The Steelers had to have it and they got it, beating the hated rival Ravens in a classic Pittsburgh -Baltimore matchup that featured John Harbaugh trying to pull the win out of the jaws of defeat with a late two point try that came up short. The offense and defense both struggled and also looked brilliant at times.
If this is indeed Ben Roethlisberger’s last home game against the Ravens, he went out in style. Roethlisberger led the Steelers to a huge fourth quarter garnishing 17 points. He orchestrated the no huddle offense and kept the Ravens off balance and delivered when it was needed most. He finished with 236 yards and two touchdowns including the game winning five-yard strike to Diontae Johnson and the two-point conversion to Pat Freiermuth. It was a great bounce back during a week where it was leaked that he will be retiring at the end of the season.
Diontae Johnson is becoming the Steelers best offensive weapon. After dropping a touchdown on a perfectly placed Roethlisberger pass, he rebounded and finished with 105 yards and two touchdowns in the second half. He led the team in catches with eight. Najee Harris also had a solid game, grinding out 71 very tough yards and contributing with five catches. Chase Claypool continues to be a big play threat and hauled in a forty-yard catch.
The defense had an uneven day. The bad news is they gave up a ton of yards including letting Baltimore dominate the clock with a 99-yard, 16 play drive that ate up 10+ minutes. The Ravens converted 8-16 third downs including a 3rd and 14 on the final drive. Their offense is plodding and slow, but they seemed to have the Steelers number most of the day. The good news though the defense seemed to have a good plan against Lamar Jackson.
Chris Wormley saved the best game of his career for his former team, registering 2.5 sacks and he helped generate a ton of pressure. T.J.Watt posted a monster day of 3.5 sacks after being on the Covid list earlier in the week. He also was key in stopping the would be game winning two- point conversion. It was clear that despite his success, Jackson was nervous about Watt. Alex Highsmith continues to evolve and made two tackles for losses. The unsung star of the game was Montravius Adams, who became a Steeler less than a week ago, Adams set the point of attack and gave everyone more room to work. He finished with two tackles and will absolutely see more playing time.
The secondary played well, Minkah Fitzpatrick is starting to become a playmaker again and he ended the Ravens first drive of the game with an interception in the red zone. Fitzpatrick led the team in tackles. Ahkello Witherspoon did a very nice job as Joe Haden’s replacement and should supplant James Pierre for good. He chipped in five tackles and nearly picked off Jackson on a long play to Mark Andrews, who had been roasting the Steelers all day.
The Special teams continued their up and down season. You can write the same thing every week, except for Chris Boswell, who for the first time had a terrible game Sunday. He did drill a 50+ yard field goal, but inexplicably missed a game tying extra point by a mile and then blasted the final kickoff of the game out of bounds setting the Ravens up on the 40-Yard line for their last drive. He also pooched a kick after missing the extra point that Devin Duvernay ran back for 38-yards setting the Ravens up for a field goal. Pressley Harvin bombed a textbook 64-yard punt that pinned the Ravens on their own goal line…then stunk up the field the rest of the day, including a 25-yard disaster when the Steelers needed him. There is no return game to speak of with this team.
The game was terribly over officiated, and the bad calls were rampant. The good news was it didn’t affect the outcome of the game.
Give Mike Tomlin and the coaching staff credit. This was a must win game and they had the game plan to make that happen. Keith Butler rebounded nicely after being torched two weeks in a row, they made some good adjustments to keep Lamar Jackson in check. The coaching staff seemed to have found some much needed help on both sides of the ball.
BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!
My “GAME BEER” goes to: Going with the upset here and picking John Leglue the fourth string guard who was a road grader yesterday. It was the most push I have seen the line get in three years and he had the answer in almost every protection scheme. Also Considered: Chris Wormley who showed up big against his former team. T.J. Watt who had a huge game and Diontae Johnson who scored the game winner.
Beer of the Game: Boxer Ice, “The beer of champions” KGB and I brought this back from Pittsburgh where we bought it at a sketchy Beer Distributor. It is brewed in Wisconsin and despite being a cheap beer, it was good and heartily drinkable.
“Steel the Snacks”: When you play Baltimore, you have to “Steel” crab cakes. We went with Crab Cake sliders on a pretzel roll. One of KGB’s best snacks, we grabbed the crab cakes from our local pub and KGB fried them up and served them on fresh baked pretzel rolls.
My Stat of the week: 30- Matchups between Mike Tomlin’s v. John Harbaugh the third most in NFL history. Tomlin now holds the edge 16-14. It is also the most matchups of two head coaches during the Super Bowl Era. (Also considered Ben Roethlisberger is now 16-10 all time against the Ravens!)
My Thoughts on next week: VERY SHORT TURNAROUND. The Steelers play the Minnesota Vikings Thursday night. Of the Steelers remaining games, this is the most winnable, the Vikings will be gunning for blood after losing to the Lions.
This week’s Jersey: Jack Lambert, 58, Home Black, had to go back to the legends to bring in some luck!