The Pittsburgh Steelers borrowed a chapter from their nemesis’ playbook as they defeated the Ravens, 16-13, on Sunday night time at M&T Bank Stadium.
The Steelers got here out with a conservative offensive recreation plan to manage the tempo of the sport and pummeled the Ravens with 198 dashing yards on 41 carries. Sound acquainted?
The Ravens (10-6) had used that components to win seven of their previous 9 video games courting to a 23-20 win over the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 23. That features a 16-14 victory over the Steelers on Dec. 11 when the Ravens rushed for 215 yards on 42 carries.
“Very disappointing. Give them credit; they flipped the script, and that’s not what we expect,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh mentioned. “We don’t expect that at all. They got the job done [and] ran the ball very well against us.”
Pittsburgh (8-8) didn’t simply flip the script; they hit the Ravens within the face with it. The Ravens entered the sport with the No. 3 run protection within the NFL, permitting solely 87.5 yards per recreation. But that they had no solutions for Pittsburgh, which entered ranked No. 18 in dashing, averaging 115.4 yards per recreation.
Pittsburgh operating again Najee Harris ran round, by means of and over the Ravens for 111 yards on 22 carries. His backup Jaylen Warren had 12 makes an attempt for 76 yards because the Steelers did their greatest impersonation of the Ravens’ 1-2 of operating backs J.Okay. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, who had 95 yards on 20 makes an attempt.
Pittsburgh wasn’t bashful about letting the Ravens know what it needed to do. The Steelers needed to play smashmouth soccer and restrict the passing makes an attempt and potential turnovers from rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett.
It’s a foul day for the protection when each safeties lead the workforce in tackles; the Ravens’ Chuck Clark had 10 and fellow security Marcus Williams had 9.
“I think they were hitting us with the wide zone [running game], really,” Clark mentioned. “They were just getting downhill, and they have a good back [in Harris]. Hats off to him. We had him; we kept him bottled up a couple games in the past, but he had a good day today, honestly.”
Pickett had gotten off to a tough begin earlier within the season after failing to beat out veteran Mitch Trubisky, who threw three interceptions in reduction of an injured Pickett when the groups final met.
This time, Pittsburgh performed it secure for many of the recreation. Pickett threw lots of fast hitches and turnaround routes, very like the Ravens use with backup quarterback Tyler Huntley, who’s now 2-2 in 4 begins for injured star Lamar Jackson.
But Pickett performed effectively, finishing 15 of 27 passes for 168 yards and a landing. The first-round draft choose scrambled and was elusive within the pocket. He threw some good passes over the center with velocity. He had far more command of Pittsburgh’s offense than Huntley has of the Ravens’, and he has a a lot brighter future.
There had been two passes from Pickett that stood out through the Steelers’ 11-play, 80-yard game-winning drive within the last minutes.
On first-and-10 from the 50 with 2:06 remaining, Pickett threw a 28-yard dart throughout the center to extensive receiver Steven Sims that slot in a slender window between two Ravens defenders, together with Williams. The Ravens don’t have a participant on their roster who could make that throw.
The 10-yard landing go to Harris with 56 seconds left had good contact as Harris beat center linebacker Roquan Smith down the left sideline.
“We all didn’t make a play,” Ravens inside linebacker Patrick Queen mentioned of the Steelers’ last drive. “We had a chance to get to the quarterback; we didn’t get to the quarterback. We had a chance to make a play; we just didn’t make the play. It shouldn’t have even gotten to that point, honestly. So, we’ve just got to go back to the drawing board, get better and try to win a game next week.”
Even extra insulting was that Pittsburgh ran the ball 4 instances within the final drive, together with two quarterback sneaks on third-and-1. The Ravens couldn’t cease these both.
The protection misplaced nearly each battle within the trenches.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com