When Ben Roethlisberger marched the Pittsburgh Steelers down the field and threw a potential game-winning touchdown pass to Mike Wallace to put the Steelers up 20-16, I thought to myself, that's it, Steelers won it.
As Lee Corsos' crazy ass would say, "Not so fast my friend". The Ravens got the ball back on their own eight-yard line after the Steelers punted the ball away in the Ravens' territory. Joe Flacco, of all qbs, took the Ravens on a 92-yard game-winning drive for a touchdown. Game over, Ravens sweep the Steelers.
The Ravens are now 6-2 and are tied with the Cincinnati Bengals also 6-2 and both teams are ahead of the Steelers at the moment in the division.
- Did the Steelers purposely take a delay of game penalty in the 4th quarter? Mike Tomlin said that was all his fault. Was it on purpose or was it just a case of poor clock management. Wouldn't Tomlin already have the field-goal unit ready? Does Tomlin trust Suisham? I don't. If you don't trust your kicker than why have him on the team?
- Is Hines Ward done? Ward got knocked out of the game after a blatant helmet to helmet hit from Ray Lewis. Ward left the game with 0 catches. He's now concussed and has a injured ankle. Ward has looked his age and the young guys are playing at a higher level. I think Ward finishes the year as a role player and retires after this season.
- The Game of football involves a ton of lucky plays. The Steelers got lucky a few times; Torrey Smith dropped a wide-open touchdown, Bernard Pollard dropped an interception, and the refs called a horrible holding call on the opening play of the game, which would have been a LONG td run by Ray Rice.The Ravens also got lucky,especially on the last drive of the game. Flacco threw 2 passes that could have been and should have been interceptions by the Steelers.
- No doubt that former-Steeler and now Steelers' defensive-backs coach Carnell Lake has done a tremendous job with this secondary this year. That being said he's no miracle worker. Carnell Lake and William Gay were dreadful against the Ravens. Gay was beat repeatedly, even when he was holding and interfering illegally. Clark was extremely late on the game-winning touchdown thrown by Flacco. Clark just seems like he wants to go for big hits, and has been mediocre at best all year. Gay stinks.
- I expect three different fines from this game; one for Ray Lewis, one for Ryan Clark,and one for Jameel McClain for his hit on Antonio Brown.
- James Harrison was the only player who was able to get consistent pressure on the qb last night. Steelers missed LaMarr Woodley very bad.
- Got to give it to Terrell Suggs he finds ways to make big plays. Zero sacks on the night, largely due to great play by Max Starks, but Suggs intercepted a pass ending a great drive by the Steelers opening up the 2nd half. Suggs made a great read and used great athleticism on the pick. He must have learned that at "Ball So Hard University".
- Flacco was 14-21 on 3rd downs. On 1st and 2nd downs he looked like Joe Flacco. Great play-calling by the Ravens and horrible defense by the Steelers.
Bottom line: This game meant much more for the Ravens. The Steelers got the "New England Patriots monkey" off their back last week. They called and played a great game in all three phases. The Steelers are the Patriots to the Ravens. They had to beat them. Now they have, both times this year.
Beating the Steelers might very well be more important than winning the Super Bowl for the Ravens. They talk about the Steelers even when they're not even playing them. John Harbaugh received a Gatorade bash after the game last night. I'm surprised Flacco didn't say he was going to Disneyworld.
Ravens and Steelers have a similar schedule down the stretch. Unless the Ravens lose 3 division games against the Browns and Bengals, the Steelers are now forced to finish with a better overall record than the Ravens.
The Steelers should not be very worried. They still have one of the best three quarterbacks on their team and a top 5 defense. Steelers will be playing in January. Book it.
I don't think the delay of game Penalty was taken on purpose, and if that is the case why not burn a time out and try to take a two possession lead. That play made no sense to me.
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