The Pittsburgh Steelers entered the first Sunday of November with an opportunity to take a two-game lead in the AFC North with 8 games remaining in their season but thanks to their 21-14 road loss to the Baltimore Ravens, they’ll instead enter Week 10 of the 2016 NFL season in second place.
The Steelers offense was lifeless Sunday for most of the game and the unit failed to register a third down conversion or cross midfield until the fourth quarter.
While quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did ultimately play Sunday, his road woes in Baltimore continued and he finished the game 23-of-45 passing for 264 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Most of Roethlisberger’s passing yardage and completions came in the fourth quarter and he was sacked twice during the contest.
Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown finished the game with 7 receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown. However, his first catch didn’t come until 3:22 left in the first half.
While the Steelers defense limited the Ravens offense to just 16 points on Sunday, their special teams unit gave up a touchdown via a blocked punt thanks to rookie safety Sean Davis letting his man run at punter Jordan Berry uncontested on the right side with 13:36 left in the fourth quarter.
Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco completed 18 of his 30 pass attempts in the game for 241 yards. He threw one touchdown pass and one interception and was sacked 3 times in total – twice by Steelers linebacker James Harrison.
The Ravens only rushed for 50 yards on Sunday on 29 total attempts.
While the Cincinnati Bengals were off on their bye this weekend, the Cleveland Browns lost their ninth consecutive game. The winless Browns were beaten 35-10 by the Dallas Cowboys, who will play the Steelers next Sunday at Heinz Field.
In the loss, Browns rookie quarterback Cody Kessler completed 19 of his 27 total pass attempts for 203 yards with one touchdown pass. He was sacked four times by the Cowboys defense and the Browns offense also only managed 45 yards on the ground Sunday.
Cowboys rookie quarterback Dak Prescott completed 21 of his 27 pass attempts in the game for 247 yards and three touchdowns and tight end Jason Witten led the way with 8 receptions for 134 yards and a score. Cowboys rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 92 yards and two touchdowns in the Dallas win.
As previously mentioned, the Steelers will host the (7-1) Cowboys next weekend while the (4-4) Ravens will host the (0-9) Browns on Thursday night. The (3-4-1) Bengals, on the other hand, will return from their bye week with a road game against the New York Giants.
