The Steelers beat the Ravens and continue to haunt Lamar Jackson.
T.J. Watt, the Steelers’ All-Pro pass rusher, closes the game with a fourth-down sack of Lamar Jackson. The Ravens’ last-ditch effort falls short, and Jackson’s difficulties versus Pittsburgh — which Jeff Zrebiec discussed earlier this week — persist. The Steelers come from behind to win 17-10 and are currently tied for first place in the AFC North with a 3-2 record.
History repeats itself in Ravens loss
It seems to be bad karma for John Harbaugh when it comes to holding the Pittsburgh Steelers to only three points after three quarters, as following today’s loss, his Ravens squads are now 0-4 when that happens. In each loss, Baltimore took a lead into the fourth quarter but couldn’t hold on to it.
Steelers score key takeaway
After taking the late lead, the Steelers appear to seal their victory with an Alex Highsmith strip-sack. Pittsburgh hit a field goal three plays later to go up 17-10.
Steelers take late lead
Kenny Pickett fires a deep pass down the right sideline to a streaking George Pickens, who beat Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey in his first game back from a foot injury, for a 41-yard touchdown. After a failed two-point conversion attempt, the Steelers have a late 14-10 lead with 1:17 to play.
Special teams miscue nearly did Steelers in
After forcing a three-and-out, the Steelers were in position to get the ball back late in the fourth quarter with a chance to take the lead. But on the ensuing punt, Pittsburgh returner Gunner Olszewski coughed up the ball and it fell into the hands of the Ravens’ Kevon Seymour, who returned it to the Steelers’ 7-yard line.
Timely Steelers takeaway
Pittsburgh rookie Joey Porter Jr. picks a good time to snag his first career interception.
Steelers give themselves a chance with blocked punt
The Steelers’ Miles Killebrew blocked a Ravens punt, leading to a safety and giving Pittsburgh the ball with a chance to take the lead. Baltimore is up 10-5 with less than 10 minutes to play.
John Harbaugh’s Ravens have never defeated Mike Tomlin’s Steelers when holding Pittsburgh to three points after three quarters
The Baltimore Ravens have to be happy to have held the Pittsburgh Steelers to only three points after three quarters, but history suggests this could be a bad omen for Baltimore.
John Harbaugh-coached Ravens teams have held Mike Tomlin-coached Pittsburgh teams to three points through three quarters on three occasions and had leads headed into that stanza in each of those contests but lost each of those games due to Steelers fourth-quarter comebacks.
Ravens hold tenuous lead
Steelers are inside the Ravens 35 as the fourth quarter begins. Baltimore is still holding a tenuous 7-point, thanks to repeated missed opportunities on offense.
Patrick Mekari questionable to return
Ravens right tackle Patrick Mekari is questionable to return to the game with a chest injury. That’s significant because not only has Mekari had to face T.J. Watt all afternoon, but the Ravens are already down their starting tackle Morgan Moses. Second-year pro Daniel Faalele is now in the game at right tackle.
Ravens-Steelers over/under total points mark drops below 30
The over/under in the Ravens-Steelers game just can’t seem to find a stable floor, as the 10-3 mid-third quarter score has moved the over/under in total points for this game to 28.5 points in live in-game betting at BetMGM.
Halftime fantasy numbers in Ravens-Steelers
Considering the matchup difficulty, it hasn’t been a bad first half for fantasy managers with Ravens on their rosters in today’s Baltimore-Pittsburgh battle.
Lamar Jackson is trending towards his fourth straight 20+ point game, as he has tallied 10.02 points despite not having accounted for a touchdown. Mark Andrews has 9.3 PPR points and thus should get his third game with 10+ PPR points this season.
Justice Hill is rostered in only 23.9 percent of ESPN leagues and thus isn’t in many starting rosters, but managers who did start him are happy with the 11.5 PPR points he has posted thus far. The same cannot be said for Gus Edwards’ fantasy managers, as Gus the Bus has generated only 3.4 PPR points.
The Ravens D/ST has only one impact play so far this game, that being a sack, but allowing only three points has kept this platoon with a 10-point total at halftime.
The Steelers D/ST has done nearly as well, as a combination of one sack and only 10 offensive points allowed has kept this group at 8.0 first half points.
George Pickens is trending towards a solid game with 6.8 PPR points so far, but every other Pittsburgh player has been a fantasy scoring disaster, as Jaylen Warren has only 1.6 PPR points and Najee Harris has 1.2 PPR points.
Baltimore leaves points on the board
Ravens go into the half leading 10-3, but they’ve done their best to let the Steelers hang around. Two end zone drops. Few other drops. A fumble near midfield. And then they just eschewed taking a 40-yard field goal to go for it on 4th-and-2 with 20 seconds left in 2nd quarter.
Ravens have out-gained the Steelers, 244-88. They’ve run 43 plays to the Steelers 26. They’ve possessed the ball for nearly seven minutes more than Pittsburgh. Yet, it’s a one-score game and the Steelers start the third quarter with the ball.
Steelers get on the scoreboard, but it’s another field goal
Steelers get on the board with a 43-yard field goal by Chris Boswell.
Pittsburgh has now scored touchdowns on just 9.1% of its drives that reached opponent territory this season (2 of 22), the lowest rate in the NFL (average is 35%).
More Baltimore fumble woes
Every week, the Ravens lament things that are holding their offense back. It’s often been fumbles and that was the case here as running back Justice Hill turns the ball over after catching a screen pass from Lamar Jackson.
The Steelers turned the turnover into three points with Chris Boswell converting a 43-yard field goal to cut the Ravens lead to 10-3.
The Ravens have now lost five fumbles this year.
Steelers’ big-play defense steps up again
Takeaways were the key to Pittsburgh’s victories over Cleveland in Week 2 and Las Vegas in Week 3, as the Steelers registered four and three takeaways, respectively, in those matchups. That wasn’t the case in Weeks 1 and 4, as Pittsburgh had only one takeaway in those two games combined and it was part of why the Steelers lost both of those games.
Pittsburgh had yet to generate a takeaway in this game prior to the last Baltimore drive and that was part of why the Ravens got up 10-0, but Larry Ogunjobi’s punchout of the ball stopped the Baltimore drive and set Pittsburgh up to kick the field goal to make it 10-3.
Betting odds now have the Steelers as a double-digit point underdog
Pittsburgh came into today’s Ravens-Steelers matchup as a rare home underdog, being listed at +4.5 points at BetMGM at the opening kickoff, but that number has moved even higher now that the Ravens have a 10-0 early second-quarter lead, as Baltimore is now a 12.5-point favorite in live in-game betting.
Ravens drops continue
The Ravens entered the game without a drop from a receiver all year. They just had drops on back-to-back plays in the end zone as Mark Andrews couldn’t hang onto a Lamar Jackson pass on second down and Rashod Bateman dropped one on third down. They settled for a Justin Tucker 23-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead at the 12:23 mark of the second quarter.
The Ravens also had two players, running back Gus Edwards and wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., leave the game on that drive with what appeared to be lower-leg injuries.
Odell Beckham Jr. exits
Odell Beckham Jr. headed to the locker room after making his first reception of the game. Beckham Jr. returned today after missing the last two weeks with an ankle injury.
Justice Hill touchdown extends start-sit quandary for fantasy managers
Fantasy managers know that the Baltimore Ravens have one of the best ground games in the league and yet coming into today’s matchup, RB Gus Edwards was rostered in only 53.6 percent of ESPN leagues and Justice Hill was rostered in just 23.9 percent of leagues.
A main reason for this is uncertainty around the carry division in this backfield and that continued, as Edwards has four carries for 19 yards, but Hill got a 14-yard touchdown on his sole rush attempt of the game. This type of division makes Edwards and Hill start-sit quandaries every week.
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