Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens: Big Ben, Polamalu Earn High Marks
No words can describe the intensity of the Steelers-Ravens game Sunday night. Not tough. Not physical. Not hard-hitting. This game was beyond all of that. Both teams were left battered and bruised. It was a game of attrition. The last team left standing would win the game and that team was the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The top rivalry in the NFL did not disappoint Sunday night. It was not a pretty game, but the Steelers-Ravens never is. Instead it was a close, defensive battle full of bone-jarring hits that even made you feel sore today. That is what it is like every time these teams play.
On this night the Steelers were particularly banged up.
Early in the first quarter Ben Roethlisberger, already playing on a broken foot, had his nose broke on a punch from Haloti Ngata making a sack.
“It hurt a lot,” Roethlisberger said about his foot, “but the broken nose took some of the pain away.”
But it was not Roethlisberger that took the toughest hit. That unfortunate player was Heath Miller.
Miller suffered a concussion on a gruesome hit from Jameel McClain. The hit looked much worse and Miller was able to walk off the field under his own power. Carl Johnson, the NFL’s head of officiating, told NBC that the hit should have drawn a penalty.
Injuries to Daniel Sepulveda (ACL) and Flozelle Adams (ankle) left the Steelers short-handed but did not deter them according to Hines Ward.
“But hats off to all the guys. When Dan went down, Flo went down, Heath Miller went out with a concussion, we were slim pickins’ out there trying to figure out who was going to be [in what] personnel. I was going to line up at tight end one time. But we found a way to stay together. It’s just great to beat up on Baltimore, man. It’s hard to win in Baltimore. We haven’t done it too many times.”
But it was one of the Steelers' own hits that helped them win the game.
Late in the fourth quarter Troy Polamalu sacked Joe Flacco, stripping the ball in the process setting up Pittsburgh’s only touchdown to secure a 13-0 victory and the lead of the AFC North.
Regarding the Steelers win, Hines Ward said it best: “They're over there sick right now.”
Quarterback: B+
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Statistically it was not Roethlisberger’s best game but it was a game legends are made of.
Already disadvantaged playing with a specially designed shoe for his injured foot, Roethlisberger suffered a broken nose at the hands of Haloti Ngata.
With his jersey covered in blood, Roethlisberger threw for 253 yards while completing 22-of-38 passes for one touchdown and one interception. He completed passes to nine different receivers.
Once again, however, it was Roethlisberger’s ability to escape the pressure and come up with a big play in the clutch that made this performance memorable and the most memorable play was not even a completed pass.
After LaMarr Woodley recovered a Joe Flacco fumble deep in Ravens territory Roethlisberger set up behind a banged up offensive line to try to put the Steelers in the lead.
Baltimore’s Terrell Suggs, who had been a terror all night, came in on Roethlisberger and had him in his grasp, smacking him on the head and fighting for the ball.
In an unbelievable display of size, strength and heart, Roethlisberger fought off Suggs, giving him a stiff arm and was able to spin to fling the ball away to prevent a huge loss. This will go down as the best throwaway ever.
Two plays later Roethlisberger hit Isaac Redman on a quick slant for the game-winning touchdown.
The win was another feather in Roethlisberger’s cap and one that will further cement his legacy as one of the game’s best.
Season GPA: 2.43
Running Backs: C-
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Rashard Mendenhall was very tentative running against Baltimore. He had only 45 yards on 19 carries.
Mendenhall all too often danced around in the backfield and failed to hit the hole. This was exhibited on a play in which the Steelers needed a yard for a first down.
Mendenhall got the handoff and danced around in the backfield and was stopped for a loss. If he hits the hole he easily picks up two yards and the first down.
The rest of the team was not much better, rushing for a combined 54 yards on 24 carries including being shut down near the goal line on two straight plays. The Steelers only got a field goal off of that drive.
Isaac Redman was stopped on multiple short-yardage attempts but came up with the game-winning nine-yard touchdown reception, breaking several tackles on his way to the end zone.
“I made the biggest play in the biggest game I've ever played,”' Redman said. “It just goes to show you that the hard work paid off. This was like a 12-round fight, and we hung in there long enough and won.”
Season GPA: 2.95
Wide Receivers: B
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Mike Wallace once again showed how dangerous he can be after the catch. He led the team with five receptions for 76 yards.
It was the rookies, however, that came up big.
Antonio Brown had three receptions for 26 yards and Emmanuel Sanders had three receptions as well for 49 yards.
Sanders reeled in a 28-yard reception on a Roethlisberger scramble to set up a Steelers field goal.
Hines Ward had a 13-yard reception but also had a key drop on a third down just prior to halftime.
Season GPA: 3.06
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Tight Ends: A
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Heath Miller only had one reception for nine yards and had a solid day blocking before being knocked out of the game by McClain.
The hit on Miller did not draw a flag despite being a hit to the head against a defenseless receiver.
In a tribute to his toughness, Miller walked off the field. He did not return.
The injury to Miller left David Johnson as the Steelers' only tight end and Johnson came up big.
In his first significant action at tight end, as opposed to fullback, Johnson had three receptions for 37 yards.
Season GPA: 3.22
Offensive Line: C-
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The offensive line offered no push in the run game but did give Roethlisberger enough time to make enough plays in the second half.
This was despite the fact that Terrell Suggs made the Steelers offensive line look like a human turnstile.
Jonathan Scott was no match for Suggs. Neither was Flozell Adams.
Suggs even made easy work of Maurkice Pouncey, shoving him over on his way to a sack of Roethlisberger. Ngata also owned Pouncey for much of the night.
Roethlisberger was sacked three times.
With more injuries piled up after Adams left with an ankle sprain things looked grim for the Steelers.
Trai Essex was called for an illegal procedure calling back a big third-down conversion.
Season GPA: 2.04
Defensive Line: A
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Brett Keisel’s presence was immediately felt along the Steelers defensive front as they were dominant holding the Ravens to 43 yards and a 2.2 yards per carry average.
Keisel’s presence in the lineup also helped free up lanes for Pittsburgh’s linebackers to rush the passer.
But it wasn’t just the linebackers pressuring Flacco as Ziggy Hood picked up a sack.
Casey Hampton and Chris Hoke each played well as the Steelers top-ranked run defense was in form.
Season GPA: 3.09
Linebackers: A
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James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley both had big games despite not picking up any sacks.
Woodley drew a holding call and recovered Polamalu’s forced fumble setting up the game-winning touchdown. He was also a force in the ground game, at one point occupying two blockers allowing his teammates to make a stop.
Harrison’s biggest play was one that will not show up on the stat sheet. By taking the inside blitz on the Ravens 2nd-and-5 play late in the fourth quarter, the Ravens tackle was drawn inside freeing Polamalu to hit Flacco.
Pittsburgh’s inside linebackers were effective as well.
James Farrior came up with a big sack of Flacco and led the team with seven tackles. He also was not a liability in coverage.
Lawrence Timmons added six tackles and pressured Flacco on a number of occasions.
Season GPA: 3.03
Defensive Backs: C
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The Steelers were the tale of two sets of defensive backs: the good and the awful.
Starting with the good were Ike Taylor and Troy Polamalu.
Polamalu played a lot near the line and was quite often seen pressuring Flacco including the game-changing sack and forced fumble.
It was vintage Polamalu, coming up with a big play in a big moment. Last week it was a late-game interception against Buffalo. This also was not the first time that he created a turnover against Flacco. The most memorable was his game-sealing pick six in the 2008 AFC Championship Game.
Mike Tomlin had high praise for Polamalu after the game.
“Troy's a great player,'” Tomlin said. “A lot of guys would go in there and sack the quarterback. He sees the game a little differently. That's what makes him special. He got the ball out. Unfortunately we weren't able to get the ball in the end zone, but our offense finished the job for us.”
Ike Taylor shadowed his man all game and came up with a sack as well.
The story was different for Ryan Clark and Bryant McFadden.
Clark looked very slow when trying to cover Anquan Boldin and was beat for a 61-yard gain.
McFadden could have saved at least 15 yards if he would have tried to wrap up Boldin rather than throwing a shoulder into him.
This was not McFadden’s only mental error.
Later on the drive McFadden was supposed to keep his eyes on Boldin but got caught looking in the backfield allowing Boldin to sneak free for Baltimore’s only touchdown.
McFadden was later beat by Donte’ Stallworth for a 67-yard completion. He would also be flagged for two pass interference calls, including a senseless one where he pushed over Derrick Mason on a poorly thrown, uncatchable ball.
However, while McFadden himself earned an "F" for the game the rest of the defense would not be penalized.
Season GPA: 2.04
Special Teams: C+
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Pittsburgh’s kick coverage unit held Baltimore to only 18 yards per return but was not successful against punts.
Ladarius Webb averaged 15.7 yards on three punt returns including a 35-yard return.
The Steelers were forced to go without Daniel Sepulveda who tore his ACL and is out for the season.
Shaun Suisham, the Steelers kicker, came in and did an admirable job averaging 38.3 yards per punt with one downed inside the 10-yard line. There would have been two if Keenan Lewis did not get penalized for running down the field out of bounds.
This was a key play because the ball was downed inside the 5-yard line and on the next punt the Ravens got a big return. The five-yard penalty resulted in a change of over 25 yards in field position.
Season GPA: 2.83
Coaching: B
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Sunday night the Steelers defense lived and died by the pressure.
On two occasions the Ravens picked up the Steelers pressure and came up with 128 yards in receptions.
When Dick LeBeau brought blitzes on these plays it presented bad matchups in the secondary, including the completion to Boldin when Polamalu blitzed leaving Clark in one-on-one coverage.
Beyond these two players the Steelers defense fared well, holding Flacco to 15-for-31 for 138 yards while picking up four sacks and a forced fumble.
Offensively, Bruce Arians having Roethlisberger in the pistol formation was an effective way to ease him into the game until his foot loosened up.
The deep passes seen repeatedly in the first half, however, were not creative. Neither was calling two runs inside the Ravens 5-yard line when the Steelers had no push in the ground game.
More short passes and use of the no-huddle in the second half earned high marks.
Mike Tomlin also kept his team together and in the game with all of the injuries accumulating as a result of the physical nature of the game.
“That's Steelers-Ravens right there.”
The win, on the road in primetime is big. Now with the AFC North lead the Steelers control their own destiny.
Season GPA: 2.47
Study Up: What Must Improve
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First and foremost the Steelers must get healthy, again.
It was yet another game for Pittsburgh, which they suffered a number of key injuries at key positions.
Miller’s status is uncertain, but the hit he took did not look good and it would be surprising if he can play on Sunday.
The injury to Adams’ injury is just as damaging as the Steelers could be down to their third-string tackle, Trai Essex, on Sunday.
With the two-win Cincinnati Bengals coming to Heinz Field next week, Pittsburgh cannot overlook their opponent.
Right now they control their destiny by leading the AFC North Division. They must finish strong over the final quarter of the season to maintain that lead.
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