In a concrete, field-level tunnel at M&T Bank Stadium late Sunday night, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin walked toward Pittsburgh’s locker room and had one thought on his mind, which he uttered aloud.
“Kenny F’ing Pickett,” he said of his quarterback. “All right, all right.”
Then, their celebration was on.
A few minutes later, Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley tried to answer questions about what had just happened. Coach John Harbaugh stood at a podium and was left searching for answers — again — after a 16-13 loss to Baltimore’s bitter division rival.
“We didn’t get the job done,” Harbaugh said. “We have to play better than that.”
Lamar Jackson — who looks like he’s needed more than ever — limped around the locker room.
With their AFC North title hopes hanging in the balance — they need the division-leading Cincinnati Bengals (11-4) to lose to the Buffalo Bills on Monday night to retain a chance — the Ravens (10-6) succumbed to a familiar flaw.
They gave up a 10-point second-half lead for the fourth time this year (they also gave up a nine-point lead to the Jaguars). This time it was thanks to the right arm of Pickett, the Steelers rookie quarterback who has emerged in recent weeks. He authored his second-straight late game-winning drive, capping an 80-yard march with a scramble and toss to running back Najee Harris for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 56 seconds left.
It was a clutch finish, worthy of his coach’s admiration afterward, but the score — Pittsburgh’s lone touchdown, following three Chris Boswell field goals — came only after the Ravens offense stalled down the stretch. They punted on three consecutive drives bridging the third and fourth quarters, including a gut-punch three-and-out after an exhilarating 56-yard kick return by Justice Hill.
That gave the Steelers several extra possessions to try for the win, which they got when Pickett evaded a rush from defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul and found Harris behind linebacker Roquan Smith, who lost track of his mark for only an instant.
Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins rushed 17 times for 93 yards, but the Steelers defense, which crowded the line of scrimmage with eight and nine defenders and an extra defensive lineman at times, shut the Ravens ground game down when it mattered most.
And from the start and through the finish, Harris and fellow Steelers back Jaylen Warren gashed through the normally stout Ravens run defense. Harris ran 22 times for 111 yards, becoming the first player to gain over 100 yards on the ground against the Ravens this season. Warren added 76 yards.
The winning drive was the Steelers’ second of 80 yards. The first ended in a field goal and cut the Ravens lead to 13-9 with 9:44 to go. In all, Pittsburgh converted on 10 of 16 third-downs and totaled 351 yards of offense compared to the Ravens’ 240. Pickett completed 15 passes for 168 yards.
“They flipped the script,” Harbaugh said, “and that’s not what we expect.”
The Ravens’ division hopes and chance at hosting a first-round playoff game now hinge on the outcome of Monday night’s Bengals-Bills game. They need a Cincinnati loss first, then must beat the Bengals in a head-to-head matchup in the regular-season finale.
If anything else happens, the Ravens will limp into the playoffs as a fifth or sixth seed — and face one of the stronger teams in the AFC in the first-round. And what they’ll look like when they get there remains in question, specifically at the quarterback position.
Huntley, starting his fourth straight game in place of Jackson, might have been the most effective he’s been during this stretch throwing the ball on Sunday night. He was 14 for 21 — and found tight end Mark Andrews nine times for 100 yards — yet he still totaled only 130 passing yards.
In a bright spot, after a Steelers penalty gave them a first-and-goal just before halftime, Huntley then found rookie tight end Isaiah Likely on an out route just across the goal line for a refreshing touchdown pass in a first half otherwise marked by run-dominated offense from both sides.
But the final minute of the second half was much different.
After the Steelers go-ahead score, with Jackson standing on the sideline watching, Huntley threw a desperate interception, and smacked his helmet repeatedly after the throw. In a downtrodden post-game press conference, he could only say he was looking for “somebody” on the pass.
“We’ve got another game,” linebacker Patrick Queen said. “Depending on whatever happens, we’ve still got a chance. But at the end of the day, we’ve just got to focus on the next game and try to prepare. We don’t want to go into the playoffs losing two in a row. We’re trying to get our streak going, and we need to start getting our streak right next week.”
Extra points
- Right tackle Morgan Moses suffered a right bicep strain going against Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt.
- Defensive tackle Calais Campbell (knee) and cornerback Marcus Peters (calf) did not play for the second straight game. Pittsburgh clearly targeted Peters’ replacement, Brandon Stephens, early, and Campbell’s absence was significant.
- Twenty-four of the last 30 meetings between the Ravens and Steelers have been decided by one score, and 18 of them by three or fewer points, including 12 of the past 16.
Corey McLaughlin is a veteran writer and editor who has covered sports in Baltimore for a decade, including for Baltimore magazine, USA Lacrosse Magazine and several other publications.
