Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh
Ryan Mallett and Ravens Stun Steelers, 20-17.
Tis the season to be jolly for Ryan Mallett. Signed by the Baltimore less than two weeks ago, the tall, right-handed gunslinger was thrust into the starting lineup against a heated rival, and delivered the goods in a 20-17 victory.
Mallett completed 28 of 41 pass attempts for 274 yards, one touchdown, while playing mistake-free football. Not too bad for a guy making just his seventh career start and on the unemployment line since the Houston Texans released him on October 27.
“That’s the biggest part, is being back in the building,” quarterback Ryan Mallett explained. “Having a chance is something I don’t take lightly. I think the coaches know that I’ve done everything I can to try to, you know, in case I needed to back up, if somebody’s hurt, whatever. And then getting the start, it was awesome. To get a win was even better.”
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On the flip side, Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw a pair of interceptions to the Smiths, Daryl and Jimmy, while being held to 220 yards passing and a dismal 38.9 rating in the first half. Jimmy Smith had a second interception and a subsequent 101-yard return for a touchdown taken off the board in the fourth quarter when Courtney Upshaw was flagged for lining up offsides. Dynamic wide receiver was bracketed for most of the afternoon and held to just 61 yards receiving on seven completions.
“They worked hard,” Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin said of the Baltimore defense. “They didn’t do anything that others don’t do consistently when they play us. They worked hard to minimize (Antonio Brown) on possession downs. They did a nice job of mixing the rest of it up in terms of playing coverage and pressures.”
Given the circumstances, on their fourth starting quarterback of the season, against a team still in wild-card contention that had won 10 consecutive games in the month of December, few gave the Ravens a chance to compete, much less win. Instead, Baltimore completed its first season sweep against their division rivals since the 2011 campaign.
“It’s Pittsburgh, it’s not to be diminished,” head coach John Harbaugh assured the media following the victory. “I think that shows respect to them, to say that. To Sweep Pittsburgh is a very valuable thing. It’s a very meaningful thing. And this team accomplished that.”
“It means a whole lot,” added cornerback Jimmy Smith. “Since we can’t go to the playoffs, the only next thing that’s going to be great is us beating Cincinnati, because they swept us four times. That’s the next goal.”
The Ravens wrap the 2015 season next week at the playoff-bound Bengals.
GAME RECAP
DeAngelo Williams and the Steelers started with a sprint on the game’s opening possession as Williams racked up 46 yards rushing on three consecutive handoffs. He couldn’t pick up one yard on 4th down, however, as Pittsburgh turned it over on downs.
Quarterback Ryan Mallett converted four 3rd downs to four different receivers, the last of which to Chris Matthews for an 8-yard touchdown to make it 7-0 with 3:58 remaining in the first quarter.
Pittsburgh countered with a 10-play, 64-yard drive with resulted in a Chris Boswell 34-yard field goal to open the second quarter, making the score 7-3.
The Ravens matched with a field goal of their own as Mallett completed five passes on their ensuing possession to set up Justin Tucker for a 37-yard attempt.
After punts by both sides, Daryl Smith stepped in front of a Ben Roethlisberger pass to Antonio Brown for an interception at the Ravens’ 45. Mallett made the most of the short field, resulting in a second Tucker field goal, this one from 50 yards away. Neither team could put up points on their final possessions of the half and Baltimore went into the locker room up 13-3.
After a three-and-out by the Ravens to open the second half, Pittsburgh finally found the end zone. A defensive pass interference penalty by Kendrick Lewis set up the Steelers offense at the 1, Williams pushed the pile for a short touchdown run to cut the black and gold’s deficit to 13-10.
The score remained the same into the fourth quarter with Pittsburgh on the move again before Jimmy Smith ran stride-for-stride with Brown and notched Baltimore’s second pick of the afternoon.
Mallett made the most of the turnover, throwing for a couple of 30-plus yard passes to Chris Givens and Kyle Juszczyk to move the offense down deep in Pittsburgh territory. Javorius Allen finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to up their advantage to 20-10 with 10:35 remaining in regulation.
Jimmy Smith looked to put this one away with a 101-yard interception return for a touchdown on the Steelers’ next drive but Courtney Upshaw lined up offsides, negating the entire play. Williams would run off tackle right untouched into the end zone two plays later to make it 20-17 with 6:39 left.
Allen picked up a pair of first downs on back-to-back rushes, but Baltimore was unable to secure the victory, forced to punt with just under three minutes remaining. It only delayed the inevitable though as Upshaw amended for his mistake with a quarterback sack and Roethlisberger’s heave on 4th down was tipped away by Shareece Wright. The Ravens ate all but four seconds of the remainder of the game clock and a desperation play as time expired saw a series of laterals eventually wind up in Upshaw’s hands as Baltimore completed the upset, 20-17 final.
UP NEXT
Baltimore (5-10) wraps up the season on the road hoping to play spoiler against another AFC North counterpart. Cincinnati (11-4) let a chance to secure a first round bye in the postseason slip away against Denver, unable to hold a 14-point lead before falling 20-17 in overtime on a Brandon McManus field goal.
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