Steelers work harder than expected in sloppy win over Ravens

It started from the moment he sat down and his microphone was turned on.

After watching the Pittsburgh Steelers struggle to put away the undermanned Baltimore Ravens, 19-14, in just the second NFL game played on a Wednesday since 1949, Mike Tomlin displayed the type of fire in his postgame interview that his players rarely displayed over four quarters at Heinz Field.

One would say that, 11 years after his famous quote, he finally unleashed hell in December.

“To be bluntly honest, I’m really disappointed in our performance tonight,” Tomlin said to open his news conference. “We did enough to win, but that’s all. It was really junior varsity, to be honest with you, and it was in all three phases.”

The Steelers remained the NFL’s only unbeaten team at 11-0 despite giving up a 70-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to the Ravens’ third-string quarterback. They eliminated the 6-5 Ravens from the AFC North title picture despite going 0 for 3 on trips inside the red zone in the first three quarters, despite having a fumble lead to a short Ravens touchdown drive and despite throwing an interception in the end zone to wipe out another score.

And, most importantly, they labored despite facing a Ravens team that was without 12 starters because of the coronavirus complications that led to the game being postponed three times since its scheduled Thanksgiving kickoff.

“We’re fortunate tonight,” Tomlin said after using the word “unacceptable” several times to describe his team’s mistakes. “It’s good to proceed with a victory. I acknowledge that, but not a lot happened tonight to be proud of or to be excited about, other than that.”

Asked whether he could pinpoint the reason for the disjointed performance, Tomlin responded: “It was bad by all parties involved, coaches first, players second.”

Tomlin saved his most concise retort for when he was asked to explain the red-zone failures and numerous dropped passes that occurred.

“Us (stinking),” he said.

Tomlin’s unhappiness also likely stemmed from the Steelers reportedly losing outside linebacker Bud Dupree to a season-ending ACL tear. Dupree limped off the field in the fourth quarter.

“It was very quiet, very sad, very low,” wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said about the locker room atmosphere.

On offense, it marked the first time in 11 games the Steelers failed to score at least 24 points. And it happened despite Ben Roethlisberger going to the air a season-high 51 times. He completed 36 attempts for 266 yards, and his 1-yard pass to Smith-Schuster in the fourth quarter accounted for the offense’s only touchdown.

Steelers receivers dropped what Smith-Schuster estimated to be as many as eight passes, and running game had only 25 yards until the fourth quarter while playing against a Ravens defensive line that was minus three starters.

“We played like JV,” Smith-Schuster said. “We played down to their level. They came out with a JV squad, and we were playing JV. We didn’t come out and execute. It was a close game, and that shouldn’t have happened.”

In the first quarter alone, Roethlisberger threw an interception in the end zone on a fourth-and-1 call. Ray-Ray McCloud fumbled away a punt return that set up a 16-yard touchdown drive for the Ravens.

Joe Haden’s 14-yard interception return against backup quarterback Robert Griffin III provided a 6-0 lead, but Chris Boswell missed the extra point.

On two other trips inside the Ravens’ 10 in the opening half, the Steelers settled for Boswell field goals of 25 and 27 yards. The Steelers took a 12-7 lead into halftime only because the Ravens went for a touchdown from the 1 on the last play of the half, and Minkah Fitpzatrick broke up the pass in the end zone.

The score remained 12-7 until the Steelers put together a 12-play, 61-yard drive that culminated with Smith-Schuster’s touchdown catch with 13 minutes, 20 seconds to play.

The Ravens continued to hang around, though, and made things interesting when third-string quarterback Trace McSorley hooked up with Marquise Brown for a 70-yard touchdown with 2:58 remaining.

James Washington, little-used for much of the game, had a 16-yard catch in traffic for a first down, and Benny Snell churned out a 13-yard run and then barely got a first down on a fourth-and-1 rush that enabled the Steelers to run out the clock. Snell’s late spurt helped him finish with 60 yards on 16 attempts.

“We just weren’t good enough at all today,” Roethlisberger said. “I mean, obviously, we won. Sure doesn’t feel like it.”

After giving up 265 yards rushing to the Ravens in the first meeting, the Steelers were hurt by several long runs from Griffin and allowed 129 on the ground in the rematch.

Griffin and McSorley, who took the snaps because of NFL MVP Lamar Jackson’s stint on the reserve/covid-19 list, combined to complete just 9 of 18 passes for 110 yards. The Ravens had only 40 yards in the air until McSorley’s completion to Brown.

T.J. Watt had two of the Steelers’ three sacks, and the other big play was provided by Haden, whose pick-6 was his first since 2013.

“Our defense saved our (butt) again,” Smith-Schuster said.

After having an unexpected nine-day layoff since their previous game, the Steelers will suit up again Monday against Washington in another game that was pushed back amid the NFL schedule reshuffling.

“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” Tomlin said. “It’s not some transformational thing that needs to transpire. We’ve got to coach better and play better when we get inside the bowl. I expect our group to do that.”