Steelers Finish Magical Comeback Over Ravens
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers' well-documented offensive woes persisted well into Week 5 and their anemic attack looked well on its way to delivering another loss despite strong special teams and defense. But a late surge from the offense and long touchdown pass from Kenny Pickett to George Pickens proved just enough to lift the Steelers over the Ravens, 17-10 and into first place in the AFC North.
The Steelers won the toss and deferred, bringing the Ravens' offense onto the Acrisure Stadium turf first at their own 25-yard line. Lamar Jackson hit Rashad Bateman for a gain of eight yards then he moved the chains on third and two with a 27-yard rush. But as the Ravens turned back to the passing game, the Steelers were able to put heat on Jackson, forcing him into three straight incompletions and a punt.
The Steelers offense opened their first possession at their own four-yard line. Boos sprinkled down from the home fans as Najee Harris rushed for four total yards on consecutive plays but they cheered as Connor Heyward hauled in a six-yard pass for a first down. After some more hard running got the Steelers to third and four, but Kenny Pickett and George Pickens failed to convert a pass deep down the sideline and Brad Wing came on to punt.
Baltimore got the ball back at their own 41-yard line with 9:12 to play in the first quarter. Nelson Aghalor caught a pair of passes for 26 total yards to get the Ravens over midfield, Gus Edwards earned a first down with an 11-yard run and they were in the redzone in a hurry. Two plays later, Justice Holl bounced to the outside and took a touchdown run in from 14 yards out.
Trailing 7-0 at the 6:15 mark of the first half, the Steelers offense gained just four yards before punting for a second time and they ended the first quarter having been outgained 143-20.
The Ravens moved with ease up to the Steelers 10-yard line but stalled out inside the five-yard line, thanks in large part to a brutal endzone drop by Bateman, and Justin Tucker knocked through a short field goal to make it 10-0 with 12:23 to play until halftime.
Miles Killebrew was flagged for holding on the kickoff return, backing the Steelers up to their own 10-yard line. They finally found their first big play of the afternoon on a 29-yard contested catch from Pickens along the sideline. An Allen Robinson catch and Jaylen Warren run picked up another first down and Heyward added his second first-down catch.
But the first promising drive for the home team still ended in a punt after Pickett was leveled by former Steeler Aurther Maulet for an eight-yard loss.
The Steelers caught their first big break when Larry Ogunjobi punched a fumble loose from Hill. Damotae Kazee jumped on the loose ball and set the Pittsburgh offense up at the 48-yard line with 5:41 left until intermission.
Back-to-back big gains from Pickens - 11 yards on the ground and 16 yards through the air, but that was all the Steelers could muster against consistent penetration from the Ravens. Boswell trotted onto the field and knocked a 43-yard field goal through to make it 10-3 at the 3:21 mark of the second quarter, as "Fire Canada" chants fell from the stands.
The Ravens picked up a first down on a connection between Jackson and Mark Andrews, but T.J. Watt knocked them right back with his first sack in two weeks. Jackson responded quickly following a Steeler timeout by hitting Zay Flowers for 29 yards. Still, Pittsburgh held the Ravens scoreless after they tried to pick up a fourth down conversion from the Steelers 22-yard line.
Baltimore was forced to settle for a 10-3 lead at half.
Pittsburgh took all of a minute and a half before punting to end their first possession of the second half and a T.J. Watt sack ended the Ravens' first drive in a similar fashion.
The Steelers looked to finally be gaining some momentum with strong runs for first downs from Warren and Harris, but a sack of Pickett and incompletion killed the promising drive up at the 40-yard line and the Ravens took back over.
Baltimore got off to a hot start with a 30-yard completion down the sideline to Nelson Aghalor and a defensive holding penalty on Minkah Fitzpatrick. But then Aghalor dropped what would have been a touchdown on a go-route and Kwon Alexander sacked Jackson to bring up fourth and nine and a punt with 3:21 left in the third quarter.
Warren and Harris moved the sticks with runs of five and six yards, respectively. Then Pickett hit Pickens for 23 yards to earn a new set of downs at midfield. After another long gain to Pickens through the air, the Steelers were in business offensively as the game moved to the fourth quarter.
But again, a run went nowhere on second down, leading to a third and long and another sack of Pickett and a punt with 13:44 to play in regulation. And yet again, the Steelers defense and special teams did their jobs exceptionally while the offense was turned in a lackluster performance.
A strong punt from Brad Wing was aided by a 10-yard holding penalty by the Ravens. Backed up in the shadow of their own goalpost, Baltimore gained just four yards then came out to punt. But Jason Stout's kick was blocked by Miles Killebrew and Rodney Williams couldn't coral it for a touchdown before falling out of bounds. Still, the Steelers added a safety and trailed just 10-5 with 11:18 to play.
Gunner Olszewski took the ensuing kickoff from the Ravens back 24 yards to give the offense favorable field position. The Steelers found themselves in a third and eight two plays later. Warren then took a check down and battled for a hard-earned 23 yards to ignite the crowd and picked up 26 yards on his next two touches to give Pittsburgh their first redzone chance of the game with just under 9:00 left in the fourth quarter.
But the Steelers could only manage a field goal at the end of their best drive of the day and cut the deficit to 10-8 with 7:13 to play.
The Ravens continued to be just as ineffectual on offense and the Steelers were set to get the ball back after another punt. But Olszewski fumbled on the return and Kevon Seymour recovered the loose ball. He stayed upright long enough to return it to the Pittsburgh seven-yard line. Rookie corner Joey Porter Jr. saved the day for the Steelers, intercepting Jackson in the endzone to give his team second life as the clock wound inside four minutes.
Pickett started the Steelers' final drive with a 10-yard hook-up with Allen Robinson. Then Pickens got them on the doorstep of field goal range with a 21-yard reception right before the two-minute warning. One play after the break, Pickett capped the drive with a 41-yard touchdown to Pickens along the sideline, delivering a 14-10 lead with 1:17 left in the game.
Holding two timeouts, the Ravens started their next drive on the 25-yard lione following a touchback. Flowers made a 19-yard reception along the sideline, but Alex Highsmith stripped Jackson on the following play and Watt recovered the loose ball.
Chuks Okorafor committed a false start penalty on third and 12 as the Steelers tried to kneel out the last seconds remaining on the clock and were forced to kick a field goal to make it 17-10 and give the ball back to Baltimore, but it didn't matter. The Ravens picked up some chunk yards through the air but Watt finished off the last-gasp effort with a fourth-down sack with 15 seconds left.
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