Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Jeff Reed and linebacker James Harrison made sure the Ravens Monday night woes continued.
Reed connected on a 46-yard field goal with 8:55 left in overtime as the Steelers held off the Ravens for a 23-20 win in front of an announced crowd of 64,038 fans at Heinz Stadium. The kick came after Harrison forced a fumble on Ravens rookie quarterback Joe Flacco, which linebacker LaMarr Woodley recovered and ran seven yards for a touchdown as part of a 14-point third quarter swing for the Steelers, who had trailed 13-3 at halftime.
The Steelers (3-1) have now won 14 straight home Monday night games, while the Ravens (2-1) have now lost six of their last seven games in Pittsburgh. The loss was also their fifth straight and seventh in their last eight games on “Monday Night Football.”
“[It’s a] disappointing outcome, but the way we played, the way our guys competed and fought, that was positive,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “That’s what we build on.”
Despite their strong finish, the Steelers were anything but assured a win for much of the game. This was especially true when Flacco connected for a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Daniel Wilcox to give the Ravens a 13-3 lead with 17 seconds left in the second quarter. Flacco also helped execute a nine-play, 76-yard touchdown drive, capped by a 2-yard scoring run by fullback Le’Ron McClain, which tied the score at 20 with 5:17 remaining.
Flacco completed 16-of-31 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown in the first road game of his career. This included completing eight passes for 137 yards to wide receiver Derrick Mason.
“[Flacco] did a great job,” Mason said. “He’s a young man who’s got a lot of poise. He made the throws that were necessary to put us in a position to score and tie the game. He can only grow from this.”
But, the Ravens made two big mistakes in the third quarter and the Steelers capitalized on each of them. First, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger connected with wide receiver Santonio Holmes on a 38-yard touchdown reception. This came three plays after Ravens linebacker Jarrett Johnson got called for a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty for a late hit on Steelers wideout Hines Ward following an 8-yard run on a reverse by fellow receiver Nate Robinson. Woodley’s touchdown then came just 14 seconds later.
“It doesn’t have to be the prettiest, but we’ll take it,” said Roethlisberger, who completed 14-of-24 passes for 191 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Defensively, the Ravens held the Steelers to 237 yards of total offense, including 69 yards rushing. Linebacker Ray Lewis led Baltimore with 13 tackles while cornerback Corey Ivy and linebackers Bart Scott and Terrell Suggs each had a sack.
Harbaugh said although disappointed with the loss, he was pleased with how his team responded after falling behind 20-13 in the fourth quarter.
“There’s nothing you can say about this game other than the fact that a couple of plays went against us that we needed to play better in. Aside from that, our guys played well enough to win. They played their hearts out.”
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