43
Steelers rally but can’t beat Baltimore
Photo
Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard (31) and LB Ray Lewis (52) hit Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward after he made a catch in the second quarter of Sunday’s NFL game in Pittsburgh. Ward was injured and helped from the fi eld. The Steelers rallied but came up short against the Ravens, losing 23-20.
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH
Joe Flacco hit Torrey Smith for a 26-yard touchdown pass with eight seconds to go, lifting the Baltimore Ravens past the Pittsburgh Steelers 23-20 on Sunday night.
Five plays after letting a sure touchdown toss tip off his hands, Smith capped Baltimore’s game-winning 92-yard drive by beating William Gay down the right sideline as the Ravens (6-2) snapped Pittsburgh’s four-game winning streak.
Flacco finished with 298 yards passing and Baltimore swept the season series from the rival Steelers (6-3) for the first time since 2006.
The Steelers appeared to be in control after rallying from a 10-point deficit to take a 20-16 lead with less than five minutes to go when Ben Roethlisberger hit Mike Wallace for a 25-yard score.
Ray Rice’s 4-yard touchdown with 4:27 left in the third quarter capped a 12-play drive that lasted more than six minutes and gave the Ravens a 16-6 lead late in the third quarter. The possession was aided by a pass interference call on Pittsburgh’s Ike Taylor two snaps earlier that gave the Ravens a first-and-goal at the 4.
Billy Cundiff had field goals of 18, 43 and 51 yards, the latter coming on the final play of the first half. Cundiff also missed from 40 yards, and Pittsburgh’s Shaun Suisham kicked field goals of 36 and 30 yards in a game befitting the NFL’s two best statistical defenses.
Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger was 20 for 37 for 329 yards, but Terrell Suggs intercepted him on the first drive of the second half with the Steelers at the Baltimore 14.
Flacco finished 28 of 47 for 300 yards and the TD.
Baltimore took the opening kickoff and held the ball for 14 plays and 6:50, getting a first-and-goal at the 1 after a pass interference call on William Gay in the end zone.
But Ryan Clark nearly intercepted Flacco’s pass on the ensuing play, and Rice was stuffed running up the middle on the next two plays, setting up Cundiff’s first field goal.
Rice had taken the first play from scrimmage 76 yards into the end zone, but the play was called back for a holding penalty on Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith.
Baltimore’s second field goal that gave it the lead again came at the end of a 10-play drive in the second quarter.
A week after holding the ball for almost 40 minutes in a 25-17 win over New England, the Steelers had less possession time than the Ravens through three quarters.
The Steelers drove to the Baltimore 18 early in the second quarter, but the drive stalled after Hines Ward could not hold onto a pass near the first-down marker on third-and-7 due to a helmet-to-helmet hit from Ray Lewis.
Hines Ward left the game with a stinger and he did not return. Ward missed last week’s win over New England due to an ankle injury.