Kicker Chris Boswell hit a 36-yard field goal late in overtime to lift the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 16-13 win in Baltimore, ending the Ravens’ season and likely sending quarterback Ben Roethlisberger into the playoffs in what’s expected to be his final season.
On a crucial fourth-and-8 play with less than three minutes remaining in overtime, Roethlisberger found wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud open over the middle for a 10-yard completion. A 15-yard run by rookie running back Najee Harris two plays later set the Steelers up for Boswell’s game-winning kick and capped the 11th game-winning drive of Roethlisberger’s career. He finished 30-for-44 for 244 yards, one touchdown and an interception.
The loss was the Ravens’ sixth straight and doomed their somewhat reinvigorated playoff hopes. With the Indianapolis Colts’ stunning loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Ravens needed only to win and get two more results in Sunday’s later games — a New England Patriots win over the Miami Dolphins and a Las Vegas Raiders win over the Los Angeles Chargers in prime time — to defy their minuscule playoff odds and earn the AFC’s No. 7 seed.
Even with quarterback Lamar Jackson sidelined by an ankle injury, the Ravens (8-9) had chance after chance to win. But in his fourth career start, quarterback Tyler Huntley finished 16-for-31 for 141 yards and two interceptions, his worst performance of the season. On his final pass, on the Ravens’ first and drive of overtime, he missed tight end Mark Andrews (eight catches for 85 yards) on a third-down pass that would’ve led the Ravens into field-goal range.
Roethlisberger’s drive cemented a Ravens collapse that started in Week 13, when the team entered Pittsburgh (9-7-1) with an 8-3 record and the AFC’s top seed. Five weeks later, their season ended short of the playoffs for the first time since 2017 and at the bottom of the AFC North for the first time under coach John Harbaugh.
With Terrell Suggs on hand, the Ravens played the kind of defense the legendary outside linebacker was so used to presiding over, holding Pittsburgh to 249 yards and 4.1 yards per play in regulation.
But they couldn’t stiffen up on Pittsburgh’s game-winning drive in overtime, or late in regulation. On a 10-play, 50-yard slog of a possession late in the fourth quarter, Pittsburgh converted a third-and-9 and third-and-6 — it had just two other third-down conversions in regulation — and moved into the red zone for the first time all game. On second-and-goal from the 6, Roethlisberger found wide receiver Chase Claypool on a quick hitter over the middle for a catch-and-run score. The Steelers led 13-10, and Terrible Towels waved in every section of M&T Bank Stadium.
The Ravens weren’t done. Huntley’s 21-yard scramble pushed the offense into field-goal range, and the Ravens had a chance to keep the pressure on with a third-and-2. But Huntley’s designed quarterback run was stuffed short of the line to gain, and kicker Justin Tucker’s 46-yard field goal tied the game.
Neither offense threatened again in regulation. The Steelers, approaching midfield on their next possession, punted on fourth-and-1 with 44 seconds remaining. The Ravens got just one first down after taking over. The Steelers sent the game to overtime with a kneel-down.
In a game lacking big gainers, Ravens running back Latavius Murray (16 carries for 150 yards). He wasn’t touched on a 46-yard touchdown sprint up the middle early in the third quarter. The Ravens’ longest carry this season was also their first offensive touchdown in over six quarters and gave them a 10-3 lead.
The Steelers quickly answered with a field goal, but Murray kept running like he was determined to carry the Ravens into the playoffs. He had runs of 27, 22 and 6 yards as the Ravens cruised to Pittsburgh’s 15. But on the first play of the fourth quarter, more red-zone trouble awaited them there.
On second-and-7 from Pittsburgh’s 12, Huntley looked for Andrews, who settled into an opening in the middle of the end zone. His pass took too long to get there; cornerback Cameron Sutton drove on the throw for an interception. It was Huntley’s first career game with more than two picks.
After also wasting red-zone appearances in a crucial Week 17 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, the Ravens started Sunday’s game unable to move the ball — or at least not give it away.
On their first drive, center Bradley Bozeman appeared to deliver a shotgun snap off his backside, sending the ball tumbling to Huntley, who picked it up, then lost it again after a diving tackle by outside linebacker T.J. Watt. Defensive end Henry Mondeaux fell on the loose ball at the Ravens’ 39-yard line amid a wild scramble, and the Steelers turned the short field into a 28-yard field goal by Boswell.
On the Ravens’ next drive, trouble arrived after the snap. Huntley floated a pass over the middle to Andrews, but it sailed too far overhead and into the waiting hands of safety Terrell Edmunds.
On the Ravens’ third drive, even special teams joined in on the misadventures. Rather than have the offense go for it on fourth-and-2 at Pittsburgh’s 45, the Ravens sent out their punt team. But rather than try to pin the Steelers deep, Sam Koch turned a punt into a fake punt. His pass to wide receiver Tylan Wallace, a gunner, fell incomplete, Koch’s first incompletion in eight career attempts.
The Ravens didn’t get into field-goal range until their final possession of the first half, but even that drive ended with a whiff of disappointment. Facing first-and-goal from Pittsburgh’s 3, Huntley was brought down by Watt, who tied the NFL single-season record with his 22 ½ sack, then buzzed a would-be touchdown pass through wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown’s hands, then had his third-down throw to tight end Eric Tomlinson disrupted by Watt.
Tucker’s 24-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining effectively ended a first half in which the teams combined for three turnovers, two third-down conversions and a measly 3.8 yards per play.