“Game Of His Life” tells the story of Pittsburgh athletes who may not have had the most illustrious, Hall of Fame level careers, but had one absolutely amazing game. In today’s edition, Charlie Batch.

Charlie Batch has been active in the football world for decades, starting with his NFL career in 1998 before launching his television career in 2013. A native of Homestead, Pennsylvania, Batch always had a special connection to the Steelers and the city of Pittsburgh. 

After his stint as the starting quarterback for the Detroit Lions, Batch went on to become the long tenured (and fan favorite) backup quarterback for his hometown team. He had several memorable moments as a Steeler when his name was called upon in the event he was needed. 

The Backstory

Ben Roethlisberger had been injured for two weeks at this point during the turbulent 2012 season in Pittsburgh. 

Once 6-3 on the season, the loss of Ben had taken its toll on the team, and the Steelers lost back to back weeks as they traveled to Baltimore for their third straight AFC North matchup (and their second game in three weeks against the Ravens). 

Two weeks ago, the Ravens came into Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers 13-10. In that game, Pittsburgh’s first game without Ben in 2012. Byron Leftwich had started that game. 

The week later, the Steelers turned to Batch, who had a miserable showing in Cleveland, throwing 3 interceptions in a 20-14 loss to the 2-8 Browns. 

With their backs now much more up against the wall, the Steelers turned back to Batch, hoping he could redeem himself from his abysmal Browns game. 

The Steelers stood at 6-5 when they were set for their second game of the season against the Ravens, setting the stage for Batch’s finest performance as a Pittsburgh Steeler. 

The Game

The Ravens started with the ball first off the kickoff from longtime Steelers kicker Shaun Suisham. The Steelers got a stop on defense early, forcing Baltimore to punt after gaining just one first down. An unnecessary roughness penalty pushed the Ravens back 15 yards before punting the ball to Pittsburgh. 

Pittsburgh’s first drive started with a 5 yard run by Jonathan Dwyer, who would see a good amount of action on this first drive. Charlie Batch completed his first pass of the day on third down to keep the drive alive, slinging a 12 yard pass to Emmanuel Sanders. 

Dwyer would run 4 yards on back to back plays, setting up Batch for another third and short, this time completing to rookie Will Johnson. On the next play, Dwyer would run a 14 yard dash to get the Steelers into Baltimore territory. From there, Batch tried twice to get the ball to a very young Antonio Brown, missing on the first but connecting on the second. 

Nevertheless, the drive had stalled, but the Steelers were close enough for Suisham to kick a 46 yard field goal to get Pittsburgh on the board first. 

After forcing a second Baltimore punt, Batch took the field again hoping to move the Steelers down the field again. Three plays later, however, the Steelers dispatched their punt unit, after two measly gains were followed up by a deep shot to Brown that went incomplete. 

On their third drive, the Ravens were able to find some traction, eventually tying the game at 3-3. Meanwhile, the Steelers were trending in the opposite direction: a second straight three-and-out that saw Batch get sacked gave the Ravens the ball back again after Drew Butler’s punt. 

The Ravens would score another field goal off the foot of the ever steady Justin Tucker, putting them ahead 6-3, and after yet another three and out for the Steelers, the Ravens had the ball. 

Ryan Clark, however, would try to give the Steelers another chance. He intercepted a pass by Joe Flacco at midfield, but his efforts would be in vain. Two plays later, on a trick play that saw Antonio Brown throw a pass to Dwyer, the ball was picked off by Corey Graham. 

The Ravens would score a touchdown not long after, putting them ahead 13-3. 

Batch had gotten off to a very slow start in this game, but when the Steelers got the ball back down 10, Batch had done just enough to get 3 more points on the board. Powered by a 42 yard kickoff return by Chris Rainey, Batch hit a few passes to Heath Miller (still having a hard time linking up with Brown, though) and after they were aided by a few penalties, Suisham was close enough to knock home a 41 yarder to make it a one possession game. 

Still, Batch had suffered a pretty subpar first half, throwing for just 54 yards. At halftime, however, a switch would flip, and Batch would come out swinging in the second half. 

After another failed attempt with Brown, Batch found Sanders for a 7 yard gain, and running back Isaac Redman had secured the first down. Not long after, Batch would find Heath Miller for a whopping 43 yard pass down the field, deep into Ravens territory. Dwyer would do much of the rest, rushing 16 yards for a touchdown to knot the game up. 

After forcing a Ravens punt, the surging Steelers offense returned to the field, but this drive would go nothing like the last. After almost turning the ball over on an incomplete pass (which was challenged by Baltimore for being a fumble), Batch would find Sanders on a 21 yard pass, but he would fumble the ball as well, losing it to Raven Ed Reed. Soon after, the Ravens would score a touchdown, their second off a Steeler turnover, to go back ahead in the game. 

On the next drive, Batch would finally find Brown, connecting on a 34 yard pass play to get the Steelers to midfield, but the drive would soon stall, bringing Butler back out to punt. The Steelers defense would force a three-and-out, however, giving the Steelers back the ball. 

Now in the fourth quarter, Batch completed his first pass on this drive, a 10 yard hit to the running back Dwyer. Redman would run for 16 on the next play, and after getting sacked, Batch would find Miller again for a 23 yard gain. Confident in his connection with Miller, he went back to him on the following play, but this time, Ed Reed was able to snag the ball and pick it off. 

James Harrison, however, had stepped up to give Batch a chance at redemption. On Flacco’s third snap of the drive, Harrison not only sacked Flacco, but he also forced and recovered the fumble, giving Pittsburgh possession. Starting out deep in Raven territory, Batch was able to hit Brown, Sanders, and then Miller for a touchdown to tie the game at 20. 

With another forced punt by the defense, Batch and the Steelers found themselves with the opportunity to run out the clock and win the game. Starting the drive with just over six minutes on the clock, Batch went a perfect 5 for 5, including three times to Brown to keep the Steelers and, more importantly, the clock moving. The tandem of Redman and Dwyer also helped kill the clock. 

In Ben’s absence, Batch had successfully led the team to a Roethlisberger-style game-winning drive, capped off by a successful Suisham kick as time expired to end the game 23-20 for the Steelers. 

The Aftermath

Batch ended the day with 276 yards, his highest passing yards total in a game in over a decade, and by far his highest number with the Steelers. Though he only threw 1 touchdown, he did exactly what was needed in the second half to secure a Steelers win, including doing his best Ben Roethlisberger impression on the game-winning drive. It also put the Steelers to 7-5, helping them stay very alive in the AFC playoff hunt. 

Perhaps Batch had saved some of the best of his career for last. His winning performance against the Ravens would actually be his last NFL game, given Ben would return the following week and Batch, 38 years old during the 2012 season, was in the tail end of his career. 

After the Steelers’ drafting of Landry Jones in 2013, Batch was not brought back for the following season. In the wake of the decision, Batch turned to a broadcasting career, beginning with KDKA in Pittsburgh. 

As for the remainder of the 2012 season, Batch would watch from the sidelines as the Steelers collapsed down the stretch, losing their next three games to fall to 7-8 and out of the playoff race. They would finish 8-8 on the year, and the 7th seed in the AFC. In the present day NFL, they would have qualified for the postseason, but back in 2012, only six teams made it, leaving Pittsburgh on the outside looking in. 

(Photo by Patrick Semansky/AP)