Skip to main content
Advertising

What went right, wrong at Baltimore

Bob Labriola with his thoughts on "what went right, wrong" at Baltimore.

WHAT WENT RIGHT
* The Steelers came out running the football, and they were doing it quite well. DeAngelo Williams carried three straight times for 46 total yards – from the Pittsburgh 20-yard line to the Baltimore 34-yard line. On third-and-4 from the Baltimore 28-yard line, Ben Roethlisberger threw a quick pass to Jesse James who gained 3 yards but came up short of the first down. On fourth-and-short, Williams was stuffed for no gain by Courtney Upshaw and Daryl Smith.

  • At the end of the first quarter, DeAngelo Williams had rushed for 80 yards on eight carries.
  • The Steelers drove for a touchdown on their opening possession of the second half to cut the deficit to 13-10. Fifty-four of the 79 yards came on two pass interference penalties on the Ravens defense, and DeAngelo Williams punched it into the end zone from the 1-yard line.
  • It was going to be a 102-yard interception return for a touchdown by Jimmy Smith, but when Ravens LB Courtney Upshaw lined up offside when preparing to cover Jesse James, it went into the books as a penalty for no yards on the Ravens and maybe a season-saving penalty in the Steelers' favor. Two plays later, DeAngelo Williams' touchdown cut Pittsburgh's deficit to 20-17 with 6:33 remaining in the fourth quarter.WHAT WENT WRONG
  • The Steelers got no points from their opening possession because they didn't convert a third down in Ravens territory. The Ravens were a perfect 4-for-4 on third downs in their opening possession, which concluded as a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that gave them a 7-0 lead with 3:53 remaining in the first quarter. The final third-down conversion was a third-and-goal from the 8-yard line, when Ryan Mallett passed for the touchdown to wide receiver Chris Matthews.
  • A 16-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Brown on the first play of the second quarter was taken off the scoreboard after review. And then on third down, Ben Roethlisberger's pass to Markus Wheaton was behind him and therefore broken up by Lardarius Webb, and so the Steelers settled for a 34-yard field goal by Chris Boswell to cut the deficit to 7-3 with 14:48 left in the second quarter.

Game action as the Steelers traveled to M&T Bank Stadium to take on the Ravens in Week 16.

  • Faced with a second-and-7, DeAngelo Williams lost 4 yards on a running play when Za'Darius Smith dragged him down from behind by grabbing his hair. Then a delay of game penalty made the subsequent third down a third-and-16, and the Steelers ended up punting when Antonio Brown couldn't get two feet down inbounds on a completion along the Ravens sideline.
  • Turnover No. 1 came in the final five minutes of the second quarter. It was a first-and-10 at the Pittsburgh 37-yard line, and on a play in which DeAngelo Williams and Heath Miller appeared to be open, Roethlisberger instead tried to get the ball deeper down the middle to Antonio Brown, and Daryl Smith made the interception.
  • In the first half, Ryan Mallett completed 17-of-24 (70.8 percent) for 146 yards, with one touchdown, no interceptions, and a rating of 100.3. By comparison, Ben Roethlisberger completed 7-of-12 (58.3 percent), with no touchdowns, one interception, and a rating of 38.9.
  • With 7:55 remaining in the third quarter, the Steelers already had burned two timeouts because the offense was facing delay of game penalties.
  • It was a second-and-23 after an unnecessary roughness penalty on Ryan Jensen, and that's when Ryan Mallett threw a pretty pass to Chris Givens between William Gay and Mike Mitchell for a 39-yard gain.
  • Another penalty on Jensen – this one for a false start – set up a first-and-15 for the Ravens at the Pittsburgh 37-yard line. Caught in a blitz, it appeared as though Ryan Shazier lost FB Kyle Juszczyk, who caught a pass from Mallett for a 34-yard gain to the Steelers 3-yard line. Shortly after, Javorius Allen plunged into the end zone to restore the Ravens lead to 10 points, 20-10, with just over 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be missing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an issue.
Advertising