Ben Roethlisberger capped off his stellar 18-year profession by main the Steelers to a sequence victory in Baltimore. A 12 months later, Roethlisberger’s successor, Kenny Pickett, led Pittsburgh to a dramatic last-minute win in Baltimore that stored the Steelers’ hopes alive.
A month after leaving the primary Steelers-Ravens sport early, Pickett’s game-winning go to Nagy Harris lifted Pittsburgh to a 16-13 victory. The victory retains Pittsburgh (8-8) alive within the race to earn the seventh seed within the Asian playoff. The Steelers have gained 5 of their six video games after a 3-7 begin.
After trailing 13-3, Pickett helped result in two scoring drives within the second half that ended on Chris Boswell discipline targets. The Steelers protection then compelled a punt earlier than watching Pickett marshall an 80-yard, game-winning landing run that culminated in a 10-yard landing go to Harris with 56 seconds left within the sport.
Pickett’s completions of 20 yards from Pat Freymuth and 28 yards from Stephen Sims arrange his landing go. Then the Pittsburgh protection completed the job when a Minka Fitzpatrick snatched from Tyler Huntley with 13 seconds left within the sport.
Pickett was assisted all evening by Harris, who recorded his first 100-yard sprint efficiency of the season. The Ravens offense was led by Mark Andrews, whose 100 yards on 9 catches wasn’t sufficient on an evening when the factors had been excessive. The loss dropped Baltimore to 10-6 and 1.5 video games behind Cincinnati for first place within the AFC North.
This is a full breakdown of what occurred Sunday evening.
Why did the Steelers win?
Pittsburgh overcame a number of self-inflicted accidents that included Boswell’s missed first-half purpose and Cam Heyward’s unnecessarily harsh penalty kick that led to the Ravens solely landing earlier than halftime. Each gamers made up for these errors within the second half. Boswell made his scoring try within the second interval, whereas Heyward was a part of a giant cease on third down that sealed the sport for Pittsburgh.
The Steelers protection made a number of different large stops all through the sport. And whereas they struggled within the pink zone for many of the sport, Pittsburgh’s offense discovered the top zone when it wanted to. Pickett, Harris, and Jaylen Warren (who rushed for 76 yards on 12 carries) benefited from the distinctive effort of the Steelers offensive line that helped Pittsburgh rack up 198 dashing yards.
Why did the crows lose
Baltimore’s protection wasn’t capable of flip the sport round throughout the Steelers’ final two possessions. The go rush was ineffective at that time within the sport, whereas the Baltimore secondary staff struggled to comprise Pickett and the Steelers’ passing assault. All evening, Baltimore’s protection was additionally unable to sluggish the Steelers’ double of Harris and Warren, who mixed to run for 187 yards on 34 carries.
In assault, the Crows had been largely primarily based on Andrews and JK Dobbins. Whereas each gamers had been largely efficient, Baltimore’s lack of offensive versatility contributed to the Ravens scoring simply three factors during the last half-hour of the sport. It has additionally contributed to the Ravens being lower than a half-dozen conditions through which third place is bested.
turning level
Trailing 13-9, the Steelers wanted to make stops from their protection as a way to give the ball again to their offense after the Baltimore protection compelled a punt with 6:32 left. Pittsburgh obtained a much-needed cease when Heyward and linebacker Mark Robinson mixed to discipline Dobbins for no achieve on a third-and-two play from the Ravens’ 44-yard line with 5:05 left.
The cease gave the Steelers greater than sufficient time to mount a game-winning drive that noticed Pickett go 5 of 6 for 64 yards.
Play the sport
Pickett and Harris had been unable to attain on a go close to the Ravens’ finish zone earlier within the sport. The twosome weren’t denied with the sport on the road, as Harris was capable of deflect a Pickett go that got here after Pickett evaded a Baltimore rush. The sport-winning landing go was Pickett’s second in as many weeks after he threw the game-winning go to George Pickens towards Las Vegas on Christmas Eve.
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“I believed we actually held our personal within the half and had some actual candid conversations and had the sort of focus wanted to complete the sport, and for that, I am grateful.
“I can not say sufficient about our youth [quarterback]. He smiles at her. He is at all times able to be that man within the moments we’d like him to be that man.” — Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin on his staff and rookie participant Kenny Pickett
What then
The Steelers will host the Browns in a sport that Pittsburgh must win as a way to hold its playoff hopes alive. The Steelers additionally want a Jets win in Miami and a Patriots loss in Buffalo as a way to have an opportunity within the postseason. Pittsburgh fell to Cleveland when the groups met for the primary time in Week 3.
Baltimore will journey to Cincinnati for a sport that can absolutely have an effect on the AFC playoffs rankings. The sport might resolve who wins the AFC North title if Cincinnati cannot defeat Buffalo on Monday evening. Regardless, the Ravens have already sealed their spot within the playoffs.