By Ray Porter Jr. for Urban Media Today
PITTSBURGH, PA–One kick. That’s what separated the Pittsburgh Steelers season from either clinching the AFC North Division and their season ending vs. the Baltimore Ravens. With 2 seconds left, K Tyler Loop lined up for a 44-yard game winning (and Division Clinching) field goal, but his attempt sailed wide right, giving the Steelers a dramatic 26-24 win in front of 65,400 Acrisure Stadium fans and a Sunday Night Football National Televised audience. The Steelers are AFC North Champions for the first time since the 2020 season.
“Man, it’s another one in the history of this series, man. It’s an honor to be a part of this rivalry with that group. Got a lot of respect for them,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “Obviously, it was a 60-minute football game. I’m just happy for those guys in that locker room.”
Typical of the Steelers/Ravens rivalry, it was a true slugfest like a 12-round boxing match in which the real drama took place in the 12th round. Neither team backed down as it was a question of who wanted it most, with the Steelers being the last team standing.
“They fought and fought and fought not only tonight but throughout the entire journey, so we move forward. I’m thankful for that.” Said Tomlin. “Excited about what lies ahead. Not only the game next week, but the work in front of it because that’s how we get there and that’s how we engineer victory.”
After missing out on the opportunity to clinch the division with a Ravens loss or a win vs. the Cleveland Browns, the Steelers knew they couldn’t miss out on another chance to get it done and it took beating a Ravens team who overcame a 1-5 start and avoided elimination after they stunned the Green Bay Packers last Saturday in a 40-29 win in which RB Derrick Henry ran for 216 yards and 4 TDs. Although he ran for 126 yards vs. the Steelers, they basically shut him out in the second half and kept him out of the end zone.
“You know, the guys just played hard. They did. I didn’t feel like he was running wild in the first half, although his numbers said that he was.” Said Tomlin. “I think the two times we saw him this year we worked hard to make him earn it. He’s a special player. They’re a special group in terms of what they do around him in that phase of the game, you know, so you’re not going to be able to shut them down all the time, but I thought we were game for the fight for sure.”
However, the Steelers’ biggest challenge was QB Lamar Jackson (11/18, 238 yards, 3 TDs, INT) as he played his first game since missing a game due to injury. Although he didn’t run much at all (4 carries, 9 yards) the Steelers were victimized by three of his passes that led to TDs. The first one was on a 4th down on the opening drive as he found WR Devontez Walker for a 38-yard TD, giving them a 7-0 lead. The next two were in the 4th quarter as Jackson would find WR Zay Flowers (4 rec, 138 yards) for 2 scores that would briefly give the Ravens the lead.
“Good plays by them, negligence by us. On the first one I thought we had Lamar in the backfield. He came out of a — I think two men had him, and so you just respect that component of his game,” said Tomlin. “We probably overplayed the short yardage situation on the second one, but, you know, you just got to compliment him for the talent and competitor that he is. He fought tooth and nail, man, to lead his team to victory and you got to just respect that.”
Despite the damage the Ravens did on offense, QB Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers offense wasn’t going to be denied as they overcame the early 10-0 deficit with a Chris Boswell FG and a 1-yard TD by FB/TE Connor Heyward. And in the explosive 4th quarter, after the Ravens first TD, Rogers engineered an 8 play, 60 yards drive that ended with a 2-yard TD by RB Kenneth Gainwell. After the Ravens scored a second time, Rodgers and the Steelers would go back to work and go 65 yards on 6 plays (with no timeouts left) that ended with a 26 yard TD pass to WR Calvin Austin III, giving the Steelers a 26-24 lead with 55 seconds left in the game.
“Calvin is the sweetest guy,” said Rodgers. “Multiple times in the huddle I’m asking him on various plays, what do you want on the backside, what do you want on the backside? He wouldn’t give me a straight answer…I don’t know if it was McCormick or Pat who said just go cook ’em or something. I said, all right, Cal, you run a hitch-and-go back there. I peeked back to the left and saw No. 3 slip, and that’s a gimme touchdown.”
And then it happened: Boswel missed the extra point and back came Jackson and the Ravens as they drove down the field and converted a huge 4th down as Jackson found TE Isaiah Likely, putting them at the Steelers 22 and setting them up for a potential 44-yard FG from Loop. But the rookie kicker would miss as time expired, giving the Steelers (10-7) the Division crown and the 4th Seed and a Wild Card date with the 5th-Seeded Houston Texans next Monday night.
“That’s team. We are AFC North champions, and that sounds good and it feels good. But we didn’t come here for that. We came here for what lies ahead, and so excited about that. Thankful. -said Tomlin.
Notes: LB TJ Watt, who missed the past 3 games due to a partially collapsed lung, finished with 2 tackles and a huge interception in the 3rd quarter. “You know, this series has been defined by great players. Earlier this week I was talking about TJ and Lamar. You know, I didn’t question whether either guy was going to show up, you know, because that’s just the nature of this thing, man. Their relationship is tied together for life just like Big Ben and Suggs,” said Tomlin.
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