Ravens Have Another Fourth-Quarter Collapse In Loss to Steelers
BALTIMORE — The Ravens have struggled in the fourth quarter throughout most of the season.
Now, another collapse might have cost them a shot at the AFC North title.
Pittsburgh rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Najee Harris with 56 seconds left and the Steelers beat the Ravens 16-13 on Sunday night.
Baltimore (10-6) allowed 10 points in the final quarter while being held scoreless.
“We got to get his fixed," Ravens guard Kevin Zeitler said. "Otherwise, nothing good is going to happen.”
The Cincinnati Bengals can now clinch the AFC North with a victory over the Buffalo Bills on Monday night.
Ravens fell to the No. 6 seed behind the Los Angeles Chargers (10-6), who moved up to No. 5 because of a better conference record.
With defensive end Calais Campbell out of the lineup with a knee injury, the Ravens allowed 198 yards rushing on 40 carries. In the first meeting, the Steelers (8-8) had 65 yards on the ground on 20 attempts.
We didn’t do a great job of finding a way to make plays,” coach John Harbaugh said. “We had a few here and there, but we were behind the [first down] chains too much. They were ahead of the chains pretty much the whole team. We have to do a way better job across the board in terms of attacking what they did. They did a nice job. It wasn’t anything we haven’t seen; it was exactly what we saw on tape from them the last three weeks.
"[We are] just very disappointed. [That was] not one of our better performances at all. Coaching staff; start with that, start with me. Start with the coaching staff, game plan, all of it – not good enough. [It was] very disappointing. We have to bounce back.”
Defensive tackle Broderick Washington added: “It’s just embarrassing.”
Pickett completed 15 of 27 passes for 168 yards with a touchdown.
Baltimore finished with multiple sacks (Jason Pierre-Paul and Justin Madubuike) for the 12th straight game, the longest active streak in the NFL.
Baltimore running back J.K. Dobbins finished with 93 yards on a career-high 17 carries.
Ravens tight end Mark Andrews had 9 receptions for 100 yards and picked up several first downs.
A 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward gave the Ravens the ball at the 7. That set up a touchdown pass from Tyler Huntley to rookie tight end Isaiah Likely and the Ravens led 10-3 at the half.
It was the Ravens' fourth touchdown in 17 quarters without Lamar Jackson, who has been sidelined since Week 13 with a knee injury.
Huntley was 14 of 21 for 130 yards with the touchdown and interception.
“We didn’t convert the third down,” Huntley said.” [We] got behind the sticks a little bit, and the Steelers made a good defensive stance two drives in a row. [They] kept us out of field goal range, and we had to punt.”
Justin Tucker extended the lead to 13-3 on the first drive of the third quarter with a 51-yard field goal.
Chris Boswell pulled the Steelers to within 13-6 on a 51-yard kick with 3:42 left in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter continued to be a problem for the Ravens.
Pittsburgh had a 95-yard drive and cut the margin to 13-9 on a 33-yard kick by Boswell with 9:44 remaining.
Justice Hill had a 56-yard return on the ensuing kickoff. However, the Ravens had minus 3 yards on the drive and were forced to punt.
The Ravens had another three-and-out, which gave the Steelers the opportunity to put together the game-winning drive. Huntley was intercepted on the Ravens' final play.
Harris (111 yards) became the first player to eclipse 100 yards rushing against the Ravens this season.
Eight of the past nine meetings between the Ravens and Steelers have been decided by seven points or fewer.
It was the 33rd meeting between Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and the Ravens' John Harbaugh. Only Curly Lambeau and George Halas (49) had more head-to-head matchups.
The Steelers took a 3-0 lead on the game's opening drive on a 21-yard field goal by Boswell. Running back Jaylen Warren had a 31-yard run that moved the ball inside the Ravens' red zone.
Tucker tied the game on the ensuing drive with a 30-yard kick. Dobbins had a 15-yard run on that drive to the Pittsburgh 17. With 14:09 left in the second quarter, each team had one possession.
Boswell missed a 48-yard field goal attempt with 3:30 left in the half that kept the game tied. That proved to be costly because the Ravens answered with Likely's touchdown reception.
