Ravens Drop the Ball Against Steelers
By all accounts the Ravens should have left Pittsburgh on Sunday with a win. The Ravens outgained the Steelers, averaged more yards per play, held the Steelers to under 100 yards rushing, forced a late turnover, and held Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett to a 56% completion percentage.
Instead, the Ravens left Pittsburgh after a heartbreaking 17-10 loss, that was marred by drops, fumbles, and miscommunications. The loss moves the Ravens to 3-2 and 2-1 in the AFC north. Sunday’s loss also moved the Ravens out of first in the division as the Steelers jump ahead as they are now 2-0 in the AFC north and hold the head-to-head over the Ravens.
The Ravens and quarterback came out quick against the Steelers going on a long first drive that stalled on the Steelers side of the field, before going on a seven-play 59 yard drive on their second possession, capped off by a Justice Hill 14-yard touchdown run.
The Ravens offense would again reach the Steelers red zone before two costly drops by tight end Mark Andrews and wide receiver Rashod Bateman, both in the end zone made the Ravens settle for a Justin Tucker 23-yard field goal.
The Ravens defense picked up right where they left off last week holding the Steelers offense to just three points through the first half. A Justice Hill fumble, his first of the year, would lead to a Chris Boswell 43-yard field goal.
With just over three minutes in the half and all three timeouts the Ravens offense looked poised to move right back down the field to extent their lead once again before halftime. Jackson used his arm to work the Ravens down the field before a fourth and short at the Steelers 23-yard line with 19 seconds left in the second quarter. Jackson and the Ravens hustled to the line looking to get the Steelers to jump before taking a timeout. But instead Ravens center Tyler Linderbaum snapped the ball leading to Jackson throwing an errant pass turning the ball over on downs and giving the Ravens no point going into halftime.
It was another miscommunication that cost the Ravens points in a game they would not score again in. Linderbaum explained in his post-game press conference he though the Steelers jumped off sides so he snapped the ball in hopes of a free play. However, no flag was thrown.
The Ravens continued to move the ball and put themselves in position to put the game out of reach, but again drops would kill drives including a deep pass to receiver Nelson Agholor down the sideline, the same route he ran for touchdown in week two against the Bengals. But this time instead of a catch, Agholor watched as the ball went through his hands, for what would have been an easy walk in touchdown.
Disaster would strike again for the Ravens offense on their first drive of the fourth quarter when punter Jordan Stout had his punt blocked by Mile Killebrew that would go out of the back of the end zone for a safety cutting the Ravens lead 10-5. With all the momentum now on their side and after a poor free kick which the gave the Steeler good starting field position. Boswell would connect this time from 25-yards out to draw the Steelers even closer.
After another quick three and out by the Ravens offense, the Ravens seemed to catch a break after Steelers punt returner Gunner Olszewski fumbled after a hit from Ravens outside linebacker Jeremiah Moon, and was recovered by Ravens cornerback Kevon Seymour at the Steelers seven-yard line.
With just over four minutes to play in the fourth quarter and the Ravens still leading 10-8. Jackson and the Ravens would just need to play smart and a victory in Pittsburgh was almost certain. But on third and five from the Steelers five-yard line Jackson dropped back throwing a fade ball to Odell Beckham Jr. in the end zone. But Steelers first round pick cornerback Joey Porter Jr, played great defense boxing Beckham out for the interception. Again leave much needed points on the field for the Ravens offense.
Needing just a field goal to win, Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett methodically moved the Steelers offense down the field before finding his favorite target George Pickens for a 41-yard score in which Pickens ran past Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, his first game this season. After a failed two-point conversion the Steelers held a 14-10 lead with just over one minute left to play. Pickens had one of his best games as a pro as he finished with six catches for 130 yards, the most yard given up to one player by this Ravens secondary this season.
The slim hope the Ravens had of a comeback would be dashed on their second play of their next drive. After a 19-yard throw and catch to Zay Flowers, Jackson would be hit and fumble, recovered by Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt. That fumble his Jacksons third fumble so far in just five weeks.
The Steelers would turn the fumble into another Boswell field goal to extend the Steelers lead 17-10 and giving the ball back to the Ravens offense with just 49 seconds and no timeouts needing a touchdown. The prayers however would not be answered for Jackson and the Ravens as he would be sacked by T.J. Watt his second of the game sealing the victory for the Steelers.
After not dropping a pass all season, the Ravens dropped seven passes, the most by any team since 2013. Even given the drops Jackson still managed to complete nearly 58% of his passes for 236 yards, his most passing yards since throwing for 237 yards in week two against the Bengals.
The season is still early, and a cause for panic around Baltimore shouldn’t be happening just yet. However, the trend of turnovers, miscommunications, and overall lack of execution during crucial moments has now led to two losses. It can be easy for a lot of teams to look and say that they too should be undefeated and won the games they lost. But for the Ravens they unobjectively should be 5-0 through the first five weeks.
Both the offense and defense have plenty to clean up moving forward, as well as the special team’s unit, particularly the punt team, which has been disastrous so far this season, something that is very uncharacteristic for the Ravens. With the schedule continuing to only get tougher moving forwards mistakes like we saw on Sunday will only push the Ravens farther away from their 2023 end of the year goals, should they continue.
While Sunday’s loss stings, the Ravens will have to move on quickly and regroup as they travel to London this week to take on the Tennessee Titans. The Ravens hope this year’s trip across the pond goes better than the 44-7 blowout loss they suffered at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2017 at Wembley Stadium.
Notable Injuries:
Patrick Mekari (chest)- Day to Day
Games Notes:
Linebacker Roquan Smith led all Ravens with 11 tackles.
Zay Flowers was the Ravens leading receiver with five catches for 73 yards.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson surpassed 1,000 yard passing on the season.
Cornerback Kevon Seymour recorded his second career fumble recovery.
The Ravens had their 16th Punt blocked in the history of the franchise.
