I probably jinxed the Ravens when I started celebrating at halftime. Leading 21-7, it looked like everything was going for the Ravens. The Steelers looked snakebit, out of rhythm, and slow… This was gonna be our day! Even the Terrible crowd at Heinz Field seemed stunned, out of it…
So after cracking open a bottle of Absolut, I settled down to a leisurely session of note-taking and libation for the second half. ..and was promptly treated to lesson 101 on why they play a second half.
The vaunted Ravens football machine, a carefully calibrated mechanism of moving parts and organizational programming, with the legendary stamp of its master designer Ozzie Newsome on every cylinder and piston…well, it just blew apart in front of my eyes.
Oh, definitely give Mike Tomlin and his Steelers all the credit in the world. Somehow Tomlin, who always looks remarkably calm no matter what’s happening on the field, got his team together, readjusted and prepared to go out in the second half and undo the mess they had made. Within minutes, the Steelers disassembled the Ravens and had Ravens head coach John Harbaugh throwing fits along with his hat on the sidelines.
It was one of the most dramatic breakdowns in a playoff game I have ever witnessed.
National media will be using terms like “epic meltdown” and “colossal blunders” to describe it. I see it more as a mechanical breakdown of engineering technique and fatigued parts…it was bound to happen sooner or later, and it happened at the worst possible time.
Pittsburgh flat-out wore the Ravens down to bare wires and overloaded circuits. The Steelers also won the intimidation game…with help from a few personal foul flags that were never thrown. The Steelers got into the heads of the Ravens and got them out of their mental game in the second half…and it worked.
The Ravens committed three turnovers, surrendering their two touchdown lead— as two fumbles and an interception directly led to 17 unanswered points for the AFC North champion Steelers.
The game was ultimately decided in the final two minutes when Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall plunged into the end zone from two yards out. However, the game was really lost in the third quarter when the Ravens ruined their chances with unbelievably bizarre turnovers. The third-quarter miscues started with the lone fumble of the year by running back Ray Rice when free safety Ryan Clark ripped the ball out of his hands. Two plays later, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hit tight end Heath Miller for a nine-yard touchdown pass to close the gap to 21-14. ( It was the first 3rd quarter touchdown the Ravens have allowed all season.)
Then Joe Flacco misfired badly on a right-sideline throw to tight end Todd Heap that was intercepted by Clark. The ball was at least 5 yards too high and far for Heap. Did Heap run the wrong route? I guess we’ll never know…Roethlisberger capitalized again with an eight-yard scoring strike to wide receiver Hines Ward to tie the score. Of course…it had to be Hines Ward!
That’s when I knew we were in trouble. Big time. The machine was sputtering…and no flux capacitor to bail us out…
Almost immediately , Flacco fumbled on a mistimed snap by six-time Pro Bowl center Matt Birk. Just unbelievable… and ironic, since I had just written in the previous article here how I had observed Joe working overtime in summer camp on the snap exchange.
And that set up Shaun Suisham’s 35-yard field goal as the Steelers took their first lead of the game.
“We don’t feel good about this one,” Flacco said. “When you look at those turnovers, you could say we beat ourselves. You say, ‘Hey, that’s why we lost.'”
“In a sense, you can’t believe it— the first one, the second one and the third one,” said wide receiver Derrick Mason, who didn’t catch a pass. “It’s like, ‘Wow, what’s going on?'”
Derrick, it’s called a breakdown…combined with massive concentration and defensive pressure from the Steelers, who found their sea legs after apparently shaking off the slight rust of their Bye Week.
It briefly looked like the Ravens had pulled themselves together after a nice punt return by Lardarius Webb gave them a short field. Flacco seemed to get his rhythm back. He found Anquan Boldin on a crossing route with a low-but-catchable bullet in the front of the end-zone for a sure TD…but the three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver allowed the pass to deflect off his chest…and the Ravens were forced to settle for a 24-yard Billy Cundiff FG that tied the score, 24-24.
After that, the Steelers marched down the field amost at will against the Ravens prevent defense, resulting in the winning drive and rushing TD by Mendenhall..
The Ravens tried to make a desperate roadside-repair comeback with about 1:40 left, but flubbed two opportunities to get in position. Flacco overthrew an open Todd Heap, sailing the pass incomplete deep over the middle to his tight end. And veteran wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh had an accurate Flacco pass bounce off his chest on fourth down, a play that would have gone for a first down. That turned the ball over to the Steelers, who ran out the clock.
“When the game was on the line, I wanted my number to be called,” Houshmandzadeh said. “It was, and I didn’t catch it. That’s basically the moral of the story. I’ve always made that play. It’s almost like it’s not real. I can’t believe it. I jumped up, and I was indecisive whether I was going to catch the ball with my hands or try to body catch it. It was too late. I can’t believe that happened, I would bet every dollar I have that I make that.”
The Ravens only had 12 first downs to the Steelers’ 21.
The Ravens generated just 126 yards of total offense, averaging 2.4 yards per offensive play.
Flacco completed just 16 of 30 passes for 125 yards, one touchdown and one interception for a 61.1 passer rating.
The Ravens had just 26 yards of total offense from scrimmage in the second half.
Breakdown…
Too bad, because the second half disaster for the Ravens will erase from most fans’ memories the lovely developments of the first half…After the Steelers had deferred the opening kickoff and struck first, building an early 7-0 lead through a combination of penalties, Roethlisberger completions and some hard-nosed running by Mendenhall, the Ravens actually took over the game. ..The Ravens responded immediately, driving 10 plays and 68 yards, achieving the bulk of their output on a pass interference penalty called on cornerback Anthony Madison. Madison never made a play on the ball, roughing Mason before it arrived. The 33-yard infraction set up a strong run by Rice. He ran through strong safety Troy Polamalu, decking the Pro Bowl safety on a draw play. Showing patience, Rice waited for his blocks to develop before busting through a gaping hole on the right side of the line. His 14-yard touchdown run tied the score in the first quarter.
Then, the weirdest play of the day, but it went our way…a Roethlisberger fumble forced by Suggs on a blindside hit down near the Steelers’ own 10 must have looked like an incomplete pass at field level as it sputtered to the ground….but I could see clearly from my TV armchair that it was a live ball! Meanwhile, even the CBS announcing crew had missed the call…along with all the Ravens and Steelers on the field, save one—defensive end Cory Redding! Redding scooped up the fumble and rumbled 13 yards for the touchdown. It was one of those miracles that only comes once in a player’s career.
It gave the Ravens a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter. The Steelers challenged the ruling, but referee Jeff Triplette upheld the call. He announced that Roethlisberger’s arm was going backward at the time of Suggs’ hit.
After that play, I was convinced the Ravens would have their breakthrough day in Pittsburgh. You could hear a pin drop on the new sod, I imagine, after that play was ruled official. Shortly thereafter, Flacco engineered another drive with all working parts in order, capping it off with a beautiful “pick pattern” toss to a wide-open Todd heap in the right corner of the end-zone…Ravens 21, Steelers 7. Little did I know that the machine was about to throw a rod…and beware any tow truck driven by a guy that looks like Hines Ward.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
