Ravens vs. Steelers: Score and Twitter Reaction for Thursday Night Football

Josh Scobee is not a popular man in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers kicker had multiple opportunities to stretch his team's lead in the fourth quarter of the Baltimore Ravens' 23-20 victory Thursday at Heinz Field, but he missed two late field goals and left the door wide open for a comeback. Naturally, Baltimore's kicker, Justin Tucker, kicked right through that door, tying the game in the waning seconds of regulation and then winning it with a 52-yard field goal in overtime.

Here is a look at the kick from the NFL:

It was ugly at times, but Baltimore prevailed. Coach John Harbaugh put it best when he said, "The finish is what counts, and the finish is what our guys accomplished," per Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun.

Pittsburgh appeared to be in control for most of the game behind a strong showing from its defense and 129 rushing yards from Le'Veon Bell, but the missed field goals and the absence of a legitimate passing attack without Ben Roethlisberger (knee) proved to be the team's undoing.

Fill-in quarterback Michael Vick threw for only 124 yards, and wide receiver Antonio Brown saw his 35-game streak of at least five catches and 50 yards come to an end with five catches for 42 yards.

Bell was impressive, but his counterpart, Justin Forsett, carried the Ravens offense with 150 rushing yards and put his team in position to score multiple times on a day quarterback Joe Flacco threw for only 189 yards and committed two turnovers.

Despite the loss, the Steelers were the better team in the first half and took a 13-7 lead into the locker room. Outside of one Baltimore first-quarter touchdown run by Michael Campanaro, the Pittsburgh defense dictated the tempo, while Bell put his team ahead with this shifty 11-yard score, which the NFL shared on Twitter:

Perhaps the most impressive part of the touchdown was the block from Vick, and NFL Network noticed:

Things didn't get any better for the Ravens at the start of the second half. Pittsburgh defensive lineman Cam Heyward lunged toward Flacco and knocked the ball loose, and Ross Cockrell recovered it just before it went out of bounds. Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated provided the highlight:

The Steelers made Flacco and Co. pay when Vick hit Darrius Heyward-Bey with a nine-yard touchdown pass on the subsequent possession. ESPN Stats & Info noted Heyward-Bey has now caught a score from three former No. 1 picks: Vick, Carson Palmer and Andrew Luck.

Dale Lolley of the Observer-Reporter did not hold back when assessing what it meant for Baltimore to fall behind 20-7:

"

Vick to Hey-Bey TD. That crashing sound you hear is the Ravens season coming to a close

— Dale Lolley (@dlolleyor) October 2, 2015"

It was premature to bury the Ravens, though, because they answered with a critical touchdown drive to trim the lead to 20-14. Kamar Aiken caught the score, but Forsett set it up with a long run. Bo Smolka of CSN Mid-Atlantic praised Baltimore for sticking to the game plan despite the two-score deficit:

The Ravens had all the momentum late in the third quarter after another defensive stop, but they failed to convert a fake field-goal attempt and handed it right back to Pittsburgh. Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report did not agree with the decision:

Baltimore held strong on defense and marched down the field for a field goal to trim the lead to 20-17 early in the fourth quarter. It could have scored a touchdown, but the drive came to a halt when Flacco fumbled a snap and lost significant yardage. Rich Eisen of NFL Network pointed to a serious issue for the Ravens:

Baltimore then forced Pittsburgh to punt for the third straight possession, and there appeared to be some tension between the Steelers' key playmakers, per Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Despite Baltimore's efforts on defense, the offense failed to convert the opportunity when Flacco was stopped on 4th-and-inches on a quarterback sneak. Part of the problem was star wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. left with a back injury, and the offense looked lost at times without him on the outside.

Skip Bayless of ESPN simplified things for the Baltimore attack after the failed sneak:

"

If you can't make 4th and a half yard, you probably don't deserve to win. So close … to 0-4.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) October 2, 2015"

The Ravens held on to life with less than three minutes remaining when Scobee missed a 49-yard field-goal attempt.

It was the same story on the next possession, and the Ravens couldn't move the ball without Smith. Three incomplete passes and a sack later, the game looked over. Smolka noted some appropriate symmetry with the fourth-down play:

However, Scobee missed another field-goal attempt and gave the Ravens a final chance with approximately a minute remaining. Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports was critical of the kicker via Twitter: "Win or lose, have to believe Steelers kicker Josh Scobee has played his last game in Pittsburgh. He has been a tremendous weakness."

This time, Baltimore responded and drove into field-goal range. Unlike Scobee, Tucker came through with the game on the line and sent it to overtime, tied at 20-20.

The Steelers won the coin toss and drove inside the Baltimore 40-yard line, but they failed on 4th-and-2 when Vick was short on his run. Robby Kalland of CBS Sports thought they should have given the ball to their star running back:

Pittsburgh's defense did its job, and the offense got excellent field position after a 29-yard punt return from Brown. However, the Steelers elected to go for it on 4th-and-1 instead of trying a 50-yard field-goal attempt, and Vick threw an incomplete pass instead of handing it to Bell.

The Ravens finally buried Pittsburgh after so many missed opportunities with a booming 52-yard field goal off the foot of Tucker. In a cruel twist of fate for Scobee, the Baltimore kicker was the hero.

What's Next? 

Don Wright/Associated Press

The good news for the 1-3 Ravens is the fact that they can theoretically play their way back into contention with the upcoming schedule following Thursday's win. They return home in Week 5 to play the Cleveland Browns and then get a Week 6 date with the San Francisco 49ers.

Both future opponents are struggling in the early going this season, and Baltimore must find a way to accumulate victories if it hopes to challenge for a postseason spot after a slow start.

As for the 2-2 Steelers, they are chasing the undefeated and red-hot Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC North. Next up for Pittsburgh in that quest is a swing of games against West Coast teams. The Steelers will face the San Diego Chargers in Week 5, the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6 and the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7. Only the game against the Cardinals is at home.

In theory, the Chargers and Chiefs could compete with Pittsburgh for an AFC wild-card spot, while the Cardinals are undefeated. Even winning two of those games could be a difficult proposition without a healthy Roethlisberger.

That is why the missed opportunities in Thursday's loss were so crucial.