Baltimore (3-2) now heads to London for a contest with the Titans (3-2), a team that also let a game get away on Sunday.
Sunday, October 8, 2023, Acrisure Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA: Upset stomachs. Worn-down fingernails. Tousled hair. Gnashed teeth. Migraine headaches. Chills. Fever. These are the symptoms exhibited by football fans in Baltimore and Pittsburgh whenever their favorite NFL teams engage in one of their twice-yearly AFC North Division clashes. That’s because the games are usually close; the most recent half-dozen contests between the Ravens and Steelers have all been decided by five or fewer points. If one goes further back through the history of this rivalry, one will find evidence of many more cliffhangers.
For the Ravens, the problem is that the Steelers have won five of those last six games, a trend Baltimore failed to correct Sunday afternoon in another ulcer-inducing loss, a 17-10 defeat at Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium in front of 67,272 black-and-gold-clad fans.
Rookie wide receiver George Pickens scored the game-winning touchdown in this error-filled battle of attrition, getting free down the right sideline for a 41-yard touchdown inside the last two minutes. Pass-rush ace T.J. Watt recovered a Baltimore fumble on the ensuing series to set up a 42-yard field goal that sealed the win.
A win on Sunday would have moved the Ravens to a division-leading 4-1 ahead of their third straight road game, a trip to London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium next week, their first overseas jaunt since 2017 and second ever. They’ll play the Tennessee Titans, with kickoff set at 9:30 a.m. Eastern time, televised by the NFL Network.
They’ll travel with thoughts about what could have been had it not been for a passel of dropped passes, ineffectiveness, and an aggressive Steeler defense. That said, games with the Steelers have often proved to be problematic. Reborn as the Ravens in the mid-1990s, Baltimore lost 11 of their first 15 games against Pittsburgh before gaining a slight 20-19 edge over the last 39 meetings. That recent run now also includes three wins in their previous six games in the Steel City, and it could have been four against a Pittsburgh squad devoid of offensive firepower due to a hobbled offensive line, a dormant running game, and second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett’s calf injury, incurred only a week ago.
Going into Sunday, the Steelers had scored just four offensive touchdowns over the season’s first four weeks, a similar bind to the one the Ravens found in Cincinnati last month. Helping the Ravens’ cause in Pittsburgh was regaining the services of two secondary starters, cornerback Marlon Humphrey and safety Marcus Williams, without whom the Ravens had to cobble together a pass defense. Even without those two, the Ravens had ranked third in scoring defense through the first four weeks and first in yards allowed per play.
On the other side of the ball, Jackson looked to bolster his 74.3 percent completion rate (second in the league to Buffalo’s Josh Allen heading into Week Five) against a Pittsburgh pass defense that had been allowing nearly 12 yards per completion, the league’s second-highest figure, coming into this game. It certainly helped that Baltimore’s much-ballyhooed receiving corps was bolstered with the additions of newly healthy wideouts Odell Beckham, Jr. and Rashod Bateman, as well as left tackle Ronnie Stanley and running back Justice Hill. But countering those additions, Baltimore played without starting left tackle Dan Moore, right guard James Daniels, and stalwart tight end Pat Friermuth.
Despite being outgained, out-possessed, and outplayed for long stretches of this game, the host team recorded the 700th win in franchise history, second only to Green Bay. Aiding the distress was Jackson’s up-and-down play. Despite completing passes to six different receivers, Jackson was sacked four times, fumbled once, and threw a crucial late interception.
The game started with Baltimore in control. The entire first quarter was vintage Ravens football, with their 9-1 first-down edge and 143-20 yardage advantage, possessing the ball for over ten minutes in the process. As the second quarter began, the Ravens had another efficient drive underway — one that would last seven minutes and 15 plays — with passes to Beckham and Mark Andrews. But Bateman’s end-zone drop led to Baltimore settling for Justin Tucker’s 23-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead.
Then, despite Baltimore’s statistical dominance, mistakes (six dropped passes) and a questionable strategic decision kept the Steelers close. The Ravens impressively drove from their own 8 to near midfield before Larry Ogunjobi stripped Hill after catching a pass. Damontae Kazee fell on it for the Steelers at their own 48. It was the fifth fumble lost by the Ravens this year, among the league’s most, and Pittsburgh’s ninth takeaway. It also led to Chris Boswell’s 43-yard field goal to cut the Ravens’ lead to seven with just over three minutes to go before halftime.
The frenzied Steeler fans were back in the game, but Jackson silenced them with third-and-long completions to Andrews and Zay Flowers. However, the Ravens tried to surprise their hosts by going for it on fourth-and-2 from the 23, but a pass misfired, and the game remained 10-3 at the half.
The Ravens felt considerably less secure as the third quarter progressed, what with Agholor’s drop of a possible big gainer in Steeler territory and Pittsburgh answering by driving to the Ravens’ 34 as the fourth quarter began. But the Steelers looked even more feckless than the Ravens, and it showed when Justin Madabuike and Patrick Queen combined on a third-down sack of Pickett to take the hosts out of field-goal range.
Then the game turned decidedly in Pittsburgh’s favor. It started when a blocked Stout punt went through the end zone for a safety to make it 10-5 with 11 minutes to go. Once they got the ball back, the Steelers used reserve back Jalen Warren to fight his way through the defense to set up the home team on the Baltimore five-yard line. An end-zone dropped pass led to a Boswell 25-yard field goal and a baseball-like 10-8 Ravens lead at the 7:10 mark.
But the Ravens’ special-teams unit hit a home run on an ensuing punt when DelShawn Phillips forced a Gunnar Olszewski fumble that Kevon Seymour recovered and ran back to the Pittsburgh 7, blunting all of the Steelers’ second-half momentum. However, the Steelers got it back when a third-and-goal end-zone pass for Beckham, a corner fade, was intercepted by first-round rookie Joey Porter, Jr. with just over four minutes to go.
Rookie wideout Pickens (130 yards on the day) hauled in a 21-yard catch to put Pittsburgh at the Baltimore 42 at the two-minute warning. He then beat Humphrey for a 41-yard touchdown with 1:17 to go to give the hosts their first lead. A two-point conversion pass was incomplete, but the damage had been done.
It all made for yet another afternoon of aggravation in Pittsburgh, where nerves and stress are the usual order of the day. For the second time this young season (first versus the Colts and now the Steelers), the Ravens lost a game that looked like they had in the bag. A team that should be 5-0 is now 3-2.
Ugh!!!!
Good summary of a lousy game.