It came as no surprise to his teammates that Troy Polamalu once again came up big when he was needed the most.
Polamalu sacked Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, stripping him of the ball and the Steelers recovered and eventually scored the game-winning touchdown.
"That's what Troy does," said running back Rashard Mendenhall. "He always comes through with great plays at the right time. The defense was playing hard and tough all day. We came with pressure, and it was a matter of time before we got a turnover, and we did. We were able to get the ball on the 10-yard line, and we had to put points on the board at that point."
Free safety Ryan Clark, who knows Polamalu's playing style better than anybody, echoed the sentiment.
"You've been seeing that from him for years," said Clark. "He's a Pro Bowl player and he shows up. We try to put him in position to where he can do that. A lot of times when we break the huddle, he's like 'What are you thinking?' and I'm like, 'I'll just do the opposite of whatever you're doing.' You want him to be comfortable, and he just makes great plays."
While his teammates were dishing out praises to Polamalu, he was giving credit to others for his big play.
"The coaches made a great call," said Polamalu. "I was surprised they were passing in that situation. It was well-coached football."
The Steelers took over first place in the AFC North with the win over the Ravens, putting them in position to control their own destiny as the playoff hunt heats up.
But you won't see them looking far ahead, knowing that this Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Bengals is a key one.
"It's just one game at a time for us," said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. "When you start looking at it that way, you start to get in trouble. All I know is that we have the Bengals next week."
Running back Isaac Redman has been coming up big for the Steelers all season on third down, so it came as no surprise to his teammates that he was one of the heroes in the team's 13-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens. Redman caught a third-down pass and battled his way to the end zone for a nine-yard game-winning touchdown.
"He's been making plays and breaking tackles since the day he stepped in here, and so doing it on a stage like this feels good for him, and it's a great win for this team," said Mendenhall. "He's a player, he's a ball player."
