PITTSBURGH STEELERS 23, BALTIMORE RAVENS 20
December 27, 2009
Sunday’s game presented the Ravens with numerous chances to pull ahead and exit Pittsburgh with a win. But they did all the little things wrong, repeatedly committing mistakes that breathed fresh life into the Steelers chances for victory.
After the loss, Ravens players and coaches seemed anxious to explain-away the miscues and move onto next week’s contest in Oakland, where they will need to secure a win to sneak into the playoffs.
Afterwards, coach John Harbaugh explained it this way to the assembled media, “You guys can go to penalties if you want, you can put your finger at whatever you want. We’re going to play our hearts out every single week…. You make plays, they make plays, it goes back and forth…that’s what we do, we fight our hearts out, we came up a little short.”
These Ravens have proven they are not short on the talent or effort needed to secure easy wins over weaker opponents, while also trading punches with better teams. The talent and effort are there, but so too is an immaturity that has lead to mental and physical collapses throughout the year, the kind of mistakes that turn would-be wins into close losses against better teams.
How close were the Ravens to taking care of business in Pittsburgh and cementing a playoff berth? Picture Ben Roethlisberger dropping back to pass. You’ve seen it dozens of times, with Ravens rushers converging on the big quarterback, flailing at his shirttail. That’s when time seems to stand still and Roethlisberger slips away to heave an awkward pass into the waiting arms of a free-running receiver. For the Ravens, this picture of near-success turned disaster is a metaphor for their entire game Sunday. Near-success slipped away from them.
You could point to Ray Rice fumbling away the football one play after his team recovered a turnover on the Steelers’ 30. You could point to the Ravens pinning the Steelers inside their own five as the second half was winding to a close, only to see Terrell Suggs drop an interception. Or the very next play, where Suggs jumped off sides, freeing Roethlisberger to loft a jump ball completion to Mike Wallace at midfield, despite Frank Walker draped over him. Or maybe it was Suggs, again, with a block in the back to erase a Domonique Foxworth interception return to the end zone.
Do these blunders come back to John Harbaugh and his inability to instill discipline in the NFL’s most penalized team, including eleven citations for 113 yards Sunday? Or do you hold players like Suggs accountable, and ask how a man with a new $63 million contract can perform so haphazardly with the game on the line?
Do you point to Derrick Mason failing to focus as he dropped an easy would-be touchdown? Or fellow receiver Kelley Washington’s holding call that erased a 32-yard touchdown run by Willis McGahee? Do you ask how a veteran like Matt Birk could get flagged for being three yards downfield on a pass play? Or ask how Frank Walker cannot avoid illegal contact calls downfield?
Wherever you place the blame in diagnosing this loss, it’s clear the Ravens have one more chance to get it right or spend an entire offseason wondering ‘what-if.’ They have one more regular season game remaining to erase the mistakes and come away with a win to sneak into the playoffs.
Quarterback: B
Early on Joe Flacco looked a little jittery against the Steelers pass rush. But after a couple completions he seemed to settle down and was very accurate, particularly in the second half. He also exhibited smart decision-making, throwing the ball away or taking four sacks rather than forcing interceptions. A combination of maximum protection schemes and Steelers game planning took away the dump-off throws to his backs, but Flacco still managed to pick on a weak Steelers secondary for 166 yards through the air. His best throws were two touchdowns to Todd Heap on precisely located tosses. Flacco made the best of his chances despite a lack of support at times.
Running Backs: B+
Ray Rice had thirty carries for 141 yards against the NFL’s best run defense. With the Steelers packing the line of scrimmage, Rice was often able to break into the second level to earn nearly five yards a carry. His best efforts were breaking a Lawrence Timmons tackle on cut-back run for sixteen yards or bulldozing defensive backs, like Ryan Clark, for extra yards. However he had a critical fumble as James Harrison was wrapping him up, and also had a poor block in the backfield to force Flacco to throw early and low to Demetrius Williams on a comeback route. Le’Ron McClain was dependable in short yardage and was a better blocker at the point of attack this week. Willis McGahee made the most of his two chances and he had a TD called back on Washington’s holding penalty.
Wide Receivers: C
Derrick Mason consistently got separation from Steelers defenders. It led to seven catches and 77 yards, but he was targeted 13 times and had some critical misses, including the dropped touchdown and a slip on a comeback route. He also fumbled on a catch that was curiously ruled an incompletion. Kelley Washington made a remarkable adjustment and catch on the back shoulder on a route where he had turned in for the ball. But he was also flagged for the holding call that erased the McGahee touchdown. Washington and Demetrius Williams were largely invisible for most of the afternoon.
Tight Ends: B
Todd Heap made the most of three balls thrown his way, with two catches for touchdowns. That included an aggressive leap over Deshea Townsend at the goal line and pulling down another touchdown over the shorter William Gay.
Tackles: D
With Jared Gaither out again this week, the Ravens struggled to protect their quarterback, particularly Oniel Cousins who was bull rushed by LaMarr Woodley to force Flacco to throw a fluttering interception. Later in the game Woodley spun Cousins to sack Flacco and knock the Ravens out of field goal range. He was also badly beaten on outside rush by Harrison, causing Flacco to spin and throw the ball away to avoid a fifth sack. He was flagged early for a false start on a move that Michael Oher has gotten away with all year, but was clearly in the wrong on a late hit call that erased the chance to kick a game tying field goal in the fourth. As a run blocker Cousins continues to excel, particularly in tackle-over, unbalanced sets, as typified by a devastating block on James Farrior. Similarly, Michael Oher dominated Brett Keisel at the line of scrimmage as a run blocker. But he was less effective in protection, especially later in the game, to allow Ziggy Hood to push him back into pocket for a sack. When Cousins went out with an injury, Tony Moll entered the game and withstood a couple blitzes designed to take advantage of his back-up status.
Interior Line: B
Marshal Yanda was so good in his role as a pulling guard that coordinator Cam Cameron called the same unbalanced-left, run-left, play six times in a single third-quarter touchdown drive with a pulling Yanda leading the way. There were also numerous rushes to the right behind Yanda as well. Yanda was flagged once for holding, however. As a unit, the interior of the Ravens line was getting excellent push against the vaunted Steelers front and provided excellent protection for Flacco on the two Heap touchdowns. Birk did have a mental lapse by wandering downfield on a pass.
Cornerbacks: B-
With injuries in the secondary, the Ravens turned to Frank Walker and Chris Carr who, along with Domonique Foxworth turned in decent performances in trying conditions. Considering the fact that Roethlisberger was coming off a 500+ yard passing day against an excellent Packers defense, the performance was all the more remarkable. There were few instances where the corners failed to close quickly for tackles or provide tight coverage. While Carr was often in position, he was at times slow reacting to the ball in the air, and it cost him a pass interference flag on a throw to Hines Ward near the goal line. However Carr did lead the team in tackles and picked up a sack assist to go with a forced fumble. Similarly, Frank Walker was an active tackler an generally good in coverage, with no passes thrown his way for an official-defend; he often forced Roethlisberger to check down his throws. But he was also flagged for the critical Illegal Contact foul on Wallace on a third and eleven throw intercepted by Tom Zbikowski. Foxworth made a aggressive move to snag an interception, but also missed a one on one tackle to spring Santonio Holmes for a long gain.
Safeties: C
The Steelers were able to pick on Dawan Landry’s coverage skills in this game. He was a little soft in coverage of Ward and Holmes across the middle, and simply fell down when the Ravens were caught in a blitz. He also nearly blew the chance for the Ravens to recover a fumble that was eventually pounced on by Ray Lewis. Tom Zbikowski was not terrific in coverage, and did allow Holmes to run past him for a touchdown while also getting flagged for a facemask.
Linebackers: C-
Ray Lewis and Dannell Ellerbe were active against the run, but were actually only in on five combined tackles between the two of them. Ellerbe had some notable misses, engaging blockers rather then finding the ball, missing a free run at the quarterback and getting wiped out on a sweep by Max Starks. Both inside linebackers were ineffective in coverage, and Ellerbe was flagged for illegal contact on Heath Miller. Jarrett Johnson was largely invisible and did not show up on the stat sheet; Antwan Barnes was an effective rusher who gave Willie Colon fits but he also missed a tackle in the backfield.
Defensive Line: B
The defensive line was very active, contributing to the team’s four sacks and five quarterback hits. They held the Steelers to 48 yards rushing on 23 attempts, often not needing help from the linebackers to control the line of scrimmage. Kelly Gregg and Haloti Ngata were dominant at times, particularly Ngata, including four run stuffs for the two defensive tackles. Suggs, Trevor Pryce and Dwan Edwards were effective in getting into the backfield from the outside, but less effective getting to Roethlisberger. Pryce did beat center Justin Hartwick up the middle for a sack.
Special Teams: D
Jalen Parmele was up this week for Lardarius Webb on kick returns. He started tentatively but got better as the game wore on including a return across midfield late in the game to give his team a chance to tie or take the lead. Matt Katula again showed signs of struggling with snaps, including a high punt snap that led to a Sam Koch punt of just twenty yards. The coverage team was very weak and allowed Steelers Stefan Logan to give his team excellent field position repeatedly. Each of the Steelers first four, and six of their total returns were brought out past their own 25. Haloti Ngata was flagged for a dumb late hit out of bounds on a punt return. Billy Cundiff was perfect in his two field goal tries.
Coaching: C+
With the penalties piling up, many pundits are quick to point to Coach Harbaugh and place the blame squarely on his shoulders. In assessing the coaching performance I cannot go along with this scapegoating of the head coach entirely. When the team melted down in Green Bay with 12 flags Harbaugh put it this way: "It’s not discipline, that word just rankles me because it’s just too easy. It’s not what it is. It’s the way you play the technique.” It’s his way of saying overmatched or under experienced players will make mistakes, and thanks to a slew of injuries to starters, many of the Ravens penalties come from the same cast of characters just trying to compete, perhaps beyond their abilities. It’s also noteworthy that six of the NFL’s top eight most-penalized teams are playoff contenders (Baltimore, Green Bay, Philadelphia, Dallas, Cincinnati, Arizona) that include some good coaching staffs. That said, when good players like Suggs or Ngata are flagged repeatedly throughout the year for overly aggressive play, you can question whether coaching points were missed.
To its credit, the Ravens coaching staff has noticeably made adjustments to try to help the weakened offensive line, wide receivers and the secondary compete, with mixed results. They have found ways to play to their own strengths and hide weaknesses on both sides of the ball. It was interesting to see Le’Ron McClain flanked out to help open up the middle of the Steelers defense. The offense plays more effectively when they can get in an out of the huddle quickly. The coaches abandoned that, and the running game, too soon in the fourth quarter. And they need to do a better job of managing their timeouts on offense. Finally, on defense too many blitz packages result in an ineffective pile-up of players in one area of the field.
Officiating: D
Pete Morelli’s crew started the game strong, making all the right calls. But the worst thing you can say about an officiating crew is that they are inconsistent. And this crew seemed to apply a completely different set of standards in the fourth quarter, with the game on the line. Perhaps they choked as the home crowd upped the intensity level.
Early in the game, when Antwan Barnes was absolutely tackled by Willie Colon en route to the passer and holding was not called, that’s fine, if that’s the way a crew is going to call the game. But late in the game when Kelley Washington is flagged for holding on a downfield block that every wide receiver in the league employs, it calls the officiating consistency into question. When Ryan Mundy arm-barred Todd Heap on a throw to the end zone, and it was not called, that’s okay if the whole game is called that loosely. After all, Domonique Foxworth was allowed a small shove en route to his interception, and that was not called. But then late in the game, Frank Walker was flagged for illegal contact on a play where Mike Wallace initiated the contact, so you have to question the ruling. The rule states, “Beyond the five-yard zone, incidental contact may exist between receiver and defender as long as it does not materially affect or significantly impede the receiver, creating a distinct advantage.” Furthermore, it was not clear that Roethlisberger was still in the pocket at the time, as is necessary for that call to be made. Other misses for this crew were Heap’s touchdown ruling where he was down by contact short of the goal, and a call for illegal formation, claiming five Ravens in the backfield when Mason was correctly on the line, and he was the fourth man, regardless.
Broadcast: C
Dick Enberg provided his typical menagerie of small errors as he fumbled to keep the CBS promotional announcements flowing in between on-field action. Some of his gems included a claim that the Ravens rushed four on one play when they had showed eight and rushed six. He informed us that the, “Ravors held” on a play. He also praised Kelly Gregg for a Haloti Ngata sack. He quickly discounted a Le’Ron McClain run with, “that play did nothing; they blew out the candles on McClain,” missing the fact that it was enough for a first down run. Later Enberg claimed a Cundiff kick barely squeaked in, when in fact it was inside the upright by ten feet. And finally, he credited the Steelers with “great blocking up front” on a play where Antawn Barnes ran untouched into the backfield and simply missing a tackle. The CBS crew was slow to get out of their graphics packages at the snap of the ball and replays of some critical situations were never aired.
