It was the last game of Week 18, the final weekend of the regular season. Because of that, it cannot be defined as a playoff game.
But it did have the trappings of a playoff game. Winner-take all, with the victor advancing to single-elimination and the loser sent home to ponder the start of their 8-month offseason.
Added to those stakes – the combatants have been brawling at least twice a season for 30 years, and each one has left a mark. Typically on their bodies, but occasionally psychologically, too. Steelers-Ravens is way more than just another of the 272 that make up an NFL regular season. It's an event. Tickets are at a premium, and the broadcast ratings produce boffo numbers.
That's what was happening on Sunday night inside Acrisure Stadium, and for 3 hours and 12 minutes it was violent and dramatic. There were snippets when one team or the other looked like it didn't belong, and just as many when one team or the other looked like a legitimate contender. There were heroes and goats. And it was suspenseful for 60 minutes.
The Steelers won, 26-24, to clinch the 25th Division Championship in franchise history – 15 AFC Central titles and 10 AFC North titles – and by virtue of that they will host the 12-5 Houston Texans in a Wild Card Round Game at 8:15 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 12, to be televised by ESPN/ABC.
Because so many of previous 39 of these matchups pitting Mike Tomlin vs. John Harbaugh were one-score games, it was no surprise when the 40th followed suit, even coming down to a field goal. But this time it was a missed field goal.
When rookie Tyler Loop, who came into the game having gone 7-for-7 from 40-49 yards and 29-for-32 (90.1 percent) overall, missed a 44-yarder badly to the right with 2 seconds remaining, it joined Mike Vanderjaht's 46-yard slice to the right with 17 seconds left in the 2005 AFC Divisional Round in Indianapolis as the most famous missed field goals in Steelers history.
But that's jumping to the last page of the thriller. Gotta start at the beginning to get a feel for how the drama built to that defining moment.
After the Steelers deferred, the Ravens took the opening kickoff and went 85 yards in 8 plays for a touchdown to take a quick 7-0 lead. On the game's first snap, Derrick Henry escaped to the right and sprinted 47 yards down the sideline, and even though 15 of those yards were given back on a penalty for a blindside block, a Ravens running game that had averaging 212 over the previous 4 meetings landed the first punch. Then when the touchdown came on a 38-yard pass to Devontez Walker in Lamar Jackson's first game back from a back injury also looked bad for the Steelers.
As the first quarter ended, the Ravens held statistical edges in first downs, 6-2; total net yards, 125-21; offensive plays, 18-11; average gain per play, 6.9-1.9; rushing yards, 88-3; and time of possession, 10:15-4:46. Three plays the second quarter, Loop hit from 40 to put the Ravens ahead, 10-0.
It's a good fight when punches are exchanged, and the Steelers offense battled off the ropes. Aaron Rodgers converted a third-and-7 with a 12-yard pass to Kenneth Gainwell; Jaylen Warren turned a short pass into a 17-yard gain. Three plays later, Chris Boswell had plenty of leg on a 57-yard field goal to make it 10-3.
That's the way the first half ended, but it wasn't boring getting there.
The Ravens 2 possessions ended with a three-and-out and a four-and-out, but when one of those 4 was a 21-yard burst up the middle by Henry, Baltimore's likelihood of using their running game as a sledgehammer increased.
But after a three-and-out, the Steelers started moving the ball on their next possession from their 9-yard line. A 15-yard run by Warren, and then Rodgers converted a third-and-9 with a 20-yard scramble. He followed with completions to Adam Thielen for 7 yards, to Gainwell for 11, to Austin for 13, to Gainwell again for 8, and to Marquez Valdes-Scantling for 7 and a first down at the Ravens 9-yard line.
Adding to the drama was that the Steelers had used all 3 timeouts, and there was 11 seconds left in the half. On third down with 7 seconds left, a pass interference penalty gave the Steelers a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Instead of settling for 3, a flip play to Gainwell had no chance because the Ravens got two defenders into the backfield cleanly.
The second half continued the punch-counterpunch theme. The Steelers took the second half kickoff and answered that turnover on downs with a 12-play, 67-yard touchdown drive. Rodgers completed 3-of-5 and Warren had 21 yards on 3 touches to make it third-and-1 from the Ravens 2-yard line.
This time the Steelers would not be denied. Two straight tush-pushes by Connor Heyward being pushed by Cam crammed the ball into the end zone for a 10-10 tie.
The defense was getting Henry under control, and followed with the game's only takeaway. Alex Highsmith got a hand on Jackson's attempt on a third-and-10, and Watt's hand-eye coordination made it an interception at Baltimore's 26-yard line. The Steelers settled for a 25-yard field goal, but the lead that felt like more than 13-10.
But the Ravens answered with a 50-yard touchdown on a third-and-4 when Jackson first escaped a sack and then hit a wide open Zay Flowers. The Ravens were back on top, 17-13, and there was 8:42 for the Steelers to do or die.
It was for situations like this in games like this that the Steelers and Rodgers became business partners. Rodgers wanted the chance again on this kind of stage, and with 8:42 left and trailing, 17-13, to a rival that was a preseason Super Bowl favorite for a spot in the playoffs, he had it.
A 7-yard completion to Valdes-Scantling, and then Rodgers hustled the offense to the line and Warren ran for 15. On third-and-8, he delivered a perfect ball down the middle to Freiermuth for 31 yards to the Baltimore 5-yard line. On third-and-goal from the 2, Troy Fautanu moved Trenton Simpson out of the way for Gainwell to get into the end zone.
That lead lasted exactly three plays, because Jackson again executed the find-a-wide-open Flowers play and this time it worked for a 64-yard touchdown and a 24-20 Ravens lead with 2:20 left in the Steelers season.
"Good plays by them, negligence by us," said Tomlin about the 2 chunk-play touchdowns. "On the first one I thought we had Lamar in the backfield. He came out of it … I think two men had him … and so you just respect that component of his game. We probably overplayed the short yardage situation on the second one, but you just have to compliment him for the talent and competitor that he is. He fought tooth and nail to lead his team to victory and you've got to respect that."
These stakes enflame Rodgers' competitive fire, and needing to go 65 yards for a touchdown with 2:20 and no timeouts, he lived up to his reputation.
It started with a 16-yard completion to Austin. Two-minute warning. A pass to Thielen for 8 and another to Gainwell for 15 made it first-and-10 at the Ravens 26-yard line. Tick … tick… tick … Two incompletions set up a third-and-10, still at the 26-yard line.
"Calvin is the sweetest guy," said Rodgers after the game. "Ever since the Malibu trip in the offseason, I have such a love and appreciation for Cal and his disposition. Multiple times in the huddle I'm asking him on various plays, 'What do you want on the backside, what do you want on the backside?' He wouldn't give me a straight answer.
"And in this particular huddle conversation I said, 'What do you want, Cal?' And somebody to my right – I don't know if it was Mason McCormick or Pat Freiermuth said, 'Just go cook 'em' or something like that. I said, 'All right, Cal, you run a hitch-and-go back there.' I was really thinking (something else to the right) … I peeked back to the left and saw (CB Chidobe Awuzie) slip, and that's a gimme touchdown. I'm proud of Calvin, and the line really gave me a lot of time all day. They played really well."
Acrisure was rocking, but then an underlying groan when Keondre Jackson got a hand on Boswell's PAT. Instead of the "comfort" of a 3-point lead, it was the more precarious 26-24.
That special teams error was compounded when Keaton Mitchell returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards to the 47-yard line. The Ravens had 47 seconds and three timeouts, and a field goal wins them the AFC North.
On fourth-and-7, Jackson found a wide open Isaiah Likely for a 26-yard gain to the 24-yard line. From there it would be about a 42-yard field goal, but Jackson took a knee to put the ball in the middle of the field, and the Ravens took their final timeout with 2 seconds left.
When Loop took the field, his spot was at the 34-yard line. A 44-yard kick straight on. Snap. Hold. Kick.
Pandemonium. Not as loud as the reaction to Troy Polamalu's 40-yard pick-6 in the fourth quarter of the 2008 AFC Championship Game, but loud. Next Monday night brings a playoff game that's an official playoff game.
"Guys had a great week this week, and I think they put that on display," said Tomlin. "We supported one another. Certainly wasn't easy. Defense supported offense when offense needed to be supported. Offense supported defense when defense needed to be supported. That's team. We are AFC North Champions. That sounds good, and it feels good. But we didn't come here for that. We came here for what lies ahead, and we're excited about that. Thankful."
Actually, all those of us who got to watch are thankful.
