This play by Antonio Brown was the moment when my heart dropped. It’s when I realized the Steelers had the chance to beat the Ravens by one point. It’s when I knew the Ravens had (likely) let the opportunity of beating the Steelers slip through their fingers.
The first half of this contest went pretty much as expected. The Steelers went ahead early and looked to be well on their way to clinching the AFC North with a halftime score of 20–14. The second half is where things got interesting. The Ravens scored on every possession they had in the third quarter totaling 17 points, while the Steelers punted on every possession they had in the same quarter. With the Ravens ahead 31–20, I felt good. I felt like momentum was on our side. Even with Ben, Bell, and Antonio having spectacular games- the momentum felt like this was going to be the Ravens night to pull off the upset.
But the momentum swung after Big Ben completed a 57-yard pass to Antonio Brown that eventually lead to a 10-yard touchdown to cut the lead to two points. The Ravens defense was defining the “bend, don’t break” play scheme up until that point so I was still hopeful they could continue. A touchdown by Buck Allen with 6:52 left in the fourth had me feeling that much more confident in a second momentum swing that would favor the Ravens. With the Ravens leading 38–29 with less than seven minutes left had me feeling pretty confident…
…until LeVeon Bell scored on a 3rd and 1 with 3:36 left. That’s when I did the math and another momentum swing took place. Even with a failed two point conversion, the Steelers would only be one more score away.
At this point, I’m starting to get worried and crossing both sets of fingers that the Ravens offense could somehow continue to play at a level none of us had seen all season: pretty well. But with 2:34 left, Joe Flacco threw an incomplete pass to Jeremy Maclin on a run/pass option play that forced the Ravens to punt. Now Big Ben & company have the ball on their own 17-yard line with 2:25 left and only need a field goal.
1st & 10. Sacked.
2nd & 19. 6-yard completed pass (out of bounds).
3rd & 13. First down pass completed.
Bend but don’t break. Just have to keep them out of field goal range.
1:08 left. 3rd & 5…
Antonio Brown breaks us. My heart sinks. Boswell kicks a 46-yard field goal to put the Steelers ahead 39–38 with 42 seconds left. There is still time left. Flacco could pull off a miracle…WHICH HE ALMOST DID! Joe buys time and flings one toward Jeremy Maclin’s way with 21 seconds left. If it was ruled a completed catch on the right sideline, Justin Tucker would have had an easy FG attempt for the win. Instead, Maclin is ruled out of bounds and our hopes of even attempting a field goal vanish.
This was a great game. Not the outcome I wanted or wished for, but it was a great game. This is the best rivalry in the NFL. Even if one team is having a “down” year, they always give their best shot. That’s all you can really hope for.
