their biggest deficit since that earlier meeting with Pittsburgh. But the team countered by running. Alex Collins (120 yards, 18 carries, touchdown) gained 52 first-half yards on eight carries. That helped open things up for a 30-yard touchdown pass to Chris Moore to cut the Steelers’ lead in half.
Collins, who totaled 166 yards from scrimmage, became the first Raven to break the 150-yard mark since Allen did it at Miami in December 2015.
It was at that point that Brown entered the fray, beating veteran corner Brandon Carr for 43 yards to the Ravens’ 27, setting up Boswell’s 52-yard field goal.
Collins would answer with a 37-yard catch-and-run, following right guard Matt Skura on an 18-yard rushing touchdown (he has now scored in four straight games) to help the Ravens close to within 17-14.
But the Steelers scored for the fourth time in as many possessions as Roethlisberger found veteran tight end Vance McDonald for 18 yards and wideout Eli Rogers – subbing for the suspended Juju Smith-Schuster – for 16 more to set up Boswell for a 43-yard three-pointer.
The offensive fireworks would continue for the rest of the evening, but – as is usually the case – the Steelers had just a few more than Baltimore.
In the end, this ‘franchise for the ages’ won a game for the ages.
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UPDATED AFC PLAYOFF STANDINGS
Here’s how the AFC playoff race currently stands (New England-Miami Monday night game NOT included). Teams are listed by current seed, team, overall record, division record, conference record and their last three opponents:
(Note: All games will be played Sunday afternoon unless otherwise noted.)
DIVISION LEADERS
1. y-Pittsburgh, 11-2, 5-0, 8-1; New England, at Houston (Christmas night), Cleveland
2. New England, 10-2, 3-0, 7-1; at Pittsburgh, Buffalo, New York Jets
3. Jacksonville, 9-4, 3-1, 8-2; Houston, at San Francisco, at Tennessee
4. Kansas City, 7-6, 3-1, 5-4; Los Angeles Chargers (Sat.), Miami, at Denver
WILD-CARD SPOTS
5. Tennessee, 8-5, 4-1, 7-4; at San Francisco, Los Angeles Rams, Jacksonville
6. Buffalo, 7-6, 1-2, 5-4; Miami, at New England, at Miami
OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
7. Baltimore, 7-6, 2-2, 5-4; at Cleveland, Indianapolis (Sat.), Cincinnati
8. Los Angeles Chargers, 7-6, 2-2, 4-5; at Kansas City (Sat.), at New York Jets, Oakland
9. Oakland, 6-7, 2-3, 5-6; Dallas (Sun. night), at Philadelphia (Christmas night), at Los Angeles Chargers
10. Miami, 5-7, 1-2, 4-4; at Buffalo, at Kansas City, Buffalo
ALSO ALIVE: New York Jets, Cincinnati, Houston
ELIMINATED: Denver, Indianapolis, Cleveland
y – clinched division title
