The Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens with a late field goal by Shaun Suisham, his fourth of the game, for a 19-16 victory. It was a typical Steelers-Ravens game played very tight and close. The Steelers put together an old school performance, play good defense, running the ball with purpose and having Ben win it with a great clutch drive. Special Teams even contributed!
It was a great team effort but the day belonged to the defense. It all started with the linebackers and Lawrence Timmons was on fire Sunday. He racked up 17 tackles, including 12 solo. The Ravens never could run the ball and Ray Rice was a non-factor in the game. LaMarr Woodley continued his re-emergence with a sack and several pressures on Joe Flacco. The secondary bent but again didn’t break, William Gay had a great day and Ike Taylor continued his exceptional play except for one hiccup on a pass thrown to Torrey Smith.
The biggest surprise is how the special teams actually was a major factor in the win. Manny Sanders set up the winning field goal with a 44-yard return on kickoff. He took it all the way but was ruled out of bounds in a questionable call. Felix Jones had a nice kick return for over 40 yards and Antonio Brown continued his stellar season with a nice punt return. The Special Team’s player of the day has to be Shaun Suisham who had several clutch kicks including the game winner.
As for the offense, Big Ben looked like Big Ben. While his numbers won’t win any fantasy prizes he led a game winning drive for the first time since his injury last season and made several plays. The Offensive line did a good job protecting him and pushing the Ravens front seven all over the field. The Steelers were able to run the ball and Le’Veon Bell was outstanding, coming up 6 yards short of 100. He played well out of the wildcat and put together a very good day. Terrell Suggs was relatively quiet and nearly got shutout.
It was a great win for the Steelers and as coach Tomlin says kept us relevant.
BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!
My “GAME BEER” goes to: Le’Veon Bell and Lawrence Timmons. I seriously couldn’t decide because both were so essential to the win. Also Considered: Shaun Suisham and Manny Sanders
Where I watched the game: Back at the house! It was great to be home, I was cooking for most of the first half and made sausage and peppers. Hung out with my buddy Matt, my friend Erin and KGB! We had a great day and a lots of fun. The Beer of choice was Guinness for the first half and then I polished off a few Iron City Lagers.
My Stat of the week: 1.5 sacks for Suggs and Dumervil after all the talking the Ravens fans did all week. It was a great performance by the offensive line.
My thoughts on Next Week: The Steelers will give the Raiders a good old fashion whupping!