Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens

BALTIMORE -- — For a while now, Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers have walked the fine line between success and recriminations. They remained on the right side of it Sunday, thanks to Aaron Rodgers and a couple of late replays. Rodgers threw for 284 yards and a touchdown and even ran for a TD in perhaps his best game with the Steelers, and Pittsburgh took sole possession of first place in the AFC North, holding on for a 27-22 win over the Ravens when a Baltimore touchdown with 2:43 remaining was overturned by a replay review. The Ravens (6-7) had caught Pittsburgh in the standings despite a 1-5 start, leading to the latest round of speculation — plus some chants from fans — suggesting Tomlin's 19-year tenure as Steelers coach might be nearing an end. Not so fast. “At least maybe you guys will shut the hell up for a week,” Rodgers said. The Ravens nearly rallied from an 11-point deficit in the final quarter, but a pair of big reviews went against them. With the Steelers up 27-22, a pass by Rodgers was batted into the air by C.J. Okoye before the ball disappeared into a mass of humanity, with Rodgers in the middle of it. The play was initially ruled an interception, but Rodgers very briefly had his hands on the ball before losing control, and after a review, officials determined Rodgers caught his own pass and was down by contact. The Steelers still had to punt, but the reversal cost Baltimore quite a bit of field position. Later, Isaiah Likely secured a pass from Lamar Jackson with two hands in the end zone, and both his feet came down, but as he was about to complete another step with his right foot, Joey Porter Jr. of the Steelers knocked the ball free. It was initially called a touchdown then changed to incomplete. The Ravens eventually turned the ball over on downs. To the untrained eye, Likely seemed to the control the ball longer and more persuasively than Rodgers had, but under the NFL's complicated rules about catches, the play in the end zone was not a touchdown. “The receiver controlled the ball in the air, had his right foot down, then his left foot down. The control is the first aspect of the catch. The second aspect is two feet or a body part in bounds, which he did have,” NFL Vice President of Instant Replay Mark Butterworth said. “Then the third step is an act common to the game and before he could get the third foot down, the ball was ripped out. Therefore, it was an incomplete pass.” Baltimore held defensively and then reached the Pittsburgh 30-yard line, but Jackson took a sack when the Ravens had no timeouts left, and the clock expired. Rodgers didn’t complete a pass longer than 31 yards in the whole month of November, but he had four of at least that distance Sunday, plus two more for more than 20. The first offensive play for Pittsburgh (7-6) was a 52-yard throw to DK Metcalf, which set up a 1-yard run by Rodgers that put the Steelers up 7-3. That was the 42-yard quarterback’s first rushing touchdown since the 2022 season. “That was in no way the play at all," Rodgers said. “The whole left side just caved in. I started running. I had two larger humans chasing me that I maybe was equal to or slightly faster than." As they have for several weeks now, Jackson and the Ravens sputtered offensively through most of the first half, and although there were eventually some signs of life, Baltimore is now in another precarious spot. The Ravens won five in a row after their terrible start, but now they've lost back-to-back divisional games at home to Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. The Steelers led 17-9 at halftime, and as he did in the first half, Rodgers connected for a big gain to Metcalf to start the third quarter. That 41-yard pickup led to a field goal, but Keaton Mitchell raced free for a 56-yard run for the Ravens, who made it 20-16 on Jackson’s 4-yard scoring pass to Likely. Rodgers answered with a 31-yard pass to Calvin Austin III on third down, then Jaylen Warren took a short pass 38 yards to the end zone — also on third down — for a 27-16 lead. The Ravens managed a couple of field goals but couldn't produce the late touchdown they needed. Rodgers, who played the previous weekend against Buffalo with a brace on his broken left wrist, used a soft cast Sunday and wasn’t sacked a single time by the Ravens. This was his most yards passing since joining the Steelers before this season. Jackson was intercepted in the first half by his cousin, defensive back James Pierre. A penalty on a field-goal attempt gave Pittsburgh a new set of downs, and Kenneth Gainwell's 6-yard touchdown run made it 17-3. Jackson scored on a 6-yard run just before halftime, but Tyler Loop missed the extra point. Afterward, Jackson said his level of frustration was “through the roof” — he threw for 219 yards and ran for 43. On the ground The Ravens lost despite outrushing Pittsburgh 217-34. It was the largest rushing advantage by a losing team since Jacksonville outran Indianapolis 243-45 in 2022 and lost 34-27. “They smashed us today,” Tomlin said. “I've got to give them credit.” In 2020, the Ravens outrushed the Steelers 265-48 but lost 28-24. Injuries It was a bruising afternoon typical of this rivalry. Tight end Darnell Washington and linebacker Malik Harrison left with concussions for Pittsburgh, cornerback Brandin Echols was evaluated for one and guard Andrus Peat went into the protocol as well. Mitchell left with a knee injury for Baltimore. Up next Steelers: Host Miami next Monday night. Ravens: At Cincinnati on Sunday. ------ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL