How do you even begin to describe what we saw today? How do you even begin to put into words the reckless rollercoaster of emotions?
I guess I’ll have to give it a try.
This game was honestly about what I expected, albeit more chaotic. A rock fight divisional battle that the Steelers somehow some way, win.
But it was not a win for the faint of heart.
Opening up the game, the Ravens got a little going early, with Lamar Jackson ripping off a 26 yard run on the third snap, but the Steelers defense was able to bottle him up, forcing three straight incomplete passes and a punt.
But, like always, the Steelers were doing a lot of punting as well. Opting to go with a run heavy offense at first, the Steelers also obtained one first down before sending out the punt team as well.
Unfortunately for the Steelers, booting from deep in their own territory, they give the Ravens good starting position, and Jackson is able to hit two double-digit passes before the Baltimore run game punches it in for a touchdown.
The Steelers follow suit with a three-and-out, quickly punting the ball away again to the sound of boos raining down from Acrisure Stadium.
On their next drive, Baltimore orchestrates a field goal drive to go up 10-0 partially into the second quarter.
But despite this early start, the Ravens would do everything in their power to keep the Steelers in this game. Several miscues and a lot of dropped passes helped the Steelers hang around in a game they had no business being in.
The Steelers offense starts to, very slowly, look like an NFL offense. Kenny Pickett drops a beautiful pas to George Pickens (the first of several times I can say that phrase) for a 21 yard connection. But the drive soon stalls, and the Steelers offense is unable to get that much needed spark.
Luckily though, the Steelers defense is able to find it. Larry Ogunjobi, who desperately needed to make a play, does just that, punching the ball out of Justice Hill’s arms and into Damontae Kazee’s.
The Steelers are able to get a field goal off the turnover to make the game 10-3, and soon after, here is another instance of the Ravens allowing the Steelers to hang around.
After a solid drive that went deep into Pittsburgh territory, the Ravens sat at 4th and 2 on the Steelers 31-yard line. Head coach John Harbaugh decides to go for it, taking the gamble of having a chance at 7, as opposed to settling for 3.
It doesn’t pay off, as Jackson’s pass falls incomplete to Zay Flowers, who had several miscues on the day.
In the end, Pittsburgh heads into the half down by 7, when to be honest, they should have been down by 70.
Pittsburgh opens the second half with their patented special: two runs and a pass that can’t get 10 yards. Chants of “Fire Canada” grow as Brad Wing punts the ball again.
But the Steelers defense does everything in their power to keep Pittsburgh alive. They absolutely locked things down, containing Jackson both through the air and on the ground.
Now in the fourth quarter, the Steelers defense once again puts together a shutdown performance. A holding penalty and a tackle for loss by Kwon Alexander pins the Ravens down at their own 14-yard line when they try to punt.
But special teams captain Miles Killebrew is able to get a hand on the punt and block it.
The ball goes flying backwards, and special teamer Rodney Harris tries desperately to capture the ball in the endzone to get a touchdown as opposed to a safety.
Unfortunately, Harris just can’t corral the ball, and it goes for 2 points and the safety.
With the safety, the Steelers now get the ball, and get a chance to put a touchdown on the board to take the lead.
This drive gets led entirely by Jaylen Warren. He rips off a 23 yard catch and run, then combines runs of 10 and 16 yards to get the Steelers into goal to go territory.
But after Warren gets stalled, Pickett has back to back passes fall incomplete, and after being given a golden chance by the Ravens, the Steelers have to settle for a Chris Boswell kick to make it a 10-8 game.
Still riding high, Pittsburgh’s defense gets a three-and-out and a punt.
On the return however, Gunner Olszewski catches the ball and begins to run, but as he is colliding with a pile of Ravens and Steelers, the ball pops free from his hands.
With the Ravens at the five, it looks as if the game is over, but Gunner gets bailed out by a man with ice in his veins: Joey Porter Jr.
JPJ gives the Steelers offense one last chance, and this time, they don’t miss.
Kenny Pickett leads a game-winning drive, and fires back two back strikes to George Pickens, the latter of which he takes to the house for a 41 yard touchdown to put the Steelers ahead.
On Baltimore’s last gasp drive (or so we thought, anyways), the combo of Alex Highsmith and TJ Watt combine to take the football away. Highsmith gets his hand in the way of Jackson, stripping him of the ball, and Watt takes it and runs.
Pickett and the offense come back out, and lineup in victory formation to run out the clock. But wait a second…the Ravens have two timeouts left. The clock isn’t going to run out, so what are they doing?
In a confusing series of events, the Steelers kneel down twice, then take a penalty, and lastly kick a field goal to go up 17-10.
In the end, it doesn’t really matter; with no timeouts and under a minute to play, Jackson and the Ravens turn it over on downs, and Pickett gets to kneel for real this time.
This was a game that Pittsburgh probab;y did not deserve to win. They weren’t consistent on offense, and their return team almost fumbled the game away.
But credit to the Steelers, they hung around and waited for the Ravens to make mistakes, which there were plenty of. And it certainly wasn’t pretty, but the Steelers did juuuust enough to win.
I experienced the full swing of emotions today. The lowest of lows. The highest of highs. The screams of excitement and that silence that yields a fuming anger.
It’s yet another thriller, back and forth, one score game played between the Ravens and Steelers.
…oh, I’m sorry, the AFC North leading Pittsburgh Steelers.
More thoughts down below:
-We’re lucky it doesn’t matter now, but seriously, what was Mike Tomlin doing kneeling when the game wasn’t over? Why not run for the first down? Why give Baltimore one more chance?
-Play Joey Porter Jr. all the time man. ALL THE TIME.
-Jaylen Warren is a beast. That one drive was all him. Unlike some in this fan base, I’m not a Najee hater, but it’s clear that Warren is the better back right now, and his stock only continues to rise.
-This was a statement game for George Pickens. He had 6 catches on 10 targets for 130 yards and a touchdown. He also had 16 yards on a jet sweep play, the first time that has ever worked. When the Steelers needed him most, he was there.
-It would still be in Pittsburgh’s best interest to fire Matt Canada. Another subpar offensive game with under 20 points. With the bye week upcoming, if there was any time to do it in-season, it’s now.
-Speaking of Canada, did y’all catch his reaction, or lack of, to the Pickens touchdown? The man was blankly staring into the distance. Makes you wonder if Pickett called an audible, or if someone else called that play.
Odd stat of the game: The Ravens had the ball for just 28 more seconds than the Steelers did today. Maybe that’s just me, but it certainly didn’t feel that way.
(Featured image by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
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