The Pittsburgh Steelers have lost the last two meetings with the Baltimore Ravens and will be seeking to avoid a third straight defeat. They are 15-15 when playing the Ravens in Baltimore. The rivalry between the two teams always manages to produce some spice.
2017 began badly for the Steelers when they lost the architect of their Super Seventies teams, Dan Rooney. His choice of Coach Noll in 1969 as head coach forever changed the image of the franchise.
In that year’s draft, they took T.J. Watt with their first pick, JuJu Smith-Schuster with their second and James Conner with one of their third-round selections.
Le’Veon Bell missed all of training camp before signing his franchise tender. He averaged 60 yards in the three games before they faced the Ravens. The team’s rushing yards were in the doldrums at just 69 a game, the third worse in the league. The Steelers travelled to Baltimore on a four-game losing streak in the city.
Both teams were coming off week 3 defeats. The Ravens were hammered 44-7 in Jacksonville. The Steelers lost an overtime game in Chicago 23-17 giving up 220 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
The (2-1) Steelers at the (2-1) Ravens; October 1, 2017
The two teams slugged it out in the first quarter with only a 31-yard field goal from Chris Boswell breaking the deadlock.
The offensive malaise continued into the second quarter with Cam Heyward forcing Joe Flacco to fumble which the quarterback recovered. Antonio Brown expressed his frustration at not being targeted by Ben Roethlisberger after a pass to Le’Veon Bell fell incomplete. Boswell stuck again when he added a field goal from 49 yards.
Another forced fumble from Heyward that he recovered would finally ignite Pittsburgh’s offense.
With a short field of 28 yards, Roethlisberger found Jesse James with an 18-yard pass before runs from Bell and James Conner set Bell up for a 1-yard touchdown run. Boswell’s point after gave the Steelers a 13-0 lead.
When the Ravens went three and out on their next possession, the Steelers took over on their own 30 with 2:13 remaining in the half. Roethlisberger used Bell on the ground and through the air, complemented with passes to Martavis Bryant to move the ball. The drive was finished with Roethlisberger’s 11-yard touchdown pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster. Roethlisberger’s pass to Antonio Brown for the 2-point conversion failed.
Justin Tucker added to the Ravens woes when he missed a 62-field goal attempt as the first half came to an end. The Steelers took a 19-0 lead into the locker room.
The Ravens attempted a fightback in the second half. Eric Weddle intercepted a Roethlisberger pass to gift Baltimore great field position on Pittsburgh’s 18. A Flacco sack by Mike Hilton brought their drive to an end and forced Tucker to kick a 42-yard field goal.
The Steelers replied with a field goal attempt from 44 yards which failed wide left. The Ravens took over on their own 34. Following a run of 50 yards by Alex Collins, Flacco found former Steelers Mike Wallace with a 16-yard touchdown pass. Baltimore’s two-point conversion attempt failed, but they had reduced their deficit to ten points.
Flacco continued to play catch up through the air but again found Hinton to turn the ball over and end the fightback. The Steelers used Bell to run the clock down and end the scoring with his 1-yard touchdown run.
The Pittsburgh Steelers 26 at the Baltimore Ravens 9
Le’Veon Bell carried 35 times and would repeat that number three weeks later against Cincinnati. His career high is 38 which is second to Franco Harris who holds the franchise record with 41 against Cincinnati in 1976.
Bell defended Antonio Brown’s tantrum. “He’s passionate about the game,” said Bell. “He’s not a distraction. He wants the ball. He feels like he wants to be part of it. He’s not being selfish. When the game is tight, he feels like he wants to make a play.”
The return game in Pittsburgh would see the Steelers win 39-38 in the dying seconds with a Chris Boswell 46-yard field goal. It was the first time in a decade they had swept the series.
The Steelers would finish 13-3 to give them their 23rd division title. Despite Ben Roethlisberger throwing five touchdown passes, they would lose the divisional playoff game 42-45 to the Jaguars
