Steelers hold off Ravens to improve to 7-0

BALTIMORE — On a cold, rainy day at M&T Bank Stadium, the Pittsburgh Steelers were on their way to watching their unbeaten record and AFC North lead get washed away by the Baltimore Ravens.

Then, Lamar Jackson intervened.

The NFL’s reigning MVP threw one interception that was returned for a touchdown and a second that swung the momentum in the Steelers’ favor in their improbable 28-24 victory Sunday.

With the Ravens taking a 17-7 lead out of halftime, Jackson’s first pass was intercepted by rookie Alex Highsmith, and the Steelers used the gaffe as a springboard to a win that improved their record to 7-0 and knocked the Ravens to 5-2.

“We have respect for him,” coach Mike Tomlin said of Jackson, “but we do not fear him.”

Perhaps it is time to fear the Steelers. The only undefeated team in the NFL, the Steelers matched the 1978 team for the best start in franchise history. They have scored at least 26 points in each game, extending another franchise record.

“A lot of people said to me that if you beat the Ravens, you really are legit,” tight end Eric Ebron said. “We went 6-0. How are we not a legit unit? Now that we beat the Ravens, I want people to understand that we are legit.”

The Steelers won despite allowing 457 yards to the Ravens, the most by any opponent since the 2019 season opener in New England. The Ravens rushed for 265 yards against a defense that was ranked No. 1 against the run and had held opponents to 68.8 per game.

“I think it’s important that we are truthful with ourselves,” Tomlin said. “We did not play well today. We lacked detail in a lot of areas. When you play good people, you’re going to be up against it when you don’t play well.”

Fortunately for the Steelers, Jackson was charitable with the football. He threw two interceptions, the first of which linebacker Robert Spillane returned for a touchdown in the opening moments, he lost a pair of fumbles and was stopped on two late drives when the Ravens were threatening to retake the lead.

“We’re happy to win,” said outside linebacker T.J. Watt, who had a sack and five quarterback hits. “We don’t care if it’s good, bad or ugly as long as it’s a win right now. We know how are they are in the National Football League.”

Ben Roethlisberger threw touchdown passes to Ebron and Chase Claypool, and James Conner scored on a 1-yard run as the Steelers, outplayed and outgained in the first half, scored 21 points after intermission.

“We were anticipating this matchup way too much,” Ebron said. “We just needed to settle down and find our rhythm, and once we did that, things went better.”

Spillane’s interception return 54 seconds into the game was a lone highlight in the first half as the Steelers trailed 17-7 at intermission.

The Ravens controlled the ball for more than 20 minutes and rushed for 179 yards in the opening half, running 45 plays to the Steelers’ 20 and gaining 254 total yards to the Steelers’ 64.

Playing without starting running back Mark Ingram and with two starting offensive linemen exiting in the first half with injuries, the Ravens stayed with their ground game. Rookie J.K. Dobbins led all rushers with 113 yards, Gus Edwards had 87 yards and a touchdown, and Jackson added 65 yards.

“I can’t say enough how proud I am of the guys in terms of their mental toughness,” Tomlin said. “They supported one another and didn’t fall apart in the midst of what was going on. That was as critical as anything.”

The Steelers’ first drive of the second half netted one first down and lasted less than a minute. When the Ravens took over at their 17, they had a chance to put a stranglehold on the game.

Then, Jackson dropped back to pass on the first play. Highsmith intercepted the underneath throw, and the Steelers took over at the Baltimore 21. Two plays later, Roethlisberger hooked up with Ebron for an 18-yard touchdown that brought the Steelers within three.

The offense finally got going on the next drive with Conner’s 1-yard touchdown run capping a 10-play, 77-yard march that included six first downs, one more than the Steelers had in the entire first half.

The Ravens responded with Jackson’s 3-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Brown with 11:56 remaining.

The Steelers answered again. Roethlisberger hit Claypool with an 8-yard score with 7:29 left.

The Ravens went back to what they do best: running on all 10 plays of the next series. The first nine brought the ball to the Steelers’ 8. On fourth-and-3, Jackson tried a delayed run but was stopped short with 1:57 left.

The Ravens got the ball back with 52 seconds left and no timeouts. A 32-yard completion to Willie Snead put the ball at the Steelers 23 with 8 seconds remaining. The game ended with Minkah Fitzpatrick breaking up a pass in the end zone as time expired.

“This wasn’t our best defensive performance at all,” said defensive end Stephon Tuitt, who had nine tackles, two sacks and three tackles for loss. “But those two drives that we had stops on were the most important. It was an adversity situation, and we overcame it.”