[News] Game Recap: Ravens 23, Steelers 20 (OT)

[cbrook1862]

A confidence booster without a doubt, let thus trend continue. No team is perfect but I saw a lot if good things. The running game was on point, the defense showed up in multiple situatios especially in the clutch, and maybe most importantly we had very very few penalties and the dry few we got didn't come at really bad times, I didn't expect it to be pretty, but we won, and against a divisional opponent rival...my weekend will be better now.

[BillyD]

Let's put Flacco in proper perspective. 1) He is a very good starting QB; the best we have ever had. 2) He is tough and there for us every week. 3) Both 1 and 2 mean that we do not have to chase a QB in the draft, that kills many other teams. It is a great luxury. 4) He is inconsistent. We get mediocre and we get great. That is just Joe. But that means that the rest of the team must be good for us to win consistently. 5) He is not elite, not on a par with Rodgers, Brady, Peyton. I have watched those three surgically rip apart their opponents, all with replacement receivers. I love Joe and am happy to have him, but let's be honest.

4 OCs in 3 seasons.  A very young team.  Very unimaginative play calling.  there are a bunch of factors that are leading to the stagnant offense this season.  Let's not forget this is the same QB that holds the NFL record for most career playoff road wins with 7, has more career playoff wins overall than Kurt Warner, Steve Young, Dan Marino, and Jim Kelley to name a few (Joe has 10 career playoff wins, tied with Big Ben).  He's also tied with Joe Montana with one of the best playoff runs in NFL history (11 TDs/0 INT) during that 2012 SB run.  So now, the offense is struggling in multiple areas and we're going to call out Joe?  Come on man, there's more to it than that.

[Drew P]

I disagree.  He was running for his life most of the game and no one was getting open.  A goo measure of how much pressure and blitzing a team is doing is how well you run the ball.  Pitt brought so much pressure on Joe and played such tight coverage that they over pursued on many occasions leading to the huge running lanes for Forsett.  They came with some pretty creative blitzes, as Pitt usually does, and our receivers just weren't getting open.  Simms called it on a couple plays during the CBS broadcast...the spacing was not good and the route running was not good.  The pick was a very good defensive call that was helped by the fact that they could gamble that SSS was going to get the ball in that situation.  The fumble was a combination of no one being open, a big time hustle play by the Pitt tackler, Joe not protecting the football in that situation, and a great heads up play by the Pitt player that made the recovery.  It was an ugly game on both sides of the field, and we luckily came away with the win.

 

I just didnt see a guy worth his cap number on that field in a must win game. 2 fumbles and an INT on a floater ball against a secondary that makes ours look lights out. Not seeing the overload on his backside at the LOS. Yes they won thanks to Tomlin and a improving ground game.

[Purple Hazard]

As I said last week... we need to run the ball better to win. That's what our offense is all about. Especially if some WR and TE are hurt.

[January J]

Wasn't a big fan of the fake field goal call, but if nick Boyle breaks that one tackle I'm pretty sure it would have been a mad dash to the end zone bc nobody else was on that side of the feild. Definitely thought we should've took the points in a game like this. But I'm glad we didn't , bc things might have turned out differently and I'm just relieved to get the W

[law215]

At the start of the season, we knew these young guys needed to step up for the Ravens to be successful. If these first and second year players can become consistent/healthy contributors, then Ravens have a lot to look forward to. Campanero, Aiken, Williams, Boyle, Z Smith responded. Maybe Suggs being out and Smith Sr getting banged up (hopefully for only 1 game) , could be a blessing. These guys made plays in a huge situation in a tough environment on a night when their QB was not at his best. Good job.

[baltimore1975]

Over half of the league's quarterbacks are getting paid over 15 million now. Flacco is not overpaid and it is not his fault the offense is not top 5 in the league. Quarterback isn't the only player on the offensive side of the ball. If the offensive line doesn't hold he has no time to throw. If receivers don't get separation it becomes incomplete. If he knew he could throw it he would he is being paid 20 million a year to play the game, after the last interception was returned 30+ yards another easily could have been taken to the house.

Blah Blah Blah....

[devilsadvocate1]

Final point on Joe. No, he is not overpaid. I would rather be paying him than chasing marginal QBs in the draft. See Cleveland, Jacksonville, Oakland, Houston, Tennessee, NYJ, Buffalo, etc.

[January J]

Another game changer that's being overlooked was the officials putting those 4 seconds back on the clock before the 2 minute warning. It had ran down to 1:59 and they put it back to 2:04.... putting the 2 minute warning back in play to stop the clock for the Ravens so they would have enough time to get the ball back. Had they not reset the clock to 2:04 they would have ran it down much farther and we wouldn't have had hardly any time to work with, with no timeouts.

When Flácco took that sack on 4th down I thought for sure the game was over, esp when I saw the clock. You can't take a sack right there. If nobody's open heck just throw the ball up downfield and at least give somebody a chance to make a play. Even if it's intercepted it's just as good as a punt bc your gonna turn the ball over anyway with a sack and that way it would hurt their feild position . Had scobee nor missed another feild goal that would've been it. We got this W basically gift wrapped from Tomlin and the steelers, but il take it.

[KidNme]

Most folks argument is that our WR's weren't getting open and I beg to differ. Look at the game again. They were getting open a lot but Joe wasn't getting the ball to them right after the cut. He hesitates too long. Before you neg, look at the game again. With the exception of a few good blitzes from Pitt, he had plenty of time to hit his receivers. I counted 3 seconds or more on almost every pass play and that should be good enough. Also look at our past 3 games and you'll see the same thing. Joe only starts running for his life after 4 seconds or more and it's almost always after a missed opportunity.

Of course, it's not all on Joe, it's a team game but he has got to be on the list of guys that need to step up more. Having said that, the INT on the pass to SSS was more on SSS than Joe. He had a lazy cut on his route and ran right to the defender. It was a no brainer to drop his man and go with SSS, especially since he was coming right at him. Now, if Joe would have hit him at the cut, it would have gone for quite a few yards.

Receivers aren't going to get many opportunities to have a 10yd separation so you have to hit them at the cut, not 2 seconds after they cut (Unless the defender falls down or gets turned around). It gives the defender time to adjust. It's probably just a matter of Joe not wanting to throw an IT and not trusting his receivers.

Oh and for the Playoff record and games won, if you can't hang all of this on Joe, you can't also say HE won all those games himself. Remember, we had a heck of a defense that scored as many points as our Offense did at times. Just sayin....

[BillyD]

I just didnt see a guy worth his cap number on that field in a must win game. 2 fumbles and an INT on a floater ball against a secondary that makes ours look lights out. Not seeing the overload on his backside at the LOS. Yes they won thanks to Tomlin and a improving ground game.

I hear you, it looks ugly.  All I'm saying is it ain't all Joe.  And that pass was picked because of a really good defensive call by Pitt.  We have multiple issues on both sides of the ball.  As far as Joe's cap space, I'm no GM so I can't speak to that.  But when I do hear commentators talk about it that know about those things they really don't give too much creedence to the idea that Flacco's number isn't much of an issue.  IDK.

[balfan23]

Tucker is just ridiculously good. The Steeler faithful are going to spew venom on Scobee for the remainder of this season, or at least until they have been pronounced Division Champs and we've been pronounced dead (hopefully neither of which actually happens).

 

What they should know better than anyone is, for some reason, that building is hell for kickers. If they are comparing Scobee to Tucker ... that's unfair. It's like comparing your QB to Rodgers. What is incredibly difficult, Tucker just made look very easy. Love that guy! 

[purpledown]

Blank Check!

[Drew P]

Another game changer that's being overlooked was the officials putting those 4 seconds back on the clock before the 2 minute warning. It had ran down to 1:59 and they put it back to 2:04.... putting the 2 minute warning back in play to stop the clock for the Ravens so they would have enough time to get the ball back. Had they not reset the clock to 2:04 they would have ran it down much farther and we wouldn't have had hardly any time to work with, with no timeouts.

When Flácco took that sack on 4th down I thought for sure the game was over, esp when I saw the clock. You can't take a sack right there. If nobody's open heck just throw the ball up downfield and at least give somebody a chance to make a play. Even if it's intercepted it's just as good as a punt bc your gonna turn the ball over anyway with a sack and that way it would hurt their feild position . Had scobee nor missed another feild goal that would've been it. We got this W basically gift wrapped from Tomlin and the steelers, but il take it.

 

Clock management has been an issue under Harbs watch. I recall a few years ago they took a knee in the first half of a playoff game up there with about 1:30 left in the first half.

[Derrel]

Not a great performance against a bad QB and suspect defense, in spite of the Steelers record. We did shut down the Steelers receivers, good coverage schemes. The Bell touchdown opened up because a Steeler tackled a Ravens defender. That TD should have been called back. Flacco gives up the ball too often. No points on the interception but the lackadaisical fumble cost us 7.