Five moments that stood out in the Steelers' heartbreaking loss to the Ravens
Losses like this one hurt. Badly. Through all the adversity that the Steelers faced in this game, it still looked like the Steelers may pull this one off.
The 2019 season has been filled with moments of adversity for the Steelers. Some of them self-inflicted, and some of them not. They lost their franchise quarterback to a season-ending elbow injury. They lost their 2nd-string quarterback to a concussion on a filthy hit. They had the field flipped on them by a controversial pass interference call against Seattle.
Even Heinz Field's injury carts have had issues.
They've also fumbled late in games twice now. They've fallen behind in games to early. They've been unable to properly capitalize on takeaways.
When you put all of that together, you get a recipe for a 1-4 team.
When Ben Roethlisberger went down for the season, no one truly expected the Steelers to compete. Except for the Steelers themselves. They traded away a first-round pick for the first time since 1967 to acquire an elite defensive back. They traded away another draft pick for a tight end. They've still acted like a team trying to compete.
Yet, this team continues to fall short in crucial moments. This was an issue with the 2018 Steelers and it has carried over into 2019.
In a season filled with crucial moments, this game was filled with many that stood out.
An ugly start
This game could not have started worse for the Steelers. They started 3-and-out. The Ravens got a field goal. Then Jaylen Samuels threw a disturbing interception out of the wildcat. The Ravens scored a touchdown. Just like that, the Steelers found themselves down 10-0.
Pittsburgh responded with an impressive 75-yard drive, capped off by a 35-yard touchdown pass from Mason Rudolph to JuJu Smith-Schuster. The Ravens responded with a grueling, 13-play drive that ended up in the end zone. It also took 6:20 off the clock.
The Steelers had no answer for Lamar Jackson and the Ravens' run game in the first half. It wasn't until the Ravens started to shoot themselves in the foot when the Steelers started to claw their way back into the game.
Pittsburgh turned two Lamar Jackson interceptions into field goals. Unfortunately, that sounds all too familiar. The Steelers did the same thing against the 49ers a couple weeks ago.
After all the things that went wrong in the first half, they still found themselves only trailing 17-13 at halftime.
A scary hit leads to a scary moment
The Ravens were marching down the field to start the third quarter until Devin Bush made arguably the interception of the year.
The Steelers looked like they were going to fail to capitalize on yet another takeaway. On 3rd and 11, Mason Rudolph scrambled and connected with James Washington for a 26-yard gain on a huge 3rd down conversion. However, Rudolph had been knocked unconscious by a vicious hit from Baltimore's Earl Thomas.
Rudolph was knocked unconscious before he hit the ground. He laid on the ground motionless for a couple of minutes, but did finally become alert and began speaking to the trainers and coaches gathered around him. Roughing the passer ended up being called on the play.
It was a scary moment that left Heinz Field silenced. Players from both team expressed concern for the Steelers' young quarterback. JuJu Smith-Schuster was visibly shaken up, who broke down in tears.
Rudolph was able to get to his feet and even mouthed to a trainer, "I'm good, I'm good." Due to a malfunctioning injury cart, Rudolph was helped off the field by foot and was eventually taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. This paved the way for undrafted rookie Devlin Hodges to take over the Steelers' offense.
Hodges played very well in Rudolph's absence. He completed seven-of-nine passes for 68 yards, and converted a crucial third down with a 21-yard scamper.
An odd start to overtime is answered with authority
60 minutes wasn't enough for the AFC North rivals. And we all know just how crazy things can go in overtime in the NFL.
We didn't have to wait long to see something unpredictable. The Steelers won the overtime coin toss, and after what seemed to be some confusion between the official and Steelers captain Cam Heyward, the official announced the Steelers had deferred and chosen to defend the open end of the stadium. This gave the ball to Baltimore to start overtime.
With the way NFL overtime rules are, if the team who received the overtime kick off scores a touchdown on their first possession, the game is over. By making this decision, Mike Tomlin could have given the ball to Baltimore, never having the chance to ever possess the ball.
It was a decision that definitely left a lot of people scratching their heads. When you have the chance to get the ball and win the game, traditionally, you don't pass it up. Tomlin thought otherwise and was even asked about it after the game.
"Man, did you see our kickoff return in this football game? Did you see their kickoff team? Every time they put the ball on about the 2-yard line and Tucker hung the ball at about 4.5 seconds and we couldn't get back to the 15. Why would I sign up for that? I put the defense on the field in an effort to fight for field position and put the ownness on them to get the stop. So, when we got the ball, we got it on the 30-something, which is dramatically different than when our kickoff return team took the field all afternoon.
The defense owned the situation and answered Mike Tomlin's challenge. They responded with a stellar series, forcing them three-and-out, including the fifth and final sack of Lamar Jackson by Bud Dupree.
The Steelers were positioned on the 32-yard line after the possession, needing only about 35 yards to get into comfortable Chris Boswell range for the game-winning field goal.
Another costly fumble
Pittsburgh started their first series in overtime with decent field position on their 32-yard line. After a 3-yard gain by Conner on first down, Devlin Hodges hit JuJu Smith-Schuster on a crossing route, only to have the ball punched out by Marlon Humphrey.
Baltimore recovered the fumble and got to the Pittsburgh 34-yard line, paving the way for a Justin Tucker game-winning 46-yard field goal.
"I feel terrible," JuJu said with tears in his eyes. "It's literally the worst feeling ever."
JuJu gave credit to Humphrey for making a great play for his team. Humphrey said after the game that the Ravens work on ball punch-outs every week and that it's a big emphasis of their preparation.
The fumble by Smith-Schuster is reminiscent of the costly fumble he had late in the game against the Saints last season when the Steelers' playoff hopes were on the line.
It's a heartbreaking way to end a game. After everything that had happened in the game, the Steelers still had a chance to go down the field and upset the Ravens with a third-string quarterback. Losses like this can sting for a while.
The officiating continues to be...questionable
This game was filled with questionable calls on both sides of the ball.
Ravens' coach John Harbaugh lost his two challenges on plays that were definitely close. On Devin Bush's interception, even though his arm was around the ball, it definitely hit the ground and it was a really close call. The play was called an interception on the field, which may have played a role in why it was upheld.
Harbaugh's final challenge was also upheld on a big third-down conversion by Diontae Johnson, where the ball was knocked out of his hands. Johnson did appear to tuck the ball, but it didn't look like he fully secured it either. Again, it was a really close call. It was called a catch and fumble on the field. The ball went out of bounds on the fumble.
The most egregious call of the day went to a roughing the passer penalty called on Ola Adeniyi. Lamar Jackson threw an incomplete pass and it would have been 3rd-and-8, but the officials thought Adeniyi hit Jackson illegally. It gave Baltimore a first down, and they eventually went down the field and hit the game-tying field goal to send the game into overtime.
Here's the hit by Adeniyi:
That was as close to a textbook tackle as you can get by Adeniyi. It was not late either. What else can a defender do on a play like that?
Final Thoughts
This is obviously a devastating loss for the Steelers. They fall to 1-4 on the season and any horribly slim chances they had at the playoffs got even slimmer.
There's no word on how long Mason Rudolph will be out until we find out the severity of his concussion. Hodges looked impressive, much like Rudolph did when he came in for Ben in the loss to Seattle, but who knows where the Steelers go with a third-string quarterback.
The Steelers travel to Los Angeles next week to play the Chargers on Sunday Night Football. Kickoff is at 8:20 P.M. ET.
