The Baltimore Ravens suffered their second straight loss to a fellow AFC North opponent when the Pittsburgh Steelers served them a 43 – 23 loss on Sunday Night Football. The Ravens vs Steelers game didn’t fall short of the physical, back yard fight style of game that is typical for their rivalry. The key reason for the loss was the Steelers ability to pressure Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco. The Steelers had four sacks on the day. Outside linebacker James Harrison was able to turn back the clock and harass Flacco all game. He registered two sacks against the Ravens.
Flacco was not able to find any time to sit in the pocket and get the ball to his receivers. Kelechi Osemele and Eugene Monroe struggled mightily with the stunt that the Steelers were able to execute to perfection. The end result was constant quarterback pressure on the quarterback. The offense had zero time to get into a consistent rhythm because of how often the Steelers pass rush was able to penetrate into the backfield.
Ben Roethlisberger was coming off of a game in which he became the only player to throw for more than 500 yards twice in his career. Roethlisberger threw six touchdowns against the Ravens defense. This comes after doing the same thing last week against the Indianapolis Colts. In doing so, Roethlisberger has become the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 12 TD in a two game span Antonio Brown continued to stake his claim as the top receiver in the NFL. He exploded for 11 receptions 144 yards and a 54 yard touchdown. Rookie wide receiver Martavis Bryant put up another solid game as he scored his fourth and fifth touchdowns of the season.
Random Notes:
- Rookie TE Crockett Gilmore had the first touchdown catch of his career late in the third quarter.
- Owen Daniels returned after missing last weeks game. He had six catches for 53 yards.
- The Ravens attempted to throw the ball 45 times compared to 18 rushing attempts.
- Jacoby Jones had a 108 yard kickoff return. Since 2012 he has an NFL high five total kick return.
- Ravens fall to last place in the AFC north with the loss. The 43 points that the defense allowed was the most by the Steelers against the Ravens since 1997.
Quotable:
- Joe Flacco: We definitely didn’t accomplish what we wanted to today. We had a lot of opportunities early but we weren’t able to take advantage.
- John Harbaugh: The NFL season is long for a reason. There’s many teams that got blown out and bounced back. There’s seven games left.
- Terrell Suggs: He was running, he was still up, and he was still moving the pile. I assessed the play and it was the only way I could get him down without him gaining more yards. I wasn’t trying to get him hurt, I was just to get the big guy down.
The Ravens will return home after spending the last two weeks traveling to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. They will face the Tennesse Titans. Look for the offense to get back on track in this game because the Ravens are now in last place in the division and need to turn things around fast.
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