Baltimore Blowout; Steelers Fall Badly To Ravens 26-6 To Fall To 1-1

The Steelers had a 27-3 lead over the Browns at halftime on Sunday.

Since then, they have looked nothing like the contender they felt they would be when the season kicked off.

With a barrage of penalties, poor defense and about as bad offense, the Steelers leave Baltimore 1-1 with an ugly 26-6 loss that could have been a whole lot worse.

The game was a blowout in the second half, as the Ravens led 10-3 at half, but after the Steelers kicked a field goal to make it 10-6 about five minutes into the quarter, the Ravens took over and ran away with the game.

Sure the refs had something to do with it, throwing two flags, one on Troy Polamalu that looked like a penalty, and another on Mike Mitchell that almost everyone agrees was not, but at the same time, the defense continued to look overmatched and couldn’t stop the run.

The combo of Bernard Pierce and Justin Forsett combined to rush for 152 yards on 30 carries, and Joe Flacco was never pressured, going 21-for-29 for 166 yards and a pair of TD’s, both to TE Owen Daniels.

The game had so many errors for the Steelers it’s hard to figure out where to start. The two lines of scrimmage were bad, the pass pressure was not there, and the defensive backfield again was unable to stop anyone.

Ravens WR Steve Smith Sr. caught 6 passes for 71 yards to lead the Ravens, and his energy seemed to ignite the Ravens all night.

As for the Steelers offense, they had to play for a bit without leading WR Antonio Brown, and it cost them, as on the first drive Justin Brown committed the first of four Steelers turnovers, and it started the Ravens route which ended with a 20-point win.

Ben Roethlisberger was 22-for-37 for 217 yards with no touchdowns, a pick, and he was sacked twice and pressured all night.

The Steelers run game was led by Le’Veon Bell with 11 carries for 59 yards, and he caught 5 passes for 48 yards.

Since halftime of the that huge lead over the Browns, the Steelers have been outscored 49-9, and it seems a lot can be traced to an offense that could not get off the field – again.

Now at 1-1, the Steelers won’t have another game till the 21st of September against the Panthers in Carolina on a Sunday night.

The rematch with the Ravens is November 2nd in Pittsburgh on a Sunday night at Heinz Field.