A missed (or partially blocked) extra point from the always reliable Chris Boswell.
A desperation heave on fourth down to Isaiah Likely, the tight end at the center of so much officiating controversy from the last wild affair between these teams.
A missed field goal as time expired from a visiting rookie kicker enduring his first trip to Acrisure Stadium.
And those were just the final few twists and turns to a wild and winding regular-season finale between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. It was a game the Steelers somehow managed to win as they secured the AFC North crown, 26-24.
It was also a game that turned on a dime from a defensive rock fight befitting of so many Ravens-Steelers games of years gone by, into a late-night fireworks show on the North Side.
In the end, the Steelers advance to play Houston next week in the AFC playoffs, and the Ravens are going home.
We’ll try to recap all of the machinations in this week’s “Airing of Grievances” and “Feats of Strength.”
There are too many on both sides to list them all. We’ll get to as many as we can.
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FEATS OF STRENGTH
Halftime resuscitation
The Steelers appeared to be dead men walking going into halftime, down 10-3.
They had just blown a red-zone sequence in unbelievable fashion to end the second quarter. The Ravens went into the locker room with all the momentum in the world.
However, Pittsburgh emerged to begin the third quarter with a 12-play, 67-yard touchdown drive. Connor Heyward capped it off with a 1-yard “Spartan” play plunge with his brother, Cam, coming over from the defensive side to provide the push.
Connor Heyward sneaks in with help from his brother!
— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2026
BALvsPIT on NBC
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On the drive, Aaron Rodgers threw his best two passes of the game to that point. One was to Pat Freiermuth for 14 yards on a third down. Another went for 28 yards to Adam Thielen up the seam.
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Seizing the momentum
After that score, Baltimore took over at its own 34-yard line. James Pierre stuffed Derrick Henry for no yards on first down. Lamar Jackson was then hit while delivering a pass that went incomplete on the next snap.
On third down, Jackson threw a pass that got deflected at the line of scrimmage by Alex Highsmith, and T.J. Watt intercepted it.
TJ WATT PICKS OFF LAMAR ON THE DEFLECTED PASS.
— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2026
BALvsPIT on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/ViXTN12C7G
The Steelers turned that pick into a field goal and a 13-10 lead.
The pass rush was excellent through the first three quarters. It sacked Jackson three times. Hit him an additional two times. And players in the front-seven deflected three passes. His rushing total was only nine yards.
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Rodgers’ responses
After Baltimore took a 17-13 advantage in the fourth quarter, the Steelers didn’t panic on offense and got the lead back again.
Jaylen Warren started the ensuing drive with a 15-yard run. A few plays later, Rodgers drilled a 31-yard pass to Freiermuth.
There was some confusion and chaos in the red zone that resulted in the Steelers burning multiple timeouts, but the Steelers still managed to reestablish the lead on a third-and-goal touchdown run by Kenneth Gainwell.
Gainwell TOUCHDOWN. Steelers back on top!
— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2026
BALvsPIT on NBC
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That put Pittsburgh on top 20-17.
When the Steelers’ alleged “historic defense” allowed Zay Flowers to score on a 64-yard bomb on the next possession, Rodgers and company got the ball back again and needed just 85 seconds to go 65 yards with no timeouts before scoring again on a TD hook up with Calvin Austin.
RODGERS. ICE COLD.
— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2026
BALvsPIT on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/REWEwjvG25
Rodgers was 31 of 47 for 294 yards and one touchdown. That score made it look like the Steelers were at worst in position to get to overtime tied 27-27. But Chris Boswell missed the extra point.
We’ll get to that.
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Defense did the job … for a while
Before an epic fourth-quarter collapse, which nearly saw the Steelers blow three third-quarter leads, the Steelers defense had been excellent.
While Henry put up a good stat line of 126 yards on 20 carries, 41 of those yards came on his first touch. He didn’t flip the field after that.
Jackson was held to under 100 yards passing until midway through the fourth quarter and only wound up with 238 on 11 completions despite three heroic throws in the fourth quarter.
Before a pair of big touchdown receptions in the fourth quarter, Flowers had only two catches for 24 yards.
Baltimore only had one touchdown drive after its first possession until it exploded in the fourth quarter.
The Steelers’ defense eventually needed a Tyler Loop field goal miss at the end of the game to overcome its late deficiencies. But for three quarters, it had been quite good.
THE RAVENS KICK IS NO GOOD AND THE STEELERS ARE PLAYOFF-BOUND. pic.twitter.com/cIVq2TPKwp
— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2026
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Boz Bomb
Boswell’s missed/partially blocked extra point late in the game was nearly Pittsburgh’s downfall. But the Steelers’ star kicker got the team on the board with a 57-yard field goal in the second quarter. It bailed out a really rotten set of back-to-back plays from Rodgers.
On a second down from Baltimore’s 43-yard line, Rodgers missed a wide-open Jonnu Smith deep down the field. He followed that up by oddly slowing down and pulling up on a third-down scramble.
However, Boz mitigated the damage by nailing the kick and pulling the Steelers within 10-3. Boswell has now converted on the 15 longest FGs in franchise history and 12 of the 13 longest in Acrisure Stadium history.
Miami’s Riley Patterson had a 54-yarder earlier this season.
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More Steelers' coverage
• T.J. Watt ‘felt so comfortable,’ intercepts Ravens in return from partially collapsed lung• 5 things we learned after Steelers’ division-clinching, regular season-finale victory
• ‘It’s nice to be back in this position’: Aaron Rodgers grateful to make playoff run with Steelers
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AIRING OF GRIEVANCES
Booo ‘Renegade’!
Steelers fans infamously booed “Renegade” before it was played during the Buffalo game.
They booed it after the song played Sunday night against the Ravens because of what happened on defense.
Up 13-10 in the fourth quarter, with just under 11 minutes left, the Steelers had Baltimore’s offense stuck in the mud. Their last four possessions were three punts and an interception.
The in-stadium video crew played “Renegade,” and the Steelers opened the defensive possession with Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt on the bench. Jackson immediately found Flowers for a first down.
Three players later, on third-and-4, Jackson miraculously escaped a sack between Keeanu Benton and Highsmith. He heaved the ball downfield to Flowers, who somehow wound up being covered by linebacker Patrick Queen way downfield.
The play went for a 50-yard touchdown and gave Baltimore a 17-13 lead.
LAMAR. ZAY. WOW.
— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2026
RAVENS TAKE THE LEAD.
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Before that connection, Flowers had just two catches, and Jackson had only 82 passing yards.
From that point on, Jackson and Flowers connected for a 64-yard strike to make the score 24-20 Baltimore, and Jackson found Isaiah Likely for 26 yards on an indescribable fourth down that appeared to win the game for the Ravens.
But then Loop came on to miss the 44-yard kick that ended the game.
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It couldn’t have been worse
It would’ve been hard to draw up a worse start to the game for the Steelers.
Baltimore opened the game on offense. Henry ran 41 yards up the right sideline on the first snap of the game.
Fortunately for the Steelers, Flowers was called for an illegal block on James Pierre right before Henry went out of bounds. So, 15 yards were subtracted from Henry’s run.
Unfortunately, Cameron Heyward was injured by Pierre falling into him after the hit. But Heyward came back into the game.
The drive eventually got to a third-and-1. The Acrisure Stadium crowd exploded as T.J. Watt wrapped up Henry in the backfield.
The only problem was, Henry didn’t have the ball. Jackson did. He ran for a first down. During the following sequence, the Ravens faced a fourth-and-3. Jackson connected with Devontez Walker for a touchdown from 38 yards away.
THAT'S TOUCHDOWN TEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) January 5, 2026
Tune in on SNF! pic.twitter.com/za6JT4K2tl
The Steelers followed by punting after five snaps on its first possession.
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Coming up ‘short’
On the Steelers’ second possession, Rodgers somehow managed to throw a pass short of the sticks on third-and-3. He completed it but short of the line to gain.
On fourth down, the Steelers tried the “Spartan” tush push, with Cameron Heyward pushing Connor Heyward. It didn’t work.
The Ravens defense STANDS TALL. ????
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) January 5, 2026
???? NFL | ???? NBC and Peacock
pic.twitter.com/FkeEMyTIsN
The Ravens took over on downs at the Steelers’ 45-yard line and ended up kicking a field goal to take a 10-0.
Truly brilliant stuff by the Steelers offense.
The #ShortOfTheSticks trend on short conversion downs has been driving me crazy all season. Actually, for years now, dating to Matt Canada and even, at times, Randy Fichtner.
People will remember the blown fourth-down attempt. It was the third-down play that actually cost them.
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2nd quarter collapse
Rodgers had a truly lousy second quarter. And it wasn’t just the string of events leading to Boswell’s 57-yard field goal outlined above.
After forcing a punt on Baltimore’s next possession, the Steelers took over at their own 18-yard line. Rodgers proceeded to have a pass broken up on a throw to Marquez Valdes-Scanting, another batted away intended for Thielen and a third incomplete to Gainwell.
It was well short of the sticks even if it had been completed.
Then the Steelers ended in spectacularly bad fashion. The offense took over at its own 9-yard line shortly before the two-minute warning. But the team successfully marched to Baltimore’s 24 with 29 seconds left.
At that point, Rodgers completed two sideline passes. But in neither case could the receivers (Gainwell and Valdes-Scantling) get out of bounds. So the team had to burn its last two timeouts.
A red-zone sequence began with a first down from Baltimore’s 9-yard line with 15 seconds remaining. Three incompletions followed, including one to Freiermuth with 2 seconds on the clock.
But that play was flagged for pass interference. So the Steelers decided to go for it on fourth down from the 1-yard line. They mysteriously pitched the ball backward to Gainwell, who lost yardage as time expired.
The Ravens defense GRABS MOMENTUM with a stop on 4th & 1. ????
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) January 5, 2026
???? NFL | ???? NBC and Peacock
pic.twitter.com/B9V4XXthsH
It was a play that relied on Freiermuth, who isn’t renowned for his blocking, to seal the left side of the formation. He missed the block, and the play was blown up. But there still would’ve been at least one other defender who was not picked up by a blocker — maybe two.
The 89-yard drive ended with no points and the Steelers going into the locker room down 10-3. It was a total collapse to end the quarter.
