After a few days of turmoil for the Baltimore Ravens (1-1), a 26-6 dismantling of the rival Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) opened Week Two of the NFL season.
A 12-play, eight-minute opening drive for Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers ended with a fumble by receiver Justin Brown and no shot at opening the scoring, as Baltimore marched in the opposite direction for an 11-play touchdown drive. Joe Flacco threw to Owen Daniels in the back of the end zone for a 7-0 lead right before the first quarter ended. Baltimore’s Justin Tucker added a 30-yard field goal, which was matched before halftime by Shaun Suisham to get Pittsburgh on the board, trailing 10-3 at the intermission.
Once again, Pittsburgh had a poor second half performance, letting this one get away by the early fourth quarter. A 43-yard field goal for Suisham had made it 10-6, but the defense failed to give the offense a chance to drive for a lead. Daniels scored again on a one-yard pass from Flacco, making it 17-6 and the Ravens ran away with the victory in the fourth. Heath Miller fumbled trying to break a tackle after a reception and the Ravens kept pouring it on, eventually scoring points on all four second half drives. Tucker added three field goals and Roethlisberger was intercepted by defensive tackle Haloti Ngata late to add insult to injury.
The three turnovers, nine penalties (for 75 yards) and failure to crack the end zone resulted in a resounding thud for the Steelers after having defeated Cleveland in the final seconds Sunday at Heinz Field. Baltimore bounced back from a poor home performance to defending AFC North champion Cincinnati, as well as taking a step towards moving past the Ray Rice fallout.
Flacco was superb, completing 21 of 29 passes for 166 yards and two interceptions. The Ravens were effectively conservative in the passing game and took advantage of missed tackles and Pittsburgh’s inability to cover all of Flacco’s top targets. Among them, Steve Smith led the way with six receptions for 71 yards and Daniels had the two touchdowns on five catches. The Baltimore running game, sans Rice, was solid as well. Bernard Pierce had 96 yards on 22 carries and Justin Forsett used a 41-yard scamper to total 56 yards on eight attempts.
Pittsburgh’s running game was not nearly as effective against the Ravens as it had been vs. Cleveland. Le’Veon Bell had 59 yards on 11 carries, good for 5.4 yards per carry. But Todd Haley and the offense could never consistently move the ball with any success and the miscues repeatedly took potential points off the board. Antonio Brown led Steelers receivers with seven grabs for 90 yards, though he had produced nothing in the second half until the final drive. Roethlisberger finished 22-37 for 217 yards and the interception, averaging just 5.9 yards per attempt. He was sacked twice, as well.
Lawrence Timmons led all defenders with 12 tackles (seven solo) and rookie Ryan Shazier played well, totaling 11 tackles (six solo). The Steelers defense did not force a turnover and did not sack Flacco.
Pittsburgh was more efficient converting third downs than Baltimore, averaged more yards per play, and nearly gained as many yards, but managed to fall so far behind on the scoreboard due to the various mistakes made. With ten days to recover prior to the team’s next game at Carolina on September 21, the work is cut out for the Steelers. That game is also a primetime matchup as the Panthers and Cam Newton host Sunday Night Football.
