Steelers roll over Ravens
Pittsburgh running back Le’Veon Bell (26) makes a touchdown catch in front of Baltimore inside linebacker C.J. Mosley (57) in the second quarter. (AP Photo/Don Wright)
Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco (5) is sacked by Pittsburgh linebacker Arthur Moats (55) in the second quarter. (AP Photo/Don Wright)
Pittsburgh wide receiver Antonio Brown (84) tries to go over Baltimore defensive back Will Hill (33) in the third quarter Sunday. (AP Photo/Gene Puskar)
PITTSBURGH – On the night when the Steelers retired Joe Greene’s No. 75, the team’s much-maligned defense came up with a game worthy of the Steel Curtain days.
The defense forced a pair of crucial first-half turnovers and Ben Roethlisberger threw six touchdown passes to lead the Steelers to a 43-23 victory over the Baltimore Ravens Sunday night at Heinz Field.
The victory was the third in a row for the Steelers and put them into the mix in the AFC playoff race at 6-3, just behind Cincinnati (5-2-1) in the AFC North standings. The Steelers and Bengals meet twice in the final four weeks of the season.
Baltimore, which had beaten the Steelers 26-6 in September, falls to 5-4.
Roethlisberger, coming off a record-breaking 522-yard, six-touchdown performance last week against Indianapolis, got off to a slow start in this one, throwing for just 30 yards in the first quarter. He finished with 340 yards and his 12 touchdown passes in the past two weeks set an NFL record for most over a two-game span.
“He’s doing the things we need him to do,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “But I don’t think we are surprised by anything he does. We have been looking at it for some time.”
Two of the touchdown passes went to rookie Martavis Bryant, who has caught five scoring passes in three career games.
The Steelers went three-and-out on their first possession, and Brad Wing’s punt from his own goal line was returned 25 yards to the Pittsburgh 35. Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco found Torrey Smith working against cornerback Brice McCain for a touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage.
The Steelers didn’t record a first down until their fourth possession, moving the ball from their own 3 out past the 30. But center Maurkice Pouncey was penalized for illegal hands to the face and the Ravens then sacked Ben Roethlisberger on three consecutive plays to force Pittsburgh’s fourth punt early in the second quarter.
Baltimore then made the first big mistake of the game on the ensuing possession as rookie running back Lorenzo Taliaferro was stripped of the ball by linebacker Arthur Moats at midfield and it was returned 26 yards to the Ravens’ 27.
“I didn’t feel like the tide needed to be turned,” said Tomlin. “I just throught we weren’t gaining traction in the early stages of the game.
“The defense provided a splash that created a wave that we rode.”
Five plays later – including one on which the Ravens had roughing the passer, defensive holding and horsecollar penalties – Roethlisberger threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Le’Veon Bell to tie the score at 7-7.
Linebacker James Harrison, who had taken down Flacco in the first quarter for his third sack in the past two weeks, got pressure on Flacco up the middle on Baltimore’s next possession and forced an errant pass that was intercepted by Jason Worilds and returned 30 yards to the Baltimore 30. That set up a 19-yard touchdown pass by Roethlisberger to Bryant to put the Steelers ahead 14-7. Harrison finished with seven tackles and two sacks, his second-straight two-sack game.
Baltimore answered with a 46-yard Justin Tucker field goal to make it 14-10 with 1:44 left in the first half.
The remaining time proved to be plenty for Roethlisberger and the Steelers. The Steelers’ quarterback threw his third touchdown pass of the first half, a 47-yard bomb to Markus Wheaton.
And even when things went wrong for the Steelers and Wing mishandled the PAT snap, he quickly recovered and threw a two-point conversion pass to tight end Matt Spaeth to give Pittsburgh a 22-10 halftime lead.
After a scoreless and chippy third quarter that saw several shoving matches and the Ravens assessed two personal fouls, Roethlisberger put the Steelers ahead 29-10 with a 54-yard catch-and-run TD pass to Antonio Brown, who caught 10 passes for 138 yards,
Baltimore’s Jacoby Jones returned the ensuing kick 108 yards for a score, making the score 29-17.
But the Steelers scored again with Roethlisberger’s second TD pass to Bryant, this one coming from 18 yards out.
Flacco, who was sacked four times and hit 10 others, threw a 1-yard TD pass to tight end Crockett Gilmore with 2:58 remaining to pull to within 36-23 after a failed two-point conversion attempt, but was unable to recover an onside kick attempt.
Roethlisberger capped another big night with a 33-yard touchdown pass to Spaeth with less than two minutes to play to give the Steelers a 20-point victory.
“It’s amazing to watch him work,” said defensive end Brett Keisel of Roethlisberger. “Six touchdowns back to back? Shoot, let’s get seven next week. What’s the big deal.”
Steelers rookie linebacker Ryan Shazier had his ankle rolled on by a Baltimore offensive lineman midway through the first quarter. He did not return and was replaced by Sean Spence. … Safety Troy Polamalu, who had played every snap in the past two seasons, was injured in the second quarter when teammate Lawrence Timmons and running back Justin Forsett rolled on the back of his leg. He briefly returned but eventually left the game for good. Veteran Will Allen was his replacement. Safety Shamarko Thomas (hamstring) also left the game for the Steelers. … Antwon Blake replaced Cortez Allen as the Steelers’ nickel cornerback.