The Steelers jumped out early, fell behind and recovered to beat the Ravens and clinch the AFC North! Backed by a magnificent performance by Ben Roethlisberger and the usual Antonio Brown and Chris Boswell heroics, the Steelers won the game and clinched the AFC North while knocking off their biggest rival.
The offense put together a historic performance. Ben Roethlisberger passed for a career high 64 attempts and racked up a monster 506 yards with two touchdowns. He had solid protection and moved the ball almost at will. The Ravens hadn’t allowed a 300-yard passer all season. Antonio Brown put on another prime-time show. He had 11 catches for 213 yards, making one clutch catch after the other. Vance McDonald and Jesse James racked up 149 yards on 14 catches between them. McDonald once again left the game with an injury.
The defense was clearly missing Ryan Shazier as they were gashed by Alex Collins and the Ravens rushing attack for 26 carries and 152 yards. Collins bounced outside and Sean Spence and Arthur Moats never adjusted. The secondary struggled again, giving up big plays and finding themselves out of position on several plays. Sean Davis had a takeaway but struggled covering Mike Wallace and was hit with a bogus penalty.
The Steelers generated pressure but only had one sack, the game winner by T.J. Watt. James Harrison was finally back in the lineup and in on the last series.
Special teams had a good game on the kicking side, with Little Bos becoming a huge asset. He banged out his second 50+Yarder of the season and he also hit the game winner for 46 yards for the third time in four weeks! Jordan Berry had a solid bounce back week with three booming punts for 141 yards. The return game and the coverage units are still mediocre, including the Steelers getting gashed after they missed a two point try.
The refs for the second week in a row were lousy, getting way to involved and then missing blatant calls.
It was another lesson in escape artistry for the eighth win in a row and the Steelers now sit with the best record in football. They also are playing understaffed and still have not played their best football!
BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!
My “GAME BEER” goes to: Going with three game beers, Antonio Brown, who put up a monster game again on prime time. Chris Boswell who won yet another game with four great boots and Ben Roethlisberger who put up a monster day against a tough Ravens Defense for 500+ yards.
Where I watched the game: KGB and I decided to watch the game in front of the fire and a Christmas tree, these night games have been brutal and of course they have all been nail biters. We had Sam Adam’s Winter Lager as the beer of choice and Pretzels as the snacks, I am excited to go back to a 4:00PM game next week!
My Stat of the week: ZERO the amount of times the Steelers have lost when they have a 14-point lead. That streak was in serious jeopardy last night, but the rally kept the streak intact.
My Thoughts on next week: It’s a Playoff Preview we hope. The Steelers play the Patriots who are coming off a short week. With the defense in shambles the Steelers are limping into this one. They will need a perfect game to win and need someone to step up!
This week’s Jersey: Steelers Home #36 “The Bus”, Jerome Bettis. I missed Church this week, so wore it on Sunday for dinner!