The Pittsburgh Steelers enter halftime holding a 13-7 lead after tacking on 10 points late, first on an 11-yard touchdown run from Le’Veon Bell and then on Josh Scobee‘s second field goal of the game after the defense induced a three-and-out. The Baltimore Ravens received their one score on a wide receiver end around that was aided by a missed tackle from Arthur Moats.
On offense, Michael Vick was accurate, but that was aided by a high percentage of short passes, many of which went for losses. He opened up late in the half to finish with 75 yards on 11 for 13 throwing. Bell ran only nine times but picked up 50 yards and the touchdown in doing so. Vick also added 21 yards on four scrambles. Antonio Brown has just 25 yards on four receptions, one of which went for a five-yard loss.
Defensively, new cornerback Ross Cockrell intercepted a Joe Flacco pass and returned it 37 yards to the Ravens’ 36, but the offense stalled and Vick took a sack on third down to knock them out of field goal range, spoiling a short field opportunity. The Steelers also picked up three sacks courtesy of Stephon Tuitt, Lawrence Timmons, and Sean Spence. Tuitt now has 3.5 sacks for the season, and the linebackers total 6.5 of the Steelers’ 12 sacks on the year.
The Ravens deferred to the second half to start the game, and thus begin the third quarter receiving Scobbee’s kickoff, which went for a touchback. After a false start on first down, Flacco was nearly sacked, but scrambled to the left. However, he lost the ball with Cameron Heyward knocking the ball out, with Cockrell recovering for the Steelers deep in Ravens territory.
In the meantime, Markus Wheaton was deemed probably to return with a sprained ankle.
After review, Heyward was credited with the sack and Cockrell the recovery. DeAngelo Williams was given the first carry of the half, but was hit for a loss of three. From the 29, Bell gained about six to set up third down. Vick scrambled to pick up the Steelers’ first third-down conversion of the game to bring the ball down to the 14-yard line. David DeCastro was tagged for his second false start of the game, however, on the following play.
From the 19 on first and 15 now, Bell gained three yards with Brandon Williams on the stop. On second and 12, Bell took a screen down to the nine-yard line for a third and five. Vick found Darrius Heyward-Bey in the left corner of the end zone, corralling it under his left armpit and ultimately controlling it as he went out of bounds, as the Steelers jumped out to a 20-7 lead.
After a touchback, the Ravens’ first play was a screen for a short gain. On second and seven, Justin Forsett ripped a run up the middle for a huge gain, but Mike Mitchell lined up and made the tackle to prevent a long touchdown, down to the Steelers, 44. Antwon Blake missed the tackle on a short pass on the following play for 16 yards. Buck Allen hit the crease for another first down to the 15.
On the following play, James Harrison made the tackle at the line of scrimmage. Cockrell was beaten over the top by Kamar Aiken for the touchdown as the Ravens answered in a hurry to turn it back into a six-point game, bringing the score to 20-14.
Vick fired to the sideline for Brown on first down, but his foot was out of bounds when he came down. On second down, Vick looked bad taking a sack after a rollout for a loss of six yards, blowing up the drive after giving up a touchdown on defense. He took another sack on third down in the pocket. Jordan Berry punted from the back of his own end zone, not reaching midfield, and the Ravens took over at the 28-yard line.
Tuitt made the stop near the line of scrimmage on first down for the defense. Flacco’s screen throw was incomplete on second down, off the hands of his tight end. On third down, Nick Boyle, who could not catch the previous pass, leaped over one defender but was stopped short of the sticks. The Ravens tried to run a fake on fourth down rather than go for a field goal, but Sean Spence sniffed it out and made the tackle to force a turnover on downs.
Taking over at the 23, Bell was bottled up near the line of scrimmage on first down after a gain of about a yard. On second down, Heath Miller could gain just a yard off a rollout toss, setting up a third and eight from the Steelers’ 25. Elvis Dumervil chased Vick down from across the formation to record the sack. The officials missed a facemask call. Berry’s punt was fair caught at just the Ravens’ 40-yard line after a 41-yard punt.
The defense bottled up the run on first down again, Steve Smith broke one tackle but was stopped a few yards shy of the first, approaching midfield. On third and two, Smith came up just short of the first down thanks to the combined efforts of Timmons and Blake. Smith laid down on the ground after the catch returning to the huddle. On fourth down, Boyle was able to convert at the end of the third quarter.
Forsett picked up six yards after the conversion on fourth down to the Steelers’ 38, but gained little more on second down. On third and short, pressure on Flacco induced an incompletion, but Blake was flagged for holding for an automatic first down.
From the 31, Forsett picked up seven yards, approaching the red zone, picking up the first down to near the 20 on the following play. He was smothered for a short loss on the next snap, however. On second and 11, Flacco mishandled the snap from the shotgun and heyward was able to tag him down for the sack and a loss of 12. Now third and 23, Taliaferro was stopped at the 22-yard line, setting up Justin Tucker for a 40-yard attempt, which was good, making it a three-point game at 20-17.
Following yet another touchback, Heyward-Bey leapt up to snare a high Vick pass for a first down in front of Lardarius Webb. Bell could only find three yards off the left side on the next play. On second and seven, Vick was late checking down to Bell, limiting his gain to just three yards, setting up third and four. Vick got the pass off under pressure on third down, but Heyward-Bey was hit for a short loss, though it did keep the clock running with nearly eight minutes remaining. Berry’s punt bounced for 51 yards after the returner chose not to field it.
The stadium was treated to a Jerome Bettis-themed version of Renegade prior to the next defensive series, starting at the 12, but Campanaro gained nine yards on a screen pass to start off the drive. On second and one, Forsett converted to move the chains. Spread wide, Forsett broke through for 22 yards for another explosive play to the 48.
Flacco kept it off play action to throw for eight yards. On second and two, Allen was ridden down just shy of the marker. Setting up third and short, Allen came up just a bit short once again. On fourth down and about a foot, the Ravens failed to convert to keep the drive moving with under five minutes to play on a quarterback sneak from Flacco.
The Steelers took over from the 42, finally finding space for 21 yards, the first explosive play for the Steelers of the day. On the following play, Vick finally put the ball on the ground, but quickly fell on it, settling for just a busted play for a loss of one that kept the clock moving. Bell turned nothing into a six-yard gain on the following play to force the Ravens to take a timeout prior to the third-and-five play at the 31-yard line. Sammie Coates was targeted on third down, and the ball went through his arms with a defensive back draped over him. Scobee was put on the field for a 49-yard attempt that was no good.
The Ravens took over at the 39 with 2:24 to play and a timeout, plenty of time and resources remaining, which translates to the defense needing to make a stop to secure the win.
Flacco went vertical to Maxx Williams on first down, incomplete. On second down, Flacco was hit as he threw to force an incompletion with Harrison on the pressure. Blake was on the defense of the vertical pass up the right sideline to force fourth and 10. After initially being bottled up on the pressure, nobody got open, and Harrison ultimately wrapped up Flacco for the sack, paired with Spence.
Taking over at the Ravens’ 29, Bell got the carry on first down, picking up one yard to hit the two-minute warning as the Ravens have one timeout left in their pocket. On second and nine, Bell predictably got the carry yet again, picking up four yards. On third and five after the Ravens’ timeout, Bell just took the ball up the gut for no gain at the 24. Scobee came on the with with 66 seconds remaining to attempt his fourth field goal, which he missed.
On first down, Flacco completed to the 48-yard line as the clock ran. His second pass was incomplete, stopping the clock with 32 seconds left. Pressure forced another incomplete pass, but only three seconds were burned. On third and 10, Flacco got the pass off through the hit, with Aiken making the catch to bring the Ravens into field goal range. With 23 seconds remaining, Forsett took a draw for eight yards to the 24-yard line to set up a field goal attempt to tie the game. Tucker’s kick sent the game into overtime.
The Ravens lost the coin toss and the Steelers chose to receive the ball to start overtime. Dri Archer had arguably his best touch of his career, returning the kick out to the 31. Vick skipped his first throw of overtime into the grass. On second down, Bell somehow escaped tacklers for a 22-yard game, skipping up the sideline and nearly avoiding one more tackler inside to break the play open.
From the 47 now, Bell weaved his way up for six yards. After another few yards, the Steelers set up for a third and two. Vick’s throw was off to Brown on third down, a critical misfire. The Steelers went for it on fourth down with a Vick scramble, who was stopped for no gain, giving the Ravens a short field to win the game with a field goal.
Allen was shaken up after making the tackle on Forsett after a two-yard gain, jogging off the field. Flacco barely got the throw out of his hands under heavy pressure. On third down, Mitchell sacrificed his body to break up the pass to force the Ravens to punt. Brown muffed the punt initially but scooped it up and weaved his way up the right side for 29 yards before stepping out of bounds at the 41.
Brown caught his fifth pass of the game for about 16 yards down to the Ravens’ 42. Bell picked up three yards on the following play. On second and seven, Vick managed to scramble for close to six yards after some confusion between himself and Bell. On third and two, Bell came up short of the first down on a rollout pass. For some reason, the Steelers put the ball in the air, and Vick’s pass was too high for Brown, forcing a turnover on downs.
Heyward and Bud Dupree smacked Forsett for a loss on first down. Dupree chased Forsett down from behind to stop him just short of the first down. On third and short, Forsett found the room off the right side to move the chains.
Flacco hit Aiken for a 10-yard gain across midfield after the first-down run. From the 44, Forsett was stopped after three yards. Allen picked up six yards to set up third and short as they entered field goal range. On third and one, Forsett was stopped for no gain, setting up Tucker for the chance to win the game from the 35. The former Pro Bowler’s 52-yarder was good.
