The Winners and Losers from the Ravens’ 16-18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers
The Ravens have once more failed to vanquish their greatest division adversary in the Pittsburgh Steelers, falling to them 18-16. Here are my winners and losers from Sunday’s game.
Winners
Defense: Ten days after being a play away from losing a shootout to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Ravens were once more looking for answers. Their efforts this season has left them as one of the worst defenses in the NFL and in team history. That changed as they faced the Steelers. The defense allowed just four third down conversions on 16 attempts. They kept the Steelers out of the end zone on four separate occasions. The pass defense allowed just 181 yards on the day, 114 yards fewer than their season average. The Steelers had to rely on kicker Chris Boswell six separate times, with three of them coming from 50 or more yards (52, 57, 50).
Marlon Humphrey: The Ravens desperately needed a turnover and who else but the Ravens’ biggest defensive playmaker to catch a frazzled Russell Wilson errant throw to give the Ravens’ life once more. Rarely did the Steelers throw his way and when they did, he snared the interception.
However, Humphrey left the field with 51 seconds left in the game. It’s unclear as to why as Harbaugh gave no comment.
Odafe Oweh: A big game brought out the best of Oweh who notched 2.5 sacks according to the NFL game stats tracker. He helped keep the Steelers’ offense on the back foot all game and his pressure forced Wilson into the Humphrey interception.
Honorable Mentions
Rashod Bateman: While Bateman caught just two receptions on the day but both were critically important to keeping drives alive. He also set a new best for receiving yards in a season, surpassing his rookie year.
Zay Flowers: The drop was bad but he made up for it with the 23-yard touchdown in crunch time.
Losers
Justin Tucker: In a game decided by two points in a rivalry that’s decided by one score more than not, six points cost them. Tucker’s kicking woes are directly impacting the team’s record. Today, he missed twice in a stadium he’s known to be nigh-perfect. Meanwhile, Boswell knocked through six field goals to give the Steelers the win.
Ravens: It’s a loss in the record but more a painful reminder that the Ravens haven’t got over the hump against the Steelers. They’ve lost eight of their last nine games against a team that they have a good roster to face but fail to perform when called upon.
Penalties: We’ve reached a point where flags are expected on any positive play and even bad ones, too. The Ravens were flagged 12 times in this game for 80 yards, with many of them procedural penalties. Blocking downfield, too many men on defense, special teams plays, it’s never ending.
Ball Security: Just ugly, ugly ball security today. Henry loses the football on the second play of the game. Likely coughs up the ball from a Patrick Queen strip just before half time to put up three points, which was a difference-maker in this close contest. The Steelers thrive on takeaways and they gave up two easy ones, leading to points.
Two-Point Play: Something was clearly wrong on the two-point attempt. After the Steelers whistled down the first one, the Ravens went to their next play call. Both Nelson Agholor and Isaiah Likely looked puzzled and it resulted in a left-side quarterback run with no room to go. Monken sure wants that one back.
Offense: For the first time this season, the Ravens scored under 20 points. Over the past five games, they’ve averaged 34.2 points per game. But mistakes, execution and decision-making led to their undoing.
Special teams: Everything seems faulty outside of Jordan Stout at this point. Tucker’s missing. Nick Moore’s snaps aren’t sharp consistently. Return protections repeatedly drawing flags. It’s all awry for them right now.