It wasn’t pretty, and they needed plenty of help from the Ravens to do it, but at the end of the day, the Steelers are more than alive in the playoff race in the AFC. Baltimore self destructed with penalties in the fourth quarter, and the Steelers used a big first half to hold on for a season saving 23-20 win.
The win means that the Steelers and Ravens are both 8-7, but more importantly, they live to fight another day. With the Jags losing to the Pats, and the Dolphins falling to the Texans, it means that the Steelers are alive for a wild card birth, but of course first on their list will be going to Florida next Sunday and beating the Dolphins.
The Steelers led 20-10 at halftime, but per usual their defense allowed the Ravens to rally in the third quarter, as they scored 10 points to draw even. The only points of the fourth quarter came after the Steelers put a drive together that big 3rd-down play to Tyler Grisham that covered 14 yards. The drive ended with a Jeff Reed 38-yard field goal.
The defense finally stepped up, as they got to Joe Flacco twice on the Ravens last possession, including on 4th down on a 4th-and-10 with the game on the line they got to Flacco from the Steelers 38. The Steelers needed one first down to put the game away, and got it when on a crazy third down play the Ravens were called for an illegal contact penalty which gave the Steelers an automatic first down and meant the Steelers could run out the clock.
Baltimore had chances to win the game, as a Willis McGahee touchdown was called back with the game tied at 20, then later on an easy touchdown catch by Derrick Mason was dropped in the end zone that could have put the Ravens ahead to stay the way the Steelers offense played in the second half.
The Steelers built a 10-point halftime lead on a Rashard Mendenhall 4-yard run with 12:52 left in the first half, then they went on a huge 7-play drive that with penalties went for actually 109 yards as the team converted on a Ben Roethliberger to Santonio Holmes 24-yard touchdown to make it 20-10 with :35 seconds left in the first half.
The Ravens though quickly rallied to get the 10 points back, as first they got a Flacco to Todd Heap 7-yard score with 9:30 left in the third to make it 20-17. Then after a Roethlisberger pick, they got a Billy Cundiff 38-yard field goal about three minutes later to tie it up at 20.
Baltimore though killed themselves with flags all day, as they 11 penalties for 113 yards, including the huge final 5 that gave the Steelers the first down to ice the game. The Steelers on the other hand played a rather clean game with just four penalties for 20 yards.
Roethlisberger was 17-for-33 for 259 yards with a TD and a pick. The team had 286 yards on offense, but were unable to run the ball with much success, as Mendenhall had just 36 yards, and the team had only 48 yards rushing, while the Ravens piled up 175 yards on the ground, as Ray Rice ran for 141 yards on 30 carries.
It was, as expected, more a matter of survival for the Steelers to find a way to win this one. Both Ravens games were nip and tuck, per usual, as they were both just three-point games. They now have to get this game behind them and start working on stopping the Dolphins next week and let the chips fall as they may.
For now, they showed the heart and character of a champion bouncing back with wins over the Packers and Ravens after losing five in a row.
19 Comments
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thomas crowley
December 27, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Congrats to all steelers fans on steelergab. The ravens made too many self destructing mistakes today.
Mike
December 27, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Fuck you Ravens fan. We don’t like you. Go somewhere else and drop dead you vermonous peice of shit.
Wow. That felt good. Steelers didn’t win the game as much as the Ravens lost it. Either way, steelers are still alive. Not sure how the 4 pm games will end but it is going to be tough to get in I think. We do not win many of the tie breakers.
Brian
December 27, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Glad to see Pittsburgh fans showing their true colors. Have to go to four letter explicatives to talk to Raven fans. Classy. The Ravens outplayed the Steelers, that is all that I believe that Thomas Crowley was saying. He is absolutely right, what did the Steelers do? Rush for how many yards? Miss a field goal?
The Steelers won, but the Ravens gave them the game.
Brian
December 27, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Just to also point out, look at your picture for the Ravens and Steelers game. Check out Santonio ‘High Times’ Holmes and his left hand. Funny how he is pulling on the facemask…
Mike
December 27, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Raven fans are such the paragons of class and dignity on this and other blogs. If I have to read one more time how the refs are fixing games for the steelers my head will explode. I dislike the Ravens and all of their fans. If i use a four letter word to get my point accross, so be it. I don’t judge anyone, i just hate with the intensity of 1000 suns. I hate the Ravens and I hate you to Brian. Go fuck yourself for good measure.
Brian
December 27, 2009 at 7:45 pm
You’re an angry elf. I am impressed that you know words like paragons and vermonous (even though I think you meant verminous)! That PSU education was well worth the state tuition.
I dislike the Steelers about as much as you hate the Ravens, but I dont like to make it personal. Your Steelers can go home, cry on their little yellow towels and watch the playoffs from the hills of Western PA.
Just a question, do you think that Hines Ward will still be smiling next week?
Mike
December 27, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Robert Morris shit for brains and yes Hines Ward will be smiling. Of course it is personal. Raven fans are the dregs of society.
Brian
December 27, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Either way you bleed blue and white, you are all the same. Steeler fans, although numerous are the most cocky, obnoxious fans in the NFL.
Mike
December 27, 2009 at 8:21 pm
6 Lombardi trophies will do that to you.
Brian
December 27, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Ben is a rapist.
Brian
December 27, 2009 at 8:22 pm
I win, that is all.
Brian
December 27, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Yeah, I get it, “on ice or grass, we’ll kick your ass.” I get that. That does not make you any better of a person. You are still an ass who feels the need to argue with someone who simply said that the Ravens made too many self destructing mistakes today.
mark
December 27, 2009 at 8:38 pm
C’mon guys! Lets be adult. T. Crowley has been a pain in the ass since he started posting here. I want to believe it was all in fun, but he has said some nasty things.But,I dont want this to turn into some expletive driven,child-like argument. The players play and us fans do our thing after the fact. The Ravens did self destruct a bit today, but the Steelers made some plays when they had to and won. Thats it. Both teams have been disappointments this season although the Ravens control their fate. This rivalry between these two teams as well as their fans is incredible, but lets leave the garbage out of it.Steeler fans are better than that! I sometimes wonder who takes this stuff more personally, the players or the fans?
Mike
December 27, 2009 at 8:43 pm
Who cares if Ben raped (allegedly) someone. He has raped the Ravens plenty over the years. As long as he keeps winning, that is all i care about. I am not a morlist. As it relates to the NFL, I do not care about anything other than the steelers winning football games. I don’t care who is in the uniform. I root for the team. Again, I don’t judge. Never have never will. I simply hate the Ravens and their fans. Deal with it shit head. As usual, go fuck yourself.
Brian
December 27, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Mike, you sure have your go to phrases. I am glad that we can agree on one thing, to hate the other teams players no matter who it is!
Mark, you put it well. I did go to the AFC Championship game last year, actually it was one of the better experiences I have had at a sporting event. We lost, but the fans in Pittsburgh were better than Mike.
thomas crowley
December 27, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Hey mike go fuck yourself if i knew u in person i would break your jaw. I was congratulated u on the win”” i was also stating a fact. The ravens lose this game the steelers didn’t win it. The ravens didn’t need to win today if we win next week were in the steelers need to win. And need alot of teams to lose.
jay
December 28, 2009 at 4:31 pm
I hate to interrupt the bantering, assholes, but, this is a Steelers blog….Hey, Mark or Dr. George (or any KNOWLEDGEABLE Steelers fan), what are the chances of these (following) things happening:
1. Tomlin (or someone) either fires Arians or sits him down in the offseason and DEMANDS a balanced attack;
2. We conceivably have (6) needs—what are the chances of management doing their homework and believing that they can
address (5) of them; (1) MAJOR free agent signing and rounds (1-4);
FREE AGENCY—either a FS or ILB…
FS-Antoine Bethea, Nick Collins or Tyvon Branch;
ILB-Barret Ruud, Demeco Ryans or Thomas Davis;
a. forth round—complimentary RB to Mendenhall; big bruiser or small shifty back it doesn’t matter
b. Third round—IF FS TAKEN IN FREE AGNECY, THEN ILB; IF ILB TAKEN IN FREE AGENCY, THEN FS.
c. Second round—Tackle (i.e., Marcus McNeil, Michael Roos and Ebon Britton were all taken in the second round)
d. First round—CB; Move Taylor over to the number 2 CB spot and that immediately upgrades that position (with Lewis and Burnett as depth);
Let Hampton walk and replace with a returning A. Smith, a newly extended Keisel and an emerging Hood. Sign a low end interior D-lineman such as Johnny Jolly (only 27 years old), Barry Cofield or Tank Tyler and develop Ra’shon Harris at DE. Develop Grisham as the #4 WR, give Sweed one more year of a chance at WR. Put the Rookie second round pick in as a starting RT and move Colon over to RG after extending his contract. Let Ryan Clark Walk to be replaced with the BIG free agency signing of the FS (I prefer Tyvon Branch because he’s young, fast, hits hard and covers well and offers more future position flexibility than others. Yeah, he’s not as refined as Bethea and Collins but he will be cheaper than those two). Let Parker test free agency and let Reed walk to be replaced by Czech (yeah, he’ll take his lumps but you gotta concede in some areas). RUN A MORE BALANCED ATTACK! So there it is, my plan. Laugh if you will but the most far-fetched component here is the idea of signing a BIG NAME free agent…or is it Arians running a balanced attack, or is it…..
John
December 28, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Steelers have never been big players in free agency and probably never will. They have done well without it anyway. I like them adding 1 or 2 key componenets that are not high dollar additions, eg, Farrior, Clark, Moore.
Tomlin will have a difficult time getting rid of Arians. ben and Arians are tight it sounds like. I think he is going to have to demand that they are more balanced.
Next year being an uncapped year will be interesting for a team like the steelers. There is no cap but more importantly i think for the steelers is that there is no floor either.
Go Raiders, Bengals and Patriots…I can’t believe I just wrote that.
mark
December 28, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Well Jay, I would love to see ALL those things happen, but its not likely. First of all, unless Tomlin is completely unhappy with the offensive production we had this year I doubt he rocks the boat. Again, Ben and Arians have a great relationship and Ben has 4,000yds, Mendy has 1,000+yds and Hines and Holmes have 1,000yds and add an emerging Wallace and you will have a tough time selling the reason to fire Arians. Its just the way I see it, not that I like it. As far as letting Hampton walk, that may happen but Aaron Smith is no replacement for Hampton.Smith is an end and not big enough or able to occupy 2 defenders like Hampton does. To let Hampton go would mean to find a nose tackle. I can almost see the “tag” put on Hampton. Maybe a 1 year deal? As for the last item, Free agency. we all know the Steelers look for bargains, depth and maybe 1 player who’s under the radar that can have an immediate impact in free agency (Mewelde Moore type). This will not change. I doubt we can score a “major” player. If they can, I would like to see them grab a CB that can play right away. Not a depth grab either, I mean an impact, shut down guy. I can see them going CB,S,NT/DL,RB in the draft. I do see changes in the off season. A friend of mine in Pittsburgh told me he hears the rumblings that Ligashevsky(sp?)is a goner. Thats a start, right? I will say that if Arians is let go, I can see Ken Anderson taking over the job. At least there is a comfort level with Ben. I almost want to say we will see more player changes than coaching changes. Hampton, Farrior,Clark,Spaeth,Parker,Townsend,Carter and Sweed are all on the bubble and I would not be shocked if everyone on that list is gone by mini camp.