Sunday’s nip and tuck affair against the Ravens today is going though its usual round of second guessing, and one interesting question that I have heard from a couple of talking heads would have been to give the Ravens two points late in the game.
With the Steelers ahead 14-10 with a minute left, they were forced to punt from their own end zone after they failed to do much of anything on three straight runs. Daniel Sepulveda’s punt would have put the ball at midfield for the Ravens, but a penalty on Keyaron Fox put the ball at the 40.
So hindsight being what it is, let’s pretend the Steelers take a safety there instead of punting from their end zone. It puts the score at 14-12, but then Sepulveda has the luxury of the free kick from his own 20 instead of the back of their end zone. He was averaging just under 50 yards a kick, so let’s say from the 20 he gets a 50-yard kick, that puts the Ravens at their own 30 (taking out the possible return), instead of Baltimore needing a TD from the Steelers 40, where they started.
Now at this point, from their own 30, Baltimore would have needed about 40 or 45 yards to give kicker Billy Cundiff a shot at at 42 to 47-yard field goal to try and win the game 15-14.
Personally, I think the Steelers did the right thing. Their defense should have been able to hold down Flacco and the Ravens for the last minute, but instead, they looked like Swiss cheese on four pass plays that allowed the Ravens to get the winning score.
It is what it is, but it’s just another look at something the team might have considered late to try and salvage a win to get to 4-0.
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mark
October 4, 2010 at 4:15 pm
Absolutely not. At least not in hind-sight!! After the safety, it would have been 14-12 and we have to punt to the Ravens. Lets say the Ravens start at their own 30. Down by 2, they only need a FG to win. Judging by the ease at which they moved the ball from the Steeler 40 to the TD, how can we think they would not have gotten into FG range? OK, they had no timeouts. But, the way they moved down the field in 4 plays showed me that their chances of picking up FG yardage was good. The Ravens needed a TD to win that game and thats what they got. The Steeler defense could not stop the Ravens from going the 40 yards for the TD, let alone stop them from getting into FG range in the same circumstance. Besides, a safety and a punt would have given the Ravens even MORE momentum. I cant agree with giving up a safety there. If thats the case, why didnt Arians dial up 1 throw in an effort to get the game-clinching 1st down? If you are expecting to give the ball back to the Ravens because you doubt you can get the 1st down you need, then shame on you.
SouthBaySteelers
October 4, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Agree with Mark
All Steelers needed was: a) make their makeable FGs – game over b) ONE first down with less than 2 minutes – game over. c) Barring that, all they needed was ONE 4 down stop – game over. They got none and lost.
Safety & punt puts Steelers in a postion to give up less yardage to lose on a FG. No doubt that was already thought, discussed, and dismissed by Tomlin. Tomlin/Lebeau made the right calls, defense failed to execute. Blown coverage –> TD
George H
October 5, 2010 at 10:28 am
It came down to the steelers being too conservative. That game had shades of last year written all over it. I expect big things out of the steelers this year but in order to obtain the goals, we have to play to win. All the offense needed was one first down. I know we were backed up but arians should of called a quick slant on first down to atleast get 5 yards, but predictability struck again and were left sitting at 3-1 instead of 4-0. As for the defense… the prevent defense is horrible, thats why the ravens were able to move down field on the last drive. Cbs cant play ten yards off the ball and expect to stop the receiver. Very frustrating stuff there.
DrGeorge
October 7, 2010 at 8:21 pm
Right on, George H. Your comments echo similar ones I made elsewhere. Even with the return of Big Ben, the defense remains the key to winning this season. In addition to the ‘prevent’ defense, which always seems to cost us (other teams do succeed with it, so perhaps it is a lack of talent for the Steelers). I also note the difficulty our defense has had against the run; the Titans, Tampa Bay, and the Ravens all ran effectively and created 3rd and short situations repeatedly. Worse, I’m not convinced we have the talent we need to fix all the D problems this year. There were simply too many holes to fill to fix it in last year’s draft and free agency.
The good news is that the defense is still better this year than last. Which means that Ben and our improved running game may be able to compensate enough for the defense to get us into the playoffs and hopefully beyond. The Steelers with Ben do look like one of the top three or four teams in the NFL this year, assuming our guys stay healthy.
Dr.Sus
October 8, 2010 at 9:51 am
What the Steelers should have done was played “Defense” instead of the “Prevent (us from winning) defense” that they used and gave up consecutive first downs and a touch down! They were playing ten yards off the the receivers.
They gave up 5 fourth qtr.leads last year doing the stupid sh.. When you have the best D in the league there is no good reason for giving away games like that.
TroyPolamaluJersey
October 8, 2010 at 7:27 pm
I don’t think it can all be blamed on the kicker.. but then again isn’t this what he is paid to do?
Baltimore came with the win attitude. They are a good team. The Steelers obviously did not want it as bad.
I was bummed to see their 1st loss the 1st division game. Oh well, I was glad that the Bengals got beat by the Browns.. Just to keep the wins somewhat even in the division.. Still lots of ball to play.