'Little Mishaps' Costly in Baltimore Ravens' Loss to Pittsburgh Steelers

The Ravens lost to the Steelers on Sunday 17-10 in Pittsburgh in what was arguably one of the ugliest football games of the season for Baltimore. Mistakes, miscommunication, turnovers and dropped passes were the theme of the day.

The Ravens lost to the Steelers on Sunday 17-10 in Pittsburgh in what was arguably one of the ugliest football games of the season for Baltimore. Mistakes, miscommunication, turnovers and dropped passes were the theme of the day.

That theme spilled over into the locker room after the game as the players spoke about the need to clean things up before heading to Nashville next week.

"It's almost like a sleeping giant, man," Ravens tight end Mark Andrews said. "We need to wake up."

One of those mistakes was on fourth down near the end of the first half when center Tyler Linderbaum mistakingly snapped the ball when he thought a defender jumped offsides. 

"Really, it's on me just understanding the situation and making sure that he gets across the ball before I snap it," Linderbaum said. "That's my fault not being aware and putting our team in a bad situation."

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson gets sacked in the Ravens' 17-10 loss to the Steelers on 10/8/23 / USA Today Sports

Points were left off the board because of five dropped passes too, the most in a game for the Ravens since 2021. Wideout Rashod Bateman dropped a touchdown pass in the second quarter.

"That stuff can't be contagious," Andrews said. "If one [drop] happens, whatever, [we have to] move on and get to the next play. We need to be better. Obviously, Lamar is putting the ball right where it needs to be, and we need to be there for him and make plays. We do that, we win this game."

Quarterback Lamar Jackson threw an interception and fumbled the ball late in the game, essentially icing the win for Pittsburgh.

"Well, we emphasize it in practice every day, and we'll just keep working to do that," Harbaugh said of the turnovers. "There's a lot of things that go into that. Obviously, you have a great pass rush out there, they're bringing heat in those situations, and [we're] trying to make plays and do the things we have to do. So, it's definitely something we'll be chasing going forward. It's not something that we want to do. It makes a difference in games, there's no doubt about it."

Jackson's record against the arch-rival Steelers is now 1-3, and he's thrown almost twice as many interceptions (seven) as touchdowns (four). And he thinks Baltimore handed the game away to Pittsburgh on Sunday.

"I believe so," Jackson said. "We didn't want to, but [we had] little mishaps. We're right there. We had [the Steelers] beat. [On] offense, we had to find our groove; we didn't find it. The defense played a great game -- kept stopping, kept giving us opportunities. We've just got to do what we do [and] finish drives."