There are no moral victories in the NFL.
Despite losing to the Steelers 19-14 in Week 12, the Ravens had to feel proud on the flight home to Baltimore.
“Honestly, we’re disappointed that we didn’t win this game, but we fought,” special teams ace Anthony Levine said. “That’s a good football team over there, and we respect them, but they respect us, too. We fought, and we gave them everything that we had. It came down to a couple of plays here and there, but at the end of the day, we fought like Ravens do. We can walk out of here with our heads held high.”
The Ravens’ roster was decimated and they were missing 16 players because of COVID-19 issues, including quarterback and reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson, tight end Mark Andrews, wide receiver Willie Snead, centers Matt Skura and Patrick Mekari, outside linebackers Matthew Judon and Pernell McPhee, and defensive linemen Calais Campbell.
Prior to the game, Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt, who was also on the reserve/COVID-19 list, tweeted: “Good luck to the boys today. Pad the stats – should be an easy one.”
https://twitter.com/DOCnation_7/status/1334206510679928836?s=20
The Ravens made Tuitt eat his words.
After third-string quarterback Trace McSorley threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Hollywood Brown that closed the margin to 19-14 with 2:58 remaining, the Ravens were on the verge of an upset.
“We had to deal with the whole COVID-19 thing and all of that, and then we never knew what was coming, so it was just being ready to go at any time,” McSorley said. “Whether it was jumping into a meeting or getting to the field house once we were finally cleared, so we just had to always be ready these past couple of days.
“We didn’t really know what was going on, but you just take the punches and roll with them the past couple of days, and then finally got cleared two days before the game to come in. Tough situation, but I wish we were able to win the game, and it would have been a great story. We were just handling the ups and downs and being ready for whatever came.”
However, the depleted defense that had played so well throughout the game, was just too worn down to make another key stop and the Steelers prevailed.
The Ravens fell to 6-5 on the season, but it was the type of performance that could provide a spark over the final stretch of the season.
The schedule works in Baltimore’s favor with only one game against a winning team — the Cleveland Browns (8-3) — over the final stretch of the year.
The Ravens should be close to full strength for the next game against Dallas on Tuesday night.
Pittsburgh managed to sweep the Ravens, but both games could have easily gone either way.
In a 28-24 loss in Week, Jackson had four turnovers, including a pick-six, that were the difference in the game. If he managed to avoid just one of those miscues, the game could have easily worked in Baltimore’s favor.
In the most recent setback, backup quarterback Robert Griffin III also threw an early pick-six that also wound up being a key difference in the game. The Ravens marched down to the red zone in the closing seconds of the first half, but the Steelers appeared to sit on the ball after a short run and should have been flagged for delay of game. On the next play, tight end Luke Willson could not hold onto a pass in the end zone and the Steelers led 12-7 at the half.
That also was a key sequence that helped decide the final score.
The short-handed Ravens showed more heart than perhaps any time this season.
Ideally, the players who were sidelined show the same type of effort moving forward.
If they do, the Ravens could become a dangerous team once again.
“There’s a lot of fight in this team,” left guard Bradley Bozeman said. “This team is fighters. They came in, they came into the fight, they were ready to roll. We’re going to get a lot of guys healthy back. We’re going to just build from here. This is just the beginning. So, we’re ready to work.”
