Week 12 Game Recap: Pittsburgh Steelers 0, Baltimore Ravens 27

What you need to know

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers were overmatched in every phase of the game, beginning with their ability to protect their key players, namely QB Ben Roethlisberger and RB Willie Parker. The Ravens blitzed both the run and the pass relentlessly from all and every angles, leaving the Steelers offensive befuddled. The team gained its fewest first half yards (36) since Sept. 1994 and fewest rushing yards in a game (21) since 1982. Pittsburgh was forced to punt seven out of its first nine possessions through three quarters, with one of them ending the half while taking a knee, the other a fumble.

QB Ben Roethlisberger didn’t stand a chance. He was sacked nine times, and coughed up another three turnovers, a sack/fumble in the third quarter that resulted in a Baltimore touchdown and two late interceptions in the fourth quarter. At the end of the day he still managed 214 passing yards but he paid the price for it. On the team’s third sack allowed, he seemed to suffer a minor chest injury and sat out the rest of the series. He returned for the second half and was dumped six more times while throwing for 174 second half yards on 16 completions and 30 attempts.

Even more troubling was the non-existent running game. RB Willie Parker had just ten carries all game, six for 15 yards in the first half and four for seven yards in the second half. On what few carries he did have, he had a long gain of 12 and averaged 1.1 yards per carry on his remaining nine attempts.

WR Hines Ward was able to play this game despite struggling with a knee injury he sustained in Week 11 and tied the team high with four receptions. But he was held out of the fourth quarter when he aggravated his injury. Receivers Cedrick Wilson and Nate Washington also had four receptions and 49 yards each.

Not only did Pittsburgh lose the game, but the team may have lost S Troy Polamalu for an extended period of time with sprained MCL to his left knee. No surgery will be required, but he is expected to miss at least two games. The Steelers defense meanwhile only gave up 275 total yards, but they were overmatched and bullied by the Ravens running attack, and picked apart for short to medium gains in the passing game. CB Ike Taylor was benched in favor of CB Brant McFadden.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens were firing on all cylinders led by their defense, which held the Steelers to 36 first half yards, 85 through three quarters and 174 for the game. They sacked QB Ben Roethlisberger nine times, forced three turnovers and scored the game clinching touchdown on a 57 yard fumble return by LB Adalius Thomas in the third quarter. They held Pittsburgh to 21 rushing yards and stopped the Steelers 11 out of 12 times on third downs.

Their blitz packages were confusing to Pittsburgh, and the Steelers were often short handed in trying to stave off the disguised player(s) rushing the quarterback. Defensive leaders included LB Terrell Suggs with six tackles and two sacks, LB Bart Scott with 1.5 sacks and an interceptions, DE Trevor Price with two sacks and a force fumble, and reserve CB Corey Ivy had a sack, forced fumble and an interception.

The defense’s performance made for an early afternoon for RB Jamal Lewis and QB Steve McNair, who both sat out the fourth quarter while nursing a 24-0 lead. Lewis (66 yards on 17 carries) ran with purpose, not once taking a shortcut to his destination and chose to run over several defenders instead of trying to sidestep them. He scored a one yard touchdown in the second quarter.

McNair (18-of-24) passed for a modest 140 yards, opting for many short to medium sideline or flat passes, while methodically engineering three first half scoring drives. He hit TE Todd Heap on a well executed stop and go for a 20 yard touchdown pass in the first quarter for the games first score.

Heap led all receivers with seven receptions and 58 yards, most of which was done underneath coverage for small or marginal gains. WR Derek Mason (4-43) and WR Mark Clayton (2-31) worked the sidelines exclusively to keep the Steelers defense off balance. Nine different Ravens caught passes during the game.

What you ought to know

QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pass: 21 - 41 - 214 - 0 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 1 - -1 - 0

Roethlisberger was overwhelmed, through no fault of his own. He rarely had any time to get set in the pocket, and had even less time to improvise once the pocket collapsed around him. He was sacked three times in the first half and served as the Ravens’ whipping boy another six times in the second half. On the third sack, he was the victim of a thunderous blow by LB Bart Scott, who hit him flush in the chest and drove him into the ground. Roethlisberger remained down for several minutes, but jogged off the field after regaining his wits. He returned to take a knee before halftime and salvaged his stats with 214 passing yards, 174 in the second half, despite throwing for two late game interceptions. He was also the victim of at least five dropped passes, including one for a touchdown.

QB Charlie Batch, Pass: 1 - 1 - 10 - 0 TD / 0 INT

Batch came in for one play when QB Ben Roethlisberger was knocked out of the game briefly. He completed a screen pass to RB Willie Parker for ten yards on third and 17.

RB Willie Parker, Rush: 10 - 22 - 0, Rec: 2 - 15 - 0 (3 targets)

Parker rushed six times in the first quarter and finished with the same number of carries at the end of the half. He only had four second half carries and gained 22 yards in all. Parker was no match for the speed of the Ravens’ defense, who had all the angles covered in preventing Parker from breaking off a big gain. Parker continues to struggle on the road, averaging just over 45 yards a game rushing away from Heinz Field. Parker added two receptions for 15 yards, and also dropped a low screen pass that rolled off his arm while backpedaling.

RB Najeh Davenport, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (3 targets)

Davenport did not register a carry and only caught one pass, a screen, for ten yards. He dropped a screen pass on the opening drive and muffed a kickoff, but scooped it up to avoid the turnover. He was also the target of QB Ben Roethlisberger’s second interception, but was unaware of the approaching pass and broke off his pattern, allowing CB Corey Ivy to intercept the screen pass. Davenport had 60 yards on four kick returns.

RB Dan Kreider, Rec: 1 - 2 - 0 (1 targets)

Kreider caught a pass in the flat on the game’s first play.

WR Hines Ward, Rec: 4 - 33 - 0 (7 targets)

Ward suited up after being listed as questionable all week with a sore knee. He may have done more harm than good when he did not play the fourth quarter due to aggravating his injury. When he did play, he continued to make the tough catches, including a sliding grab on a slant pattern. The low pass, however, prevented him from gaining the necessary yards for a first down on third and 20. Ward was not able to hang onto two catchable balls and drew a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

WR Cedrick Wilson, Rec: 4 - 49 - 0 (8 targets)

Wilson collected four passes for 49 yards, all in the fourth quarter during the hurry up offense, with a long gain of 18 over the middle. He was targeted six times in the final quarter including once on a deep ball in the end zone, but the pass sailed out of bounds and incomplete.

WR Nate Washington, Rec: 4 - 49 - 0 (8 targets)

Washington had the Steelers’ long play of the day, catching a 27 yard pass over the middle and hung on after receiving a crunching blow. He was not, however, able to hang onto a pass in the end zone that he bobbled right off his fingers or another pass during the two minute drill in the fourth quarter.

WR Santonio Holmes, Rec: 3 - 31 - 0 (7 targets)

Holmes was shutout through three plus quarters before collecting three passes and 31 yards on the team’s final offensive drive. Holmes line up at flanker after WR Hines Ward left the game with a knee injury. He dropped an easy slant very late in the game and had an uneventful day returning punts, gaining 32 yards on three returns.

TE Heath Miller, Rec: 3 - 35 - 0 (6 targets)

Miller had three passes for 35 yards with a long of 16 yards. He continues to play a minor role in the Steelers' offense, despite their tendencies to throw more often lately.

PK Jeff Reed 0 - 0 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 0 points

Reed was not given an opportunity to kick any field goals or extra points.

PIT Rush Defense

The Steelers were manhandled by RB Jamal Lewis and company often times seeing the Pittsburgh defenders lying on their backs after attempting to tackle Lewis. CB Bryant McFadden and LB Larry Foote had nine and eight tackles respectively.

PIT Pass Defense

With the Ravens controlling the clock, the Steelers’ secondary wasn’t called upon to make stops downfield very often. But they failed to do so in their only chance, when Deshea Townsend bit on a pump fake and left TE Todd Heap alone in the back right corner of the end zone. CB Ike Taylor was replaced by CB Byrant McFadden before kickoff, and SS Troy Polamalu will likely miss two weeks with a sprained MCL. No other information on his injury was made available.

QB Steve McNair, Pass: 18 - 24 - 140 - 1 TD / 0 INT

With five weeks into the HC Brian Billick serving as OC, McNair improved to 5-0, though this time he didn’t have to pull out any late game heroics. He led the Ravens to three scoring drives in the first half to help build a 17-0 lead at the break. McNair opened Baltimore’s first drive by hitting WR Derek Mason twice and WR Mark Clayton along the sidelines for 31 combined yards and closed it with a well-executed pump fake to TE Todd Heap, who caught McNair’s rainbow in the back of the end zone. McNair only attempted seven second half passes before taking a back seat to QB Kyle Boeller after three quarters and a 24-0 Ravens’ lead.

QB Kyle Boller, Pass: 3 - 3 - 21 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - -3 - 0

Boller entered the game in the fourth quarter to mop up for QB Steve McNair. Boller got some light work in, completing all three of his pass attempts for 21 yards.

RB Jamal Lewis, Rush: 17 - 66 - 1, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (1 targets)

Lewis looked like the Lewis of old. Powerful. He routinely broke tackles by stepping or spinning out of grasp, or in some cases just running right over the defenders (LB Joey Porter, S Ryan Clark and CB Bryant McFadden). Lewis gained 61 of his 66 rushing yards in the first half, including 21 of them on the Ravens second touchdown drive, which was capped by a Lewis 1 yard plunge. He also had one reception for four yards. Like QB Steve McNair, Lewis also sat out the entire fourth quarter as the team had a commanding 24-0 lead.

RB Musa Smith, Rush: 7 - 12 - 0, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (2 targets)

Smith saw much of his action during the fourth quarter and he gained 12 yards on seven carries, along with four yards on one reception.

RB Mike Anderson, Rush: 4 - 18 - 0, Rec: 2 - 1 - 0 (2 targets)

Anderson saw limited playing time and had 18 rushing yards on four carries, along with two receptions for one yard.

RB Ovie Mughelli, Rush: 4 - 21 - 0, Rec: 1 - 11 - 0 (2 targets)

Mughelli received two inside handoffs for 13 yards on the Ravens’ second touchdown drive, to set up RB Jamal Lewis at the one yard line. His four carries were his first of the season and his career. He also caught a pass for 11 yards.

RB Justin Green, Rec: 1 - 2 - 0 (1 targets)

Green caught his fourth pass of the season for two yards in the second quarter to help set up a Matt Stover field goal.

WR Derrick Mason, Rec: 5 - 43 - 0 (7 targets)

Mason was once again a reliable target for QB Steve McNair, catching five passes for 43 yards, none longer than 11 yards. He caught two on the Ravens’ opening scoring drive. He exploited young CB Bryant McFadden underneath along the sidelines catching several short out passes, four of which went for first downs. It was his seventh game with at least four receptions this season.

WR Mark Clayton, Rec: 2 - 31 - 0 (3 targets)

Clayton has had the hot hand lately, but cooled off with just two receptions. His long of 18 came on the opening drive on a deep out pattern to put Baltimore near the red zone. TE Todd Heap scored two plays later. Clayton also caught a 13 yards pass to help set up RB Jamal Lewis’ touchdown run in the second quarter.

WR Demetrius Williams, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (4 targets)

Williams had just one catch for seven yards. He also had a four yard screen pass called back on a holding penalty, and had another pass graze off his finger tips that would have been good for 20 yards had it not been thrown high.

TE Todd Heap, Rec: 7 - 58 - 1 (7 targets)

Heap’s string of at least three receptions a game this season continued as the big target hauled in seven passes for a game high 58 receiving yards. His first set the tone of the game when he and QB Steve McNair got CB Deshea Townsend to bite on a pump fake, allowing Heap to coast all alone to the end zone, where the McNair pass awaited him for the opening 20 yard touchdown pass/catch. His other six receptions averaged just 6.33 yards a pop.

PK Matt Stover 2 - 2 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 9 points

Stover was true from 37 yards to end the first half and from 40 yards in the fourth quarter. He converted all three of his extra points.

BAL Rush Defense

The Ravens’ quick scores in the first half pushed Pittsburgh into abandoning the run for nearly the entire final three quarters, leaving Baltimore with very little to worry about with respect to stopping the run. They allowed just 21 yards on the ground on only 11 carries. They allowed one run for 12 yards to RB Willie Parker, leaving the remaining 10 yards to be picked up on nine carries.

BAL Pass Defense

With the Steelers opting to try and pass their way back into the game, down 7, 14 and 17-0 during the first half, the Ravens played them one-dimensionally, and made it very difficult for Pittsburgh to find any kind of rhythm. Baltimore bruised and battered QB Ben Roethlisberger, sacking him nine times and forcing three second half turnovers; Interceptions by CB Corey Ivy and LB Bart Scott and a forced fumble by Ivy, which was recovered by LB Adalius Thomas and returned 57 yards for a touchdown.

Seven different Ravens were credited with a sack, while DE Trevor Pryce and LB Terrell Suggs led the way with two each. Scott also had 1.5 sacks, including the thunderous hit on QB Ben Roethlisberger that temporarily knocked him out of the game. The Ravens gave up 86 of Pittsburgh’s 87 meaningless fourth quarter yards through the air.