In a back and forth battle at Accrisure stadium in Pittsburgh on Sunday, missed kicks were the story of the game as the Baltimore Ravens fell to their AFC North Rival 18-16.
The game started as bad as it could get, as Derrick Henry fumbled on the Ravens opening drive. The fumble by Henry was his first in 538 touches. After the fumble, the Ravens defense played well, only holding the Steelers to a field goal putting them up 3-0. The Ravens responded by putting themselves in what seemed like suitable field goal range for Justin Tucker. However, Tucker sailed a 47 yard field goal wide left.
After back and forth possessions, and another Justin Tucker missed field goal, the Steelers were able to put together a drive and tack on three more as Chris Boswell hit a 52 yard field goal putting them up 6-0 with 8 minutes left in the second quarter. After the Boswell field goal, the Ravens offense was finally able to get on the board. Derrick Henry muscled through the defense for a long run to the 10 yard line, and the Ravens punched it in a few plays after, giving them a 7-6 lead.
After holding the Steelers offense to a three and out on the ensuing possession, the Ravens got the ball back with 38 seconds left in the half. As the Ravens tried to put a drive together, Isaiah Likely coughed up the ball in their own territory and gave the Steelers the ball with great field position. The Steelers capitalized on this a few plays later as Chris Boswell hit a 32 yard field goal to give them the lead 9-7 going into halftime.
The Steelers picked up the second half right where they left off the first half, as they put a lengthy drive together and ended it with a Chris Boswell field goal putting them up 12-7 with 10 minutes left in the third quarter. The Ravens responded with a drive of their own and Tucker was able to finally make his first kick of the day from 54 yards, decreasing the Steeler lead to 12-10. On the ensuing Steeler possession, Russell Wilson found George Pickens on a deep ball which put them in Ravens territory, however the Ravens defense held firm after that and held them to a field goal, extending the lead to 15-10.
The fourth quarter of the game saw the teams sharing possessions. One of the most costly mistakes for the Ravens came as Lamar Jackson sailed a pass to Justice Hill that was seemingly wrestled from him by Steelers linebacker Payton Wilson as the two hit the ground. On the next Steelers drive, Russell Wilson was able to find Tight End Darnell Washington to put the Steelers in field goal territory, and capped the drive off with a Chris Boswell field goal to put them up 18-10 with 3:35 left in the game. The Ravens had one more chance to make to try to score a touchdown and send the game into overtime. Lamar Jackson was able to find Justice Hill who scurried down the field and put the Ravens on the Steeler 20 yard line with a little over a minute left in the game. Shortly after, Jackson was able to find Zay Flowers in the end zone to make the score 18-16. However, the Ravens late game heroics were thwarted as the two point conversion play was stopped in the backfield and the Steelers escaped with the victory.
The Ravens have to put yesterday behind them as they have a big matchup with major playoff implications on the line as they travel to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers (7-3) next Monday night at 8:15.
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