Roethlisberger rallies Steelers in 4th quarter for victory over AFC North rival Ravens

With his team’s season on the line Sunday, Ben Roethlisberger pushed aside retirement rumors and showed he had one more fourth-quarter comeback left in his 39-year-old right arm.

The defense showed it was capable of pressuring Lamar Jackson one more time, and the Pittsburgh Steelers showed they weren’t quite ready to hand the AFC North title over to the Baltimore Ravens.

Roethlisberger, likely facing the Ravens for the final time at home, threw two touchdown passes to Diontae Johnson while leading the offense to three fourth-quarter scores. But he and the Steelers had to sweat out a failed 2-point conversion attempt in the waning moments before they could secure a 20-19 victory at Heinz Field.

Only when Jackson’s hurried 2-point toss in the right flat ticked off Mark Andrews’ fingers and hit the ground with 12 seconds remaining could the Steelers celebrate their first win in four games.

Had Jackson completed the pass, the Steelers would have dropped into last place in the division. Instead, they improved to 6-5-1 to remain in the hunt for a playoff berth. The Ravens still lead the AFC North with an 8-4 record, but they missed a chance to crush their bitter rival’s playoff hopes.

Coach Mike Tomlin called it a fitting end to a game in which the Steelers were dominated everywhere but the scoreboard for most of the first three quarters before rallying for 17 points in the fourth and holding on for the win.

“They bring out the best in us,” Tomlin said.

The final moments brought out the best in Roethlisberger, who engineered the 39th fourth-quarter comeback of his 18-year career, the third-highest total in NFL history. Roethlisberger has seven of his comebacks and 10 of his 51 career game-winning drives against the Ravens.

“It’s a huge win,” Roethlisberger said. “Anytime you play that team, in that rivalry, it’s a battle. That is what that game is. It was a perfect Ravens-Steelers game.”

Roethlisberger threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Johnson a minute into the fourth, and he provided the Steelers with their first lead, 20-13, when he connected with Johnson on a 5-yard score with 1 minute, 48 seconds remaining and found Pat Freiermuth for a 2-point conversion. In between, he led a field-goal drive.

His clutch play came less than 24 hours after reports surfaced that Roethlisberger privately has told confidants that this is his final season with the Steelers.

“I haven’t told everybody that,” Roethlisberger said. “Honestly, we just got done with this game. I’m exhausted, and we played for a couple hours. That’s my focus. My focus is on Minnesota (on Thursday night) and what we have to do to get ready. I’ll address any of that stuff after the season.

“I’ve always been a one-game-at-a-time, one-season-at-a-time person, and I’m going to stay that way.”

The way Roethlisberger downplayed the retirement speculation and led the Steelers back from 10-3 and 13-9 deficits in the final quarter didn’t surprise Tomlin.

“Ben doesn’t allow it to become an issue,” he said. “Ben has been pretty solid in terms of his expressions that he’s singularly focused on what he is dealing with now. He’ll deal with those other things on the other side of this journey.”

The next step in the journey takes place after just three days of rest when the Steelers hit the road to play the 5-7 Vikings.

“At this point in the season, every game is as big as this one,” Roethlisberger said. “Every game that we’ve got moving forward is a must-win for us. It’s not easy to play in four days. A lot of times I don’t practice Thursday let alone play a game.”

Roethlisberger had to watch nervously from the sideline as Jackson drove the Ravens 60 yards in eight plays, connecting with Sammy Watkins on a 6-yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds to play. Ravens coach John Harbaugh kept his offense on the field and left them there after the Steelers called their final timeout to put Cameron Heyward back in the game.

“Nothing surprises me,” Roethlisberger said. “He takes those chances and believes in his team.”

Jackson had little time to throw after taking the snap. T.J. Watt, whose return from the reserve/covid list was punctuated by 3¹⁄₂ sacks, pressured Jackson into making an off-balance throw. Andrews, who caught four passes for 50 yards in the first half but nothing thereafter, couldn’t secure the ball.

“Perfect play call,” Jackson said. “We were going to make it happen. Just came up short.”

The Ravens dominated the Steelers for much of the first half. At one point they had a 30-6 edge in plays, a 168-17 advantage in yards and had 11 first downs to the Steelers’ none. The Steelers even gave up a 16-play, 99-yard touchdown drive that provided the Ravens with a 7-0 lead.

Yet, the score was just 7-3 at halftime. Minkah Fitzpatrick intercepted Jackson in the end zone on the first series, and the Steelers sacked Jackson four times in the opening half, seven times overall. A Justin Tucker field goal on the opening drive of the second half pushed Baltimore’s lead to 10-3.

But after allowing 86 yards rushing in the first half, the Steelers gave up just 21 more the rest of the way and kept Jackson out of the end zone again until the final minute.

“We had a sense of urgency,” said defensive end Chris Wormley, the former Raven who had 2¹⁄₂ sacks against his old team.

That urgency helped the Steelers rebound from a 41-10 drubbing at Cincinnati a week earlier, and it bought time for Roethlisberger to get heated up in the final quarter.

“I’m just happy with the way he played tonight,” Heyward said. “To pick up a critical ‘W’ for us, our quarterback came through at the end.”

For his efforts, he was given the game ball by Tomlin.

“That caught me off guard,” Roethlisberger said. “I don’t think I deserve it. I think a lot of guys deserve it, and we deserve it as a group, but it’s always humbling when you play this team at home and coach recognizes you like that.”