Ravens vs. Steelers: Postgame Grades, Notes and Quotes for Baltimore

It's rare that the Baltimore Ravens have ever been in a must-win game in October, but that's the case any time a team is 0-3. Baltimore entered Thursday without a win this season and needed one in the worst way against the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

Making this even more of a game the Ravens needed to win was that the Steelers were without star quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. That left Michael Vick to start in this one against a Ravens defense that had allowed 65 combined points in their last two games.

Those were losses against the Oakland Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals, and Baltimore's defense looked shaky early on in this one. After both teams traded punts to open the game, Pittsburgh's offense found some rhythm with Le'Veon Bell churning out yards on the ground.

Bell helped power the Steelers into Baltimore territory before Pittsburgh had to settle for a 45-yard field goal. Josh Scobee converted it to give the Steelers an early 3-0 lead. 

The Ravens would respond by also establishing their ground game. After rushing for only 36 yards in last week's loss to the Bengals, Baltimore churned out 47 rushing yards on the next drive.

The offense did so via a series of five- to 10-yarders to get down in the Steelers red zone. There, Baltimore ran a wide receiver reverse in which Michael Campanaro got the ball before breaking two tackles on his way into the end zone for the score. 

The touchdown and extra point gave the Ravens a 7-3 lead in the first quarter. After the defense forced a quick three-and-out, the offense went right back on the move and got into Pittsburgh territory. 

That's when the game took a turn for the worse for the Ravens. Joe Flacco threw a bad interception to Ross Cockrell to end the scoring threat.

The Steelers would go on to score the final 10 points of the half as Baltimore's offense went cold while Vick and Pittsburgh's offense heated up.

Things wouldn't get better as Flacco fumbled the ball away to open the second half. Vick then hit Darrius Heyward-Bey for a nine-yard score to put Pittsburgh up 20-7. 

It looked bleak at that point, but the Ravens would rally to score the final 13 points of regulation, capped off by a 42-yard field goal at the end of the fourth quarter by Justin Tucker to send the game into overtime. 

The one touchdown came as Flacco hit Kamar Aiken early in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 20-14. Two field goals by Tucker would send the game into OT.

From there, both teams would fail to score on their first possessions before the Ravens found themselves with the ball and sudden-death rules with 9:41 left in the game.

Baltimore marched down the field before Tucker kicked the game-winning 52-yard field goal. That gave the Ravens an improbable 23-20 win that not only gave them their first win but also may have saved their season. 

It was a gutsy effort by the Ravens to keep fighting and pull off the win after Pittsburgh had several chances to close it out. Baltimore simply made more plays when they were needed most, and that was enough to get the victory. 

Postgame Grades for Ravens

Don Wright/Associated Press

Position	Grade
QB	B-
RB	B+
WR	B-
TE	C-
OL	B
DL	B+
LB	A-
DB	B
Special Teams	B+
Coaching	B-

Joe Flacco was shaky at times in this game. He took a bad sack on the first drive, fumbled a snap later and threw a terrible interception in the second quarter.

This was set up for Baltimore to take control of after grabbing a 7-3 lead. The defense was playing well, and the offense was running the ball efficiently. 

Flacco also had a bad fumble to open the second half, and Pittsburgh capitalized with a touchdown the ensuing possession. His mistakes were almost costly in this game, but he made enough plays down the stretch to help Baltimore get the win. 

Justin Forsett finally had a big game with a season-high 150 rushing yards. Lorenzo Taliaferro and Buck Allen also chipped in as Baltimore finished with a season-high 191 yards on the ground. 

The offensive line played a huge role in that as it opened up big holes throughout the night for Baltimore backs to run through. The line also did well in pass protection, despite the five sacks allowed. Those were mainly when Flacco held the ball too long as his receivers couldn't get open. 

Baltimore finally got some production from a receiver not named Steve Smith Sr., who left this game with a back injury. Kamar Aiken had a game-high 71 receiving yards on five catches and one score. 

The defense as a whole had an up-and-down game. At times it shut down the Steelers offense. At other times, the defense looked like it was incapable of stopping the Steelers as they marched right down the field. For the most part, the Ravens defense had arguably its best game of the season, and it was needed to overcome the offense's mistakes. 

The front seven did a decent job of containing Michael Vick and Le'Veon Bell for much of the night. Vick is a dual-threat quarterback who likes to run, but he had only 33 rushing yards on nine carries in this game.

Bell did have 129 yards rushing, but considering he did it in on 22 carries, that's not too bad of an effort by Baltimore against arguably the best running back in football. 

The Ravens got some surprise production from rookie outside linebacker Za'Darius Smith. He picked up his first two career NFL sacks, both of which came on the same drive to force a Steelers three-and-out.

The secondary did a good job of containing the explosive Steelers receivers. The defensive backs were especially good against All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown, who had only five catches for 42 yards. 

Important Note No. 1: Breshad Perriman out Indefinitely

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

One of the biggest stories to come out of Thursday wasn't anything surrounding the game against the Steelers. 

Before kickoff, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported rookie receiver Breshad Perriman would be out indefinitely after undergoing arthroscopic surgery. He suffered a setback in his recovery from a PCL sprain after injuring that knee in pregame warm-ups prior to the Week 3 loss to the Bengals.

It's always a tough loss when you lose a first-round draft for significant time, even if it's in his rookie season. Perriman was expected to be a starting receiver for a Baltimore team badly lacking depth and playmakers at the position. 

It's too early to tell how much longer Perriman will be out. At this point, though, it looks like Baltimore will be lucky to get anything out of him this season. 

Important Note No. 2: Ground Game Comes Alive

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Baltimore fell behind 3-0 early on after its first offensive drive went three-and-out after three failed passing attempts. 

The Ravens would find some offensive rhythm on their next possession with their running game. After rushing for a mere 36 yards in last week's 28-24 loss to the Bengals, Baltimore's ground game came to life as it rushed for 47 rushing yards on the next drive alone. 

The Ravens did so with a pair of big runs by Justin Forsett. Lorenzo Taliaferro also converted a 3rd-and-1 to get down in Pittsburgh's red zone.

Baltimore would finish off the drive with a rushing score, though in an unconventional manner. It ran a wide receiver reverse in which Joe Flacco handed the ball off to Michael Campanaro coming across the line of scrimmage before he broke a pair of tackles to power into the end zone. 

As a team, Baltimore ran for a season-high 191 rushing yards after coming into the game with 218 yards on the ground through the first three games. Needless to say, the ground game finally came alive, and it played a massive role in the Ravens getting their first win. 

Important Note No. 3: Za'Darius Smith Gets First NFL Sack

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Ravens have had a tough time replacing the production from Terrell Suggs after he was lost for the season with a torn Achilles. 

The outside linebacker has 106.5 career sacks, and since he was lost in Week 1, Baltimore had just two sacks over the next two games. The pass rush was non-existent at times, but that changed in a big away against Pittsburgh. 

That's because rookie fourth-round pick Za'Darius Smith exploded for his first two career NFL sacks. He did so on back-to-back plays in the third quarter.

Those two plays forced the Steelers to punt near their own goal line before Baltimore got the ball back in Pittsburgh territory. That's the kind of impact Baltimore has been looking for from any pass-rusher to help replace Suggs.

It appears the team may be finally getting help in that area with Smith. 

Joe Flacco Wanted Justin Tucker to Win It

Don Wright/Associated Press

The Ravens and Steelers both had multiple chances to win the game in overtime, as neither offense could get its team a score for the victory.

However, this game shouldn't even have gone to OT as Pittsburgh had two chances to tack on field goals toward the end of regulation. Josh Scobee missed both attempts before Justin Tucker made a 45-yarder to send the game in OT. 

The Steelers would drive into Ravens territory twice but never close enough where they felt comfortable letting Scobee attempt the game-winning kick. Instead, they went for it on fourth down twice, and the Ravens defense stopped them both times. 

After the second stop, the Ravens offense drove into Pittsburgh territory before facing a 4th-and-1 at the Pittsburgh 35-yard line.

Instead of making the same mistake Pittsburgh had just made twice, Joe Flacco wanted his kicker to attempt the game-winner. As the Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec reports, Flacco told head coach John Harbaugh to "just let (Tucker) win the game."

Flacco knew he had one of the NFL's best kickers, if not the very best, and Tucker proved him right by nailing the game-winning 52-yarder to give Baltimore the win. 

John Harbaugh: Ravens Finished This Game

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

John Harbaugh had never experienced an 0-3 start before this year, but that's what he and the Ravens knew they had to overcome. 

It wasn't easy, though, and the Ravens knew that coming into a divisional rivalry game on the road. Pittsburgh gave the Ravens everything they could handle, but it was Baltimore who came out on top.

It took nearly five quarters, but Harbaugh and his team were able to steal one in Pittsburgh, and it felt good. This, after he watched his Ravens lose in gut-wrenching fashion in each of their first three games simply because they couldn't finish. 

As Harbaugh told the Baltimore Sun's Jeff Zrebiec, "the finish is what counts and the finish is what our guys accomplished" in this game. Baltimore was not only able to finish the fourth quarter but overtime as well in order to get its first win of 2015. 

This Ravens team has the talent to keep winning, and now it has the confidence of knowing it can finish games going forward.