Getty Steelers RB Najee Harris is the first 100-yard rusher the Ravens have allowed this season.
When the Baltimore Ravens faced the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road in Week 14 came away with a decisive 16-14 victory, they did so on the back of a punishing run game and clutch plays from their defense. Their archrival came to town in Week 17 and used the exact same strategy to produce the reverse result and defeat them 16-13.
“Give them credit; they flipped the script, and that’s not what we expect,” head coach John Harbaugh said in his postgame press conference. “We don’t expect that at all. They got the job done [and] ran the ball very well against us.”
In their first meeting of the season, the Ravens racked up 215 yards on the ground and it was their offense that came up with a game-clinching drive. Under the primetime lights of Sunday Night Football in their second meeting, it was the Steelers that ran for nearly 200 yards with 198 against one of the best run-stuffing units in the league albeit without their top defensive lineman in Calais Campbell.
“I think they were hitting us with the wide-zone,” safety Chuck Clark said in his postgame press conference. “They were just getting downhill, and they have a good ‘back. Hats off to him [Najee Harris]. We had him; we kept him bottled up a couple games in the past, but he had a good day today.”
Harris became the first 100-yard rusher that the Ravens allowed all season when he finished with 111 yards on 22 carries for an average of 5 yards per carry. The Steelers offensive line consistently dominated at the line of scrimmage and made for a lot of short-yardage situations on later downs after picking up solid chunks on early downs.
“We got our [butt] whooped,” inside linebacker Patrick Queen said in his postgame press conference. “We didn’t play good football. We didn’t communicate enough; we didn’t play physical enough. We got whooped.”
While their defense didn’t come up with a gaudy three interceptions of Ravens backup quarterback Tyler Huntley like Baltimore did to Mitchell Trubisky, the Steelers did come up with the lone turnover of the game in the final minute to secure the victory and keep their playoff hopes alive for another week. Three-time Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted Huntley’s final pass attempt of the game as he rolled right and tried to target veteran wide receiver, Demarcus Robinson.
MINKAH CALLED GAME
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It was an ill-advised decision and cost the team dearly as all they needed was to merely get into field goal range for their six-time Pro Bowl kicker, Justin Tucker, to try to force overtime. Now the Ravens no longer control their fate in the race to claim their first AFC North division crown since 2019 and will need the Buffalo Bills to beat the first-place Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football to keep those hopes alive heading into a Week 18 matchup between the two rivals in the regular season finale.
Familiar Issues Led to Their Downfall
With the defeat, the Ravens fell to 10-6, and just in four of their previous five losses, they held a double-digit or at least two-score lead over their opponent at some point in the game, three of which came in the fourth quarter.
They were up by 21 early in the fourth in Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins, 20-3 in the first half in Week 4 against the AFC-leading Bills, and 20-10 with just over six minutes left in the fourth in Week 6 against the New York Giants, 19-10 with just under six minutes left in the fourth quarter in Week 12 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and led the Steelers 13-3 heading into the fourth quarter this past Sunday.
While the defense let up the eventual game-winning score, their inability to close out games on offense when given several opportunities to do so courtesy of clutch plays from the other two phases of the game was the main culprit in this most recent loss as it was in all but one of their six shortcomings on the year.
After the Steelers made it a four-point game on a field goal with just under 10 minutes left in the game, the Ravens wasted a golden opportunity to get back up by at least seven if not 11. Fourth-year running back Justice Hill set up the offense at the Pittsburgh 40-yard line after ripping off a 56-yard return on the ensuing kickoff.
All they needed was a few more yards to get within Tucker’s comfortable range which was under still from 50-plus but under 60 yards given the weather and field conditions. Instead, they not only didn’t gain a single yard on their way to going three-and-out, they actually lost two yards on the first play and rookie Isaiah Likely dropped a pass on the third that would’ve got them just side considerable range.
“That was a big drive for us right there,” Harbaugh said. “We could have put the game away right there.”
The defense would respond and come up clutch again by forcing a punt five plays later, giving the ball back to their offense at their own 36-yard line with another chance to go on a put-away drive. Unfortunately, the underwhelming unit came up short again by going three-and-out for a second straight drive, gaining just eight yards before getting stuffed after running into a wall on third-and-short.
“We just got stopped on third [down]. [We] didn’t convert the third-down. [We] got behind the sticks a little bit, and the Steelers made a good defensive stance two drives in a row,” Huntley said in his postgame press conference. “[They] kept us out of field goal range, and we had to punt.”
Only gaining 29 net yards of offense and holding the ball for under five minutes in the entire fourth quarter after opening it with a double-digit lead is as deflating as it gets. Coaching and a lack of adjustments on that side of the ball in particular were especially disappointing.
The Steelers had no answer when it came to covering three-time Pro Bowl tight end Mark Andrews who had his best career game against the Ravens’ rivals with 100 receiving yards on 9 receptions, 6 of which went for first downs.
Players Still Optimistic Moving Forward After Loss
Despite narrowly dropping their last home game of the 2022 regular season, the Ravens’ hopes for not just winning the division but making a run in the playoffs remain high since they already clinched a postseason berth last week.
“We still have everything in front of us.” @ChuckC36
“We still have everything in front of us,” Clark said. “Depending on how tomorrow goes, we still have a chance to play for the AFC North. Then, we’re still in the playoffs at the end of the day. So, we still have all our goals in front of us. We’re still getting in the playoffs, and we have a chance to go get a [championship].”
Even though their offense failed to put up 20 or more points for the fifth straight game and for the sixth time in their last seven outings and their defense gave up yet another game-winning drive, many on the team still believe they can make some noise deep into January.
“We’re a dangerous team, and I know there’s a fire in this group, there’s fire today, and I don’t think the score indicates that but we’ll be alright,” Andrews said in his postgame press conference.
The Ravens’ offense will look much different and hopefully be far more efficient at scoring points once their former unanimous league MVP-winning quarterback, Lamar Jackson, returns to the lineup. He has missed the team’s last four games with a knee sprain he suffered in Week 13 and depending on how he progresses in his rehabilitation process, he could be back in time to help the team fight for a division title if the Bengals fall to the Bills or make his long-awaited return in the first round of the playoffs.