Prior to the Pittsburgh Steelers 26-24 victory over the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday evening that gave the Steelers the AFC North division title, Father Maximilian Maxwell, the Prior of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania was seen dashing the end zone with holy water. His effort seems to have done the trick as some higher power must have wanted Pittsburgh to advance into the playoffs. Interestingly enough, where he placed his holy water just happened to be in the end zone that Baltimore kicker Tyler Loop was attempting a game winning field goal against. You can see the video below.
https://youtube.com/shorts/3TJtR3R4ANs?si=0GDMrblB-ejHvR3j
With what seemed like an impossibility, after the Steelers scored a touchdown on a beautiful pass and catch from Aaron Rodgers to Calvin Austin, Chris Boswell missed the extra point. Boswell has not done that in several seasons. That meant a field goal from Baltimore would win the game for them and they would play the Houston Texans next.
As the Ravens began the final drive of the game, Lamar Jackson escaped several sack attempts and with blown coverage in the secondary, passed Baltimore downfield and into field goal territory setting up a game winning 44-yard field goal attempt from rookie kicker Tyler Loop. Can you say “Scott Norwood?” What seemed like a sure thing to end the Steelers’ season, Loop missed the kick and sent the thousands of fans at Acrisure Stadium into a frenzy.
As I watched the game, I was sure Pittsburgh’s season was over. Good kickers just don’t miss attempts like that. One of my thoughts was that if Justin Tucker was still a Raven, we lose. A win is a win no matter how it happens and critics and anyone else can say we were lucky, but who cares? We win they lose. We advance and they do not.
The game did not begin well for the Steelers, and they must find a way to score points in the first quarter. They just can’t seem to score in the first frame. Baltimore jumped out to a 10-0 lead, and it was looking bleak early. But the Steelers came to play. Mike Tomlin, however, made a bad mistake in my opinion in the first half when he opted to go for a first down when he was already in Chris Boswell’s field goal range. In retrospect, had he put the points on the board the end of the game would have forced Baltimore to score a touchdown and not a field goal to win the game.
When Tomlin was asked why he decided to try to move the chains instead of kicking the field goal, he said in these type of games you have to play to win. Taking points off the board disproves that theory.
Looking back at the result, I believe the Houston Texans were probably rooting for the Ravens and they would have been in Baltimore next Monday night instead of now having to come to Pittsburgh where the Steelers will feed off the gift given to them last Monday and knowing how many straight victories they have on Monday Night Football under Mike Tomlin (22-4 with the Steelers winning 23 straight games on this night when it’s a home game).
Now it’s time to point out the stars of this game for the Steelers. On defense it begins with Cam Heyward. The old man has never looked better. He simply played his ass off and played to his fullest potential. He turned back the clock in the way he played. Derrick Harmon has been a huge difference maker when stopping the run. If you take away Derrick Henry’s first quarter 41-yard romp, he only had 85 more yards the rest of the way which is very respectable in regard to stuffing him.
Leading up to the game, Lamar Jackson’s health was in question, but he appeared healthy for this game, and he was effective and did some heavy damage to the Steelers’ secondary. The huge difference in this game was that Baltimore made the bigger plays, but Pittsburgh had more consistent chunks of yardage and making first downs. The Steelers doubled the Ravens in first downs (24-12) and did a good job of keeping the Baltimore offense off the field winning the time of possession game 34:11 to 25:49.
Pittsburgh had 73 plays to the Ravens’ 48 and had 41 more yards of total offense finishing with 390. But that defense oh my. If not for a few blown coverages on pass plays, they were outstanding sacking Lamar Jackson three times and seeing T.J. Watt return to action with one big interception. Before the season began, Mike Tomlin said this defense could be special. When the team was slumping, the defense was far from special and looked awful.
Now, the defense is reaching the accolades Tomlin had predicted would come to fruition. Everyone on defense contributed but there were several players who simply stood out. I already mentioned Cam Heyward. Keeanu Benton played a major part in stuffing the run. Jalen Ramsey, while he misplayed several pass plays, was a tackling machine with four solos and seven overall.
Malik Harrison got a little payback to his former team with five tackles. T.J. Watt’s playing time was supposed to be limited but he played much more than expected and helped set the tone for how the defense would play against the Ravens. It seemed like a different Ravens player was getting injured every few minutes. That was a sign that the Steelers were the more physical team.
Zay Flowers just ate up the Steelers secondary with 138 yards receiving on just four receptions. If Pittsburgh would have been able to defend against him the game may have had a different complexion. The Steelers offense was remarkable. From a slow start to the game, they were fully revved up in the second half. Down 10-3 at halftime the Steelers put up 23 points in the third and fourth quarters outscoring Baltimore 23-14 in quarters three and four.
Let’s talk about Aaron Rodgers. Before the season began I was not in support of signing him. That was mostly due in part because of his past attitude and cockiness. Nothing to do with his talent. Rodgers easily reversed my opinion and probably most opinions of him with his performance this season. What he did against Baltimore Mason Rudolph, Justin Fields, or Russell Wilson would have never been able to mirror that.
With DK Metcalf returning, he is going to be part of an offense that I’ve been saying all along has some dangerous weapons. Some of those weapons were on full display last Monday night. That begins with Jaylen Warren and is combined with his running mate Kenneth Gainwell. Those two backs bring back memories of Farris and Bleier. Both can run with the ball and both can be effective receivers.
Warren had 66 yards rushing and 33 yards receiving for 99 total yards. Gainwell? Only 10 yards rushing but 64 yards receiving. Calvin Austin has proved he’s not too small to be a big-time receiver. All season it seemed Pat Freiermuth was being ignored as a target but without Metcalf on the field, he is getting the targets so well deserved. Adam Thielen said before the season this would be his last. He’s getting comfortable in the Steelers offense, and it shows.
As I watched the game, I saw Darnell Washington sitting on the bench on the sidelines and his size was apparent. This dude is HUGE. It’s hard to believe he’s a tight end and his absence is being felt. Washington won’t be available when the Steelers take on the Houston Texans next Monday night, but DK Metcalf will.
A few final thoughts. In the last minute of the game, the expressions on the faces of the players and the coaches was worth a thousand words. All night long Mike Tomlin appeared relaxed, even calm at times. But other times Tomlin showed more enthusiasm and emotion than I’ve seen from him all season.
On the other sideline, Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh seemed nervous and uptight the entire game. After Baltimore had a few big plays to get into field goal range, the Ravens sidelines had players believing they won as Tyler Loop lined up for a game winner. There were all smiles while across the field Cameron Heyward had a look of defeat on this face.
Then it happened. Missed field goal. Steelers win. Derrick Henry looked shocked. A face of disbelief. In the end, it didn’t matter how the Baltimore game finished, it is the winner that counts and that winner is the Pittsburgh Steelers.
