Mistakes, miscues doom Steelers against Ravens
Baltimore Ravens tight end Owen Daniels (81) hangs on to the ball as he is tackled by Pittsburgh Steelers free safety Mike Mitchell (23), who is upside down, during the second half Thursday. (AP Photo/Gail Burton)
Baltimore wide receiver Steve Smith (89) gets a hand on, but does not catch, a pass as Pittsburgh cornerback Cortez Allen (28) defends during the first half Thursday. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is sacked by Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw during the first half Thursday night. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
BALTIMORE – The Baltimore Ravens were supposed to be a team in turmoil, one that was distracted by the media frenzy surrounding former running back Ray Rice.
Instead, it was the Steelers who looked like a disorganized and distracted bunch.
Pittsburgh committed three turnovers and nine penalties as the Ravens defeated the Steelers, 26-6, at M&T Bank Stadium Thursday night.
Joe Flacco threw two short touchdown passes to tight end Owen Daniels as the Ravens (1-1) scored 10 of their points following the Pittsburgh turnovers and Baltimore shut out the distraction of Rice’s release earlier this week following the revelation of the tape that showed him punching his wife earlier this year.
“Not having ever gone through anything like this before, I guess you’re never sure,” said Ravens head coach John Harbaugh of how he thought his team would respond. “I guess you’re never sure. But knowing our guys, I had a pretty good feeling they would respond.”
The Steelers (1-1) never did following a fumble by wide receiver Justin Brown at the Baltimore 15 with Pittsburgh driving on the game’s opening possession.
“It’s a game of 60 minutes,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “The outcome of the game is not going to be defined in the initial moments of the game, whether it’s positive or negative.”
But it was a play that typified the game, as the Steelers failed to capitalize on the drives they did put together.
After scoring 27 points in the first half against Cleveland last Sunday, the Steelers have been outscored 50-9 since.
“It’s frustrating because we lost,” said Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who was 22 of 37 for 217 yards and one interception. “We moved the ball; we just made a mistake here or there, and we can’t do it.”
Following Brown’s fumble, the Ravens went 85 yards on 12 plays, aided by two defensive penalties on cornerback Cortez Allen, and scored on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Flacco to Daniels.
With the Ravens in a jumbo package, the Steelers had just one defensive back, safety Troy Polamalu, on the field and Daniels slipped off the line of scrimmage, getting behind linebacker Terrence Garvin, who had bit on a run fake, for an easy TD pass and a 7-0 Baltimore lead.
The Ravens again went on a lengthy drive on their second possession, this one of 65 yards before the Steelers’ defense came up with a stop, forcing a 30-yard field goal by Justin Tucker, the first of four Tucker field goals in the game, to give Baltimore a 10-0 lead.
The Steelers used a no-huddle offense on their next possession and drove to the Baltimore 7 before coming up short on third down and getting a 25-yard field goal from Shaun Suisham to time Baltimore’s lead to 10-3.
Pittsburgh got the ball back just before the half and drove to the Baltimore 36. But right tackle Marcus Gilbert was penalized for a false start, pushing the Steelers out of field goal range, and Roethlisberger threw incomplete over the middle to tight end Heath Miller, ending the drive.
The Ravens moved backward on their first possession of the second half, giving the Steelers the ball back at midfield. But the Steelers were could only manage a field goal that trimmed the lead to 10-6.
That would be as close as things would get, however, as the Ravens answered with their second touchdown drive, with Flacco again throwing a short TD pass, this one from 1-yard out, to make it 17-6.
The drive was helped by a pair of questionable personal foul penalties, one on Troy Polamalu, the other on Mike Mitchell, that had the Steelers highly upset.
“The referees have a tough job to do,” said Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor. “It’s an emotional sport. You’ve got to have some kind of passion, regardless of whether you think you deserved the call or not. It’s a split-second when they’ve got to make a decision. We’ve just got to relax and play football.”
Following another Pittsburgh punt, the Ravens pushed the lead to 20-6 on Tucker’s third field goal, this one from 23 yards out, as Flacco threw incomplete to Steve Smith on second and third downs.
On the ensuing possession, Roethlisberger completed a short pass over the middle to tight end Heath Miller on first down, but Miller was stripped of the football as he was being tackled and the Ravens recovered.
Pittsburgh’s defense again held the Ravens to a short field goal, but that pushed the score to 23-6 with 11:17 remaining in the game, and even though the Steelers again forced another short Tucker field goal after keeping Baltimore out of the end zone following a first-and-goal at the 1, the damage was done.
“When you turn the ball over, and you’re highly penalized and you’re extending drives, you’re going to lose football games like that,” said Tomlin. “They can’t accept that. We have to make the necessary corrections to move forward and make sure it doesn’t happen again. These games are too precious.”
Odds and end zones
Nose tackle Steve McLendon (shoulder) and wide receiver Antonio Brown (blow to the head) left the game briefly but were able to return. … Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell was one of the team’s lone bright spots, rushing for 59 yards on 11 carries and catching five passes for 48 yards. … The Steelers have yet to force a turnover in their first two games. … With rookie Dri Archer sidelined with an ankle sprain, wide receiver Markus Wheaton returned kicks for the Steelers.