It was a classic Steelers-Ravens matchup at Acrisure Stadium, but the Pittsburgh defense limited the Baltimore offense all day and was able to pull off an 18-16 win behind six Chris Boswell field goals.
The Steelers opted to defer on the coin toss, so the Ravens started with the ball. On their second offensive play, OLB Nick Herbig came through big in his return from a hamstring injury, forcing a fumble on RB Derrick Henry and the Steelers would take over at the Baltimore 42 after DeShon Elliott recovered the ball.
The Steelers drove to the Baltimore 14 but would stall out there, and K Chris Boswell was good from 32 yards out to give the Steelers a 3-0 lead with 10:40 left in the first quarter. Baltimore looked to have a chance to respond later in the first quarter after QB Lamar Jackson hit TE Isaiah Likely for a 42-yard gain that set the Ravens up at the Pittsburgh 33, but K Justin Tucker missed a 47-yard field goal wide left with 5:10 left in the first quarter, so Pittsburgh held onto their 3-0 lead.
But Pittsburgh gave the ball back after failing to convert on 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1 rush attempts, so the Ravens took over in Pittsburgh territory at the 46 with 3:07 left in the first quarter. But Tucker would miss again, this time from 50 yards out, and Pittsburgh kept their 3-0 lead with under two minutes to play in the first quarter.
The Steelers extended their lead to 6-0 with 7:39 left in the second quarter on a 52-yard Boswell field goal. Pittsburgh benefitted from a 20-yard pickup on a catch-and-run from RB Najee Harris on a reception from QB Russell Wilson, but Pittsburgh’s third-down offense continued to struggle, with Wilson getting sacked on 3rd and 4 to make them settle for a field goal.
After Pittsburgh went three-and-out, Baltimore had a quick strike drive that got kickstarted by a defensive holding penalty against LB Patrick Queen which wiped out a Steelers sack. A 19-yard completion to WR Rashod Bateman on 2nd and 7 moved Baltimore to their own 47, and RB Derrick Henry ran for 31 yards on the next play. A pass to TE Isaiah Likely would move Baltimore inside the 5-yard line, and Henry finished off the drive with a rushing touchdown, while Tucker’s extra point gave the Ravens a 7-6 lead with 1:16 left in the first half.
The Steelers would have to punt with 46 seconds left in the half, but LB Patrick Queen got a measure of revenge against his former team by forcing a fumble on TE Isaiah Likely that Queen recovered, and the Steelers would take over at the Baltimore 19 with 28 seconds left in the half. While the Steelers couldn’t punch it in, another Boswell field goal would give them a 9-7 lead that they held going into the half.
The Steelers extended their lead to 12-7 to start the second half on a 57-yard Boswell field goal, as they also debuted their Justin Fields package. Fields had two carries on Pittsburgh’s opening drive of the half. Tucker made his first field goal of the game on Baltimore’s ensuing drive, hitting a 54-yard try to cut the lead to 12-10 with 6:12 left in the third quarter after an 11-play, 34-yard drive.
A Russell Wilson moonball to George Pickens moved Pittsburgh to the Baltimore 12 after two holding penalties by Broderick Jones, but Pittsburgh’s red zone offense faltered yet again, and Boswell came on for his fifth field goal of the game. He hit from 27 yards to give the Steelers a 15-10 lead with 56 seconds left in the third quarter.
After getting a stop, the Steelers offense got moving again. A 25-yard catch-and-run by TE Darnell Washington moved Pittsburgh to the Baltimore 18, and then Harris broke off a 13-yard run down to the Baltimore 5. But on third down, Wilson made a bad decision and tried to float one up to Washington and was picked off by CB Marlon Humphrey in the end zone. Baltimore would take over at their own 20.
A 25-yard run by Jackson moved the Ravens to their own 45, but two plays later, LB Payton Wilson ripped away a ball from RB Justice Hill for an interception to give the Steelers the ball back. It was a huge play by the rookie in Pittsburgh’s biggest game of the season.
The Steelers would move to the Baltimore 44 after a 17-yard reception by Washington, and they’d get to the Ravens’ 32 after a first-down run by RB Jaylen Warren. But the Steelers again would settle for a field goal, as Boswell hit his sixth of the game, this one from 50 yards out, to extend Pittsburgh’s lead to 18-10 with 3:35 left to play.
Down 8 points, the Ravens moved into Pittsburgh territory with back-to-back completions to WR Rashod Bateman and TE Isaiah Likely. At the two-minute warning, Baltimore faced a 2nd and 10 at the Pittsburgh 47 trailing 18-10. On 3rd and 3 from the Pittsburgh 41, Jackson went deep down the right sideline to WR Nelson Agholor to get inside the Steelers 10 but it was wiped out due to an ineligible man downfield by OG Patrick Mekari to make it 3rd and 9. But Baltimore still managed to convert, as Jackson dumped it down to RB Justice Hill for a 22-yard gain down to the Pittsburgh 24. Two plays later, Jackson hit WR Zay Flowers for a touchdown to make it 18-16 with 1:06 to go.
Baltimore would go for the 2-point conversion to tie the game up, but Jackson was incomplete and the Steelers maintained an 18-16 lead. The Ravens decided to kick it deep with three timeouts left, and the Steelers still needed to get a first down. On a second down play, Justin Fields came in and would’ve had a first down, but he slid too early and made it 3rd and 1. Fields stayed in the game and handed it off to Harris, who got enough for a first down and the Steelers held on for an 18-16 win.
With the win, Pittsburgh moves to 8-2 and extends its lead in the AFC North on the Ravens, who fall to 7-4.
