[News] Game Recap: Steelers 31, Ravens 27

[BR News]

The Ravens took a lead in the final minutes, but Pittsburgh's potent offense marched back down the field and won with wide receiver Antonio Brown stretching the ball over the goal line with nine seconds remaining, which ended Baltimore's playoff hopes.

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[metalraven]

Tough pill to swallow. Ravens played hard, but as the article stated, failed to capitalize on opportunities. But that kinda sums up their season. They played hard, but just were never consistent. So I didn't really expect that to change tonight. I hoped, but knew better. Regardless, Go Ravens...and congratulations to the Steelers. They earned it.

[RaRaRavens]

the main thing i demand answer to - whose fault is it that flacco has been dumping the ball off every game this season, including the most important one this season agasint the steelers?!
OC cause of game planning?
Flacco cause of decision making?

on of them must be accountable. and whoever it is, they cost a SB caliber team talent wise even a playoff berth, therefore the season. bottom line

PATHETIC

[ravensrock89]

We played good, we came within a yard of winning. The season was lost when we lost to Wash NYJ NYG and Raiders. The D put no pressure on Ben and let Brown roam uncovered on some plays. The final drive was a disaster, they past midfield and only used 20 secs and no timeouts. We let there recievers catch and just easily get out of bounds instead of tackling them using up seconds or timeouts. It was the easiest drive i have seen a team march in under a minute. We need to get younger pass rushers Ben could of had a picnic back there, and the corners gave there recievers too much room

[JamesA119]

My heart goes out to Smith Sr. and Suggs. This might be their last year. It's disheartening that we're not able to send then off with the Super Bowl or at least a deep playoff run. I would like to see both of them next year though if the organization makes a serious effort to improve.

[Dedicated Raven]

Shell shocked at the moment, we let the other team off the hook.

[BallsoHard622]

Well we made our share of mistakes but the steelers did to. Look at all the games we lost an our secondary is a big part of the problem especially when jimmy smith isn't playing. Our offense played better then I thought even though we should've scored more tds. Our zone coverage is horrible an our offensive an defensive play calling at times will have you losing your mind. Maybe next year we will bring in some quality corners.

[MadStorkSociety]

Well, it was a close game and could have gone either way. AB made a last second play for the win. I just don't understand how we give up two big drives in the fourth (to start); and then, somehow giving them 1 minute 18 seconds at the end is too much time. Have Suggs & Doom reached the end of the road?

[TheRavengers]

As happy as I was that Juice made that TD I knew leaving them with more than a minute left on the clock was cause for concern, and sadly I was proven right.

[metalraven]

My heart goes out to Smith Sr. and Suggs. This might be their last year. It's disheartening that we're not able to send then off with the Super Bowl or at least a deep playoff run. I would like to see both of them next year though if the organization makes a serious effort to improve.

Same here. Especially for SSS. Suggs got a ring, so it isn't as bad. I think if they focus on the backfield and OLBs, we'll be golden. We have the LT and LG of the future. We have good, young TEs, and I think Perriman will breakout. We have a solid foundation, just got to continue to build on it.

[Shaky End of the Quarter]

32 minutes ago, RaRaRavens said:

the main thing i demand answer to - whose fault is it that flacco has been dumping the ball off every game this season, including the most important one this season agasint the steelers?!
OC cause of game planning?
Flacco cause of decision making?

on of them must be accountable. and whoever it is, they cost a SB caliber team talent wise even a playoff berth, therefore the season. bottom line

PATHETIC

SB caliber team.... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Boy you made my year with that comment.
This is a Super Garbage caliber team. 2 road victories all year (Cleveland and Jacksonville) and you call this hot mess a super bowl caliber team???

[ravenmaniac112351]

The 4th quarter was as bad as I have ever seen the Ravens play on defense in the last 10 years. You give up 240 yards on 21 plays and 3 TDs in one quarter. Who does that? That's over 12 yards pr play The Browns' defense would have put up more of a battle. Horrendous. Everyone wants to blame Flacco when we lose but we put up enough points against the Steelers today, against Oakland and against the Giants to have won all 3 of those games. Every time the defense faced a really good QB (Derek Carr, Brady, Big Ben, Dak Prescott) they got their lunch handed to them They played 8 games against teams with a winning record and went 2-6. I guess when you lose to the woeful Jets you don't deserve to be in the playoffs.

[Shaky End of the Quarter]

The 4th quarter was as bad as I have ever seen the Ravens play on defense in the last 10 years. You give up 240 yards on 21 plays and 3 TDs in one quarter. Who does that? That's over 12 yards pr play The Browns' defense would have put up more of a battle. Horrendous. Everyone wants to blame Flacco when we lose but we put up enough points against the Steelers today, against Oakland and against the Giants to have won all 3 of those games. Every time the defense faced a really good QB (Derek Carr, Brady, Big Ben, Dak Prescott) they got their lunch handed to them They played 8 games against teams with a winning record and went 2-6. I guess when you lose to the woeful Jets you don't deserve to be in the playoffs.

You call Derek Carr and Dak Prescott really good QBs? One is a rookie and the other is average at best. No excuses for this garbage team.

[BigUgly]

A gutsy effort by the team, and a tough loss. No margin for error. Needed a score on the first drive, and on the botched FG. This might have been the best playcalling I've seen on offense all season (save for Miami, which made no adjustments to the abuse). The D kept us in the game with the two turnovers, but that was a 4th qtr collapse on par with the divisional round against the Pats in 2014. Where is the killer instinct?

[JamesA119]

Well, it was a close game and could have gone either way. AB made a last second play for the win. I just don't understand how we give up two big drives in the fourth (to start); and then, somehow giving them 1 minute 18 seconds at the end is too much time. Have Suggs & Doom reached the end of the road?

It's not necessarily the pass rush, as much as it was the defensive play call. That was a time to sell out ie blitz with bad intentions. We went into prevent D

[llxxGrimxxll]

well this offseason it's very clear what must be done. with the exception of a select few (yanda, staley, juszczyk, smith sr.[in the unlikely event he doesn't retire]) fire (or trade) the entire offense. Yep, Flacco included. That whole elite argument for him is out the window.. with his cap hit, and his barely serviceable regular season performance.. he's a liability. Time to rebuild the offense. Actually the defense can use a facelift too. Use the top pick on CB replacement for Mr. Fragile or an edge rusher because Suggs is on his way out (if not this year, very soon) and Dumerville won't be far behind. oh, time for an OC that doesn't suck too.

[metalraven]

The 4th quarter was as bad as I have ever seen the Ravens play on defense in the last 10 years. You give up 240 yards on 21 plays and 3 TDs in one quarter. Who does that? That's over 12 yards pr play The Browns' defense would have put up more of a battle. Horrendous. Everyone wants to blame Flacco when we lose but we put up enough points against the Steelers today, against Oakland and against the Giants to have won all 3 of those games. Every time the defense faced a really good QB (Derek Carr, Brady, Big Ben, Dak Prescott) they got their lunch handed to them They played 8 games against teams with a winning record and went 2-6. I guess when you lose to the woeful Jets you don't deserve to be in the playoffs.

I've been on Flacco's butt all year, but this one cannot be blamed on him. He played smart, and mistake free. (Other than the last play of the game, which was a major head scratcher, but the odds of success were so low anyways, I didn't care all that much.) The defense was awful, and have been for 3 straight weeks. The offense, although missed opportunities, did put up 27 points. That should be plenty to win. (Props to our MLBs though.)

[billiejean]

34 minutes ago, RaRaRavens said:

the main thing i demand answer to - whose fault is it that flacco has been dumping the ball off every game this season, including the most important one this season agasint the steelers?!
OC cause of game planning?
Flacco cause of decision making?

on of them must be accountable. and whoever it is, they cost a SB caliber team talent wise even a playoff berth, therefore the season. bottom line

PATHETIC

Are there players open? I don't know if there are. Theyre might be, but if you can see them, you must have a wider TV than I have. Are you just supposed to tell Joe don't ever throw dump offs? Are you going to tell him to throw to guys who are covered, and tell him no worries if it gets intercepted. Its the oddest thing to me that you brought that up after this game. But I expected a lot of people to put this one on Flacco some how, not for dump offs, but... well I don't know give it a few hours and we will all learn how Flacco lost us another one. Did you not see the botched field goal and the dropped TD by Waller..... or our defence on our last drive? Maybe you were getting some potaotes, but Joe and his dump offs were the least of our worries. The only times he got sacked where when Juice and Dixon didn't pick up the blitz. Towards the end up the half Davis came free, no one touched him, Joe stepped up rolled right and through it down field for the first. Joe played one of his better games of the year.

[ravensrock89]

We are close hang in there, Flacco did great. This team needs younger pass rushers on the ends a grade A reciever and better corners. Dixon looks great. We lost to some bad teams early in the season that cost us the season. Today should of been a warm up game for us. Wish Baltimore come out stronger in the begining of the seasons instead of always having must wins at the end. Look at N.E. they are always fresh and healthy when playoffs start

[Europoljuice]

Very sad and very disappointing. So many weak spots on the Ravens it's hard to nail them down. Lack of offensive blocking both run and pass blocking. Joe has been inconsistent and spotty throughout the year. Wide receivers dropped way to may balls. The Offence had no real creative plays and we struggled executing the simple plays. Wide receivers were hard pressed to get separation from the defender. The secondary played on their heals and let to many big plays happen right in front of them. Lastly we failed to play a full game. We were out-played in the 4th quarter on almost every game. With all that being said. We need to make some serious adjustments. The positive is Dixon and West. The D line was ok until the end of the season. Draft a secondary guy and a O lineman and get some pass plays that are 10 to 15 yard patterns. Not the 1 yard passes and check downs that killed us all season long. A big Thank you to Mr. Steve Smith who showed the other wide receivers how to play the game. Please , please, please come back for 1 last season. Peace Out

[JamesA119]

Flacco played flawlessly today. This one's on Dean Pees and his timid play call. We were in a position where it was win or go home. I'd rather go down swinging.

[Fastynart]

Geez, "Number 1 Defense", my er.......eye. Notice I had to say eye because the children that run this site would have suspended me if I had said a bad word. Just a terrible performance in the last quarter. How can you let Antonio Brown be so wide open? Even though they had 2 interceptions, they played scared the whole 4th quarter, allowing Ben and his receivers free reign of the field. They couldn't even stop the run for crap sake. They didn't deserve to win and they didn't.

[slowboater]

The Ravens' organization can't get out of their own conservative "not to lose" mentality instead of "win mentality". Why would you have your corners 10 yards or more off the line of scrimmage? Is the Ravens secondary that bad? If so, then why were they playing tighter when behind in the first half? The soft zone in the fourth quarter screwed their playoff chances. Way to go. Now the front office gets to stew over their decisions all winter. Hope someone learns something for a change.

[purpledown]

Big offseason is coming we are going to find out if the Ravens are going to be doormat for the Steelers or whether they are going to make the right coaching and personnel moves. Harbaugh should go, if it means being bad for a year or two so be it. When that teams is built hope fully the new regime will have the sense to sign the right players and resign their own players while they are in the their prime. Hopefully a decision is made quickly. Next weekends game means nothing but draft position .

[ravenmaniac112351]

  23 minutes ago, ravenmaniac112351 said:

The 4th quarter was as bad as I have ever seen the Ravens play on defense in the last 10 years. You give up 240 yards on 21 plays and 3 TDs in one quarter. Who does that? That's over 12 yards pr play The Browns' defense would have put up more of a battle. Horrendous. Everyone wants to blame Flacco when we lose but we put up enough points against the Steelers today, against Oakland and against the Giants to have won all 3 of those games. Every time the defense faced a really good QB (Derek Carr, Brady, Big Ben, Dak Prescott) they got their lunch handed to them They played 8 games against teams with a winning record and went 2-6. I guess when you lose to the woeful Jets you don't deserve to be in the playoffs.

You call Derek Carr and Dak Prescott really good QBs? One is a rookie and the other is average at best. No excuses for this garbage team.

Where have you been at all year. Carr completed 64% of his passes for 3900 yds, 28 TDs and only 6 interceptions. Before yesterday he was being given serious MVP consideration. So yes, I consider him a really good QB.

[ravens4life86]

Bye bye Marty..
I have never seen a defense go from looking so good to looking to bad in just a few weeks.
They havent had a dominant pass rush all year long, when 34 yr old sizzle is your leading saxk artist you have issues. Run defense was on lock then it fell apart personally think its personnel choices, but its still unacceptable.
Next year spend the 1st round pick on a Von Miller type Edge Rusher, whether it be Harris of Mizzou, Devonte Fields Louisville Smoot Illinois

Draft needs, and F/As
No.1 bonefied Edge Rusher
Shutdown Cb, since Jimmy is always injured
OG/T, losing Wagner likely kicking lewis outside.
DT/NT, Replace Brandon Williams is money gets to big
A WR or 2
Backup QB

[sp3ctor]

This game was everything it was promised to be, of course minus the preferential outcome for the Raven's Flock. This defense fell apart right after the Miami game and hasn't been able to put together a solid performance since, while the offense which was, let's say tepid to be nice, played extremely well ever since the miami game (minus new england but that was tough sledding to say the least). If only we could have pulled it together sooner and not dropped 4 in a row in october we would have run away with the division. Instead we're out. All I can say with any great optimism is that if the second half of the season is a sign of where this team is headed next season, we are bound for sunnier shores. But it stings to say the least. On the plus side I don't have to worry about missing the opening game of the playoffs on a count of my gf's Orthodox christmas celebrations. #silverlining

Regardless we are at worst 8-8 on the season with a 3 game improvement on the previous season, some nice momentum moving into the next season, and the possibility of a big bounceback year next year. There's a lot to be optimistic about for 2017.

[ravens4life86]

1 thing I hate most I know everyone hates is the Prevent defense... play 10 yards off giving them easy catches entire last quarter. Grant it, lack of pass rush hurts but play like you did 1st 3 quarters

[slowboater]

well this offseason it's very clear what must be done. with the exception of a select few (yanda, staley, juszczyk, smith sr.[in the unlikely event he doesn't retire]) fire (or trade) the entire offense. Yep, Flacco included. That whole elite argument for him is out the window.. with his cap hit, and his barely serviceable regular season performance.. he's a liability. Time to rebuild the offense. Actually the defense can use a facelift too. Use the top pick on CB replacement for Mr. Fragile or an edge rusher because Suggs is on his way out (if not this year, very soon) and Dumerville won't be far behind. oh, time for an OC that doesn't suck too.

Yes, I like Dixon and West, SSS is probably gone, the Ravens do not have a #1 receiver, still no reliable corners (unless you want to call Jimmy's part time play reliable), old DE's and Flacco's cap hit is going to start smarting now....
So..... You want the front office to draft 18 or 19 Pro Bowl caliber players? Although they haven't admitted it, they have been trying to get younger and "rebuild" for years now. But with the crap drafts and cap hits, rebuilding isn't so easy. This team is a good 2 or 3 years away from making a true run. Get used to being "just not good enough".

[billiejean]

28 minutes ago, llxxGrimxxll said:

well this offseason it's very clear what must be done. with the exception of a select few (yanda, staley, juszczyk, smith sr.[in the unlikely event he doesn't retire]) fire (or trade) the entire offense. Yep, Flacco included. That whole elite argument for him is out the window.. with his cap hit, and his barely serviceable regular season performance.. he's a liability. Time to rebuild the offense. Actually the defense can use a facelift too. Use the top pick on CB replacement for Mr. Fragile or an edge rusher because Suggs is on his way out (if not this year, very soon) and Dumerville won't be far behind. oh, time for an OC that doesn't suck too.

Is this your first season watching football.  I think this offseason might surprise you.  This isn't the NBA.