Steelers stop Ravens' 2-point attempt to stay atop division on Chris Boswell's 6 field goals

The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t follow an offensive formula for beating the high-scoring Baltimore Ravens, relying on their kicker after failing to score a touchdown despite four trips to the red zone.

The Steelers continue to possess the most potent antidote for Lamar Jackson, even as the Ravens paired their two-time MVP quarterback with the NFL’s leading rusher in Derrick Henry to form the league’s highest-scoring offense.

Chris Boswell tied a career best by converting six field goals — including three of at least 50 yards — but it came down to the defense stopping a potential tying 2-point conversion. Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. stopped Jackson as he rolled left, forcing an incomplete pass on a desperation flip, to protect the lead in an 18-16 win Sunday afternoon before 67,551 at Acrisure Stadium.

The Steelers (8-2) won for the eighth time in the past nine meetings with the rival Ravens (7-4), taking control of the AFC North in their division opener. The Steelers have a short turnaround before their next division game as they visit the Cleveland Browns (2-8) on Thursday night.

“They made the necessary plays,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “Certainly it wasn’t perfect, man. But it’s not going to be when you’re highly competitive, and you’re playing good people. I like the way our guys responded to the challenge, particularly our defense. A lot was written and said about their offense coming into this game and rightfully so. They’ve got a lot of talent, a lot of weapons, good schematics. Our guys played hard and together, and I’m appreciative of that.”

Boswell was 6 of 6 on field goals, marking the third time in his career he made as many in a regular-season game. It was the second time this season Boswell did so, as he also accounted for all of the Steelers’ points in an 18-10 win at Atlanta in the season opener Sept. 8. Boswell outdueled the most accurate kicker in NFL history, Baltimore’s Justin Tucker, who missed wide left on first-quarter field-goal attempts from 47 and 50 yards but converted a 54-yarder.

“I love Boz, man. I’m tired of him getting player of the week,” Tomlin said to laughter. “He probably got player of the week again this week. He’s deserving of it. But it reminds us of our warts. It reminds us of the work that we need to do. But, man, no doubt I’m thankful that he’s on our team.”

Defensively, the Steelers forced three turnovers and kept Henry under control to the tune of 65 yards on 13 carries and held Jackson to a season-worst 48.5% completion percentage. Jackson was 16 of 33 for 207 yards, with one touchdown and one interception, falling to 1-4 in five starts against the Steelers.

The warts, however, were hard to ignore. The Ravens had more total yards (329-303), even though the Steelers had a slight edge in first downs (18-16). Where Baltimore scored on both trips inside the 20, the Steelers went 0 for 4 in the red zone.

“In this type of game, it’s a momentum game,” Jackson said. “It was swinging for both teams, and those guys had that swing at the end.”

That came after Jackson completed third-down passes of 11 yards to Rashod Bateman and 24 yards to Justice Hill to set up his 16-yard touchdown pass to Zay Flowers with 1:06 remaining.

The Steelers called timeout before the 2-point conversion attempt, warning the defense to be on the alert for a pop pass. When Porter saw wide receiver Nelson Agholor block down on outside linebacker Nick Herbig to seal the edge, he locked in on Jackson as he tucked the ball and rolled left. Jackson raised his right arm, but Porter lunged and wrapped him around the waist.

“They had that touchdown, and we knew we had to stop them on that 2-point conversion,” Porter said, noting the Steelers regularly practice defending 2-point plays. “We do that every week in ‘seven shots,’ so it was nothing irregular for us. We just had to stand up and get that stop.”

The Steelers got stand up and standout plays from several newcomers to their side of the rivalry. A pair of former Ravens — inside linebacker Patrick Queen and strong safety DeShon Elliott — had fumble recoveries, and rookie inside linebacker Payton Wilson provided a crucial fourth-quarter interception.

The Steelers created a turnover on the second play of the game, when Herbig, who missed four games with a hamstring injury, stripped Henry to force a fumble that Elliott recovered at the Baltimore 42. It was the first lost fumble in 538 touches for Henry, and it came at the hands of the player who replaced the injured Alex Highsmith (left ankle) in the starting lineup.

The Steelers picked up a first down when Najee Harris took a toss left, cut inside and followed the block of tight end Darnell Washington for an 11-yard gain. But the Ravens twice pressured Russell Wilson into throwing it away, so the Steelers settled for Boswell’s 32-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.

The Ravens responded with a 42-yard pass to Isaiah Likely to the Steelers 33, but Jackson overshot former Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson and Flowers on passes. Then Tucker missed his sixth kick of the season, from 47 yards.

Tucker bailed out the Steelers after a fourth-down decision gave Baltimore field position in Pittsburgh territory. Needing 1 yard against the league’s top run defense, Harris and Wilson were stuffed to force a turnover on downs. Jackson scampered 15 yards for a first down, but Queen dropped Justice Hill for a 1-yard loss on a screen pass and defensive end Dean Lowry tipped a pass. Tucker’s 50-yarder sailed wide left again.

“Yeah, Tuck needs to make those kicks,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “He knows that. It’s important.”

The Steelers ate nearly five minutes with a 10-play, 50-yard drive highlighted by Harris’ 20-yard run and an 8-yard pass on third-and-1 to George Pickens, who had a career-best eight catches for 89 yards. It was interrupted by a pair of scuffles involving Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey — the first a scrum with center Zach Frazier and the second with right tackle Broderick Jones — that resulted in offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. It ended with Boswell’s 52-yard field goal for a 6-0 lead at 7:39 of the second quarter.

Baltimore got a boost when an Isaiahh Loudermilk sack was negated by Queen’s holding penalty. The Ravens responded with a series of big plays. A 19-yard pass to Rashod Bateman was followed by Henry’s 31-yard burst up the middle and an 18-yard pass to Likely to the Steelers’ 4. Henry scored on a 1-yard run to give the Ravens a 7-6 lead with 1:16 left in the half.

Queen quickly made up for his flag by forcing a turnover. When the Steelers punted to the 9, Baltimore only had to run out the final 38 seconds to take a lead into the break. Instead, the Ravens threw a short middle pass to Likely, only for Queen to strip the ball loose and recover at the 19.

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” Tomlin quipped. “I’m glad he’s on our team.”

A 32-yard Boswell field goal gave the Steelers a 9-7 halftime lead, and they opened the second half with another field goal, this one from 57 yards, for a 12-7 advantage.

But Baltimore’s 165 second-half points led the league, so the Steelers knew the lead was far from safe. Thanks to a pair of third-down conversions, the Ravens were positioned for another field goal attempt. This time, Tucker converted a 54-yarder to cut it to 12-10 at 6:12 of the third quarter.

The Steelers got a pair of big pass plays to Pickens — a 17-yarder on a second-and-16, and a 37-yarder in single coverage down the home sideline — but the offense stalled in the red zone again. After Van Jefferson dropped a third-down pass, Boswell booted a 27-yard field goal for a 15-10 lead.

A Steelers drive that included a third-and-5 conversion on a 7-yard pass to Pickens, a 25-yard pass to Washington down the seam and a 13-yard run by Harris ended when Wilson escaped pocket pressure only to loft a pass over Washington that was intercepted by Humphrey in the back of the end zone.

A turning point came when Jackson threw a pass to Hill for what appeared to be a 24-yard gain, only for Payton Wilson to rip the ball away for an interception at the Steelers’ 36 with 8:14 left.

“Plays like that, that’s not normal,” Queen said. “To focus, to be able to know Justice, run with him step for step and make a play like that, that’s All-Pro stuff. That’s Pro Bowl plays. For a rookie to make a play like that, that’s insane.”

On third-and-7, Wilson found Washington down the seam for a 17-yard gain to the Baltimore 44. The Steelers took a shot at the end zone on third-and-10, but Tre’Davious White appeared to hook Pickens’ arm in breaking up the pass. Boswell drilled a 50-yard field goal for an 18-10 lead with 3:35 left.

The Ravens responded with a nine-play, 69-yard drive that featured third-down passes of 11 yards to Bateman and 24 yards to Hill and was capped by Jackson’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Flowers. Even after Porter broke up the 2-point attempt, the Steelers still needed one more conversion to ensure victory.

Justin Fields ran for 9 yards but slid short of the first-down marker, forcing a pivotal third-and-1 with 57 seconds left. That’s when the Steelers turned to Harris, who picked up the first down to allow them to run out the clock.

Tomlin knew that it would come down to stopping Jackson and the Ravens’ dynamic offense, especially late in the second half.

“We have to. These AFC North relationships are intimate ones, and we don’t have a choice,” Tomlin said. “You can’t circumvent that challenge. You have to go through it. Thankfully, today we did.”