'We Had Them Beat!' Lamar Jackson Reflects on Baltimore Ravens' Loss to Pittsburgh Steelers
The Baltimore Ravens simply couldn't stop the self-inflicted wounds in their 17-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In a game where the Ravens were in control for the majority of the contest, it unraveled in a big way in the fourth quarter as Baltimore let slip a game that they should have won.
But did Baltimore give the game away? Quarterback Lamar Jackson thinks so.
“I believe so,” Jackson said. “We were right there, we had them beat, offense had to find our groove, we didn’t find it. [The] Defense played a great game, kept stopping them [Steelers], kept giving us opportunities, we just gotta do what we do, finish drives.”
In a game that will be largely remembered for the mishaps, the Ravens' fumbling issue again reared its ugly head as running back Justice Hill got the ball punched out of his grasp and the Steelers recovered. On the Ravens' next possession, they went for it on fourth down and we stopped by Pittsburgh's stout defense.
But the Ravens' self-inflicted wounds didn't stop there and they happened at the worst possible time.
In the fourth quarter, Baltimore was leading 10-3 before three straight drives went punt, interception, fumble (Jackson this time), and then turnover on downs as the Ravens couldn't get anything going.
To add to that, the Ravens' offense had several drops on the day as they simply couldn't get out of their own way.
For Jackson, those drops happen all the time in the league, but they just happened at the wrong time.
“We don’t expect our guys to drop passes, it happens in NFL football,” Jackson said. “Just happened at the wrong time. We got to get better.”
Baltimore was 2-0 in the division and with the loss to Pittsburgh, the Ravens are now second in the division as it was a big chance missed to consolidate their position in the AFC North.
It is not the end of the world by any means as Baltimore did enough to win the game, and as Jackson stated, they had Pittsburgh beat, they just couldn't finish the job.