Field Goals, Luck and OT Keep Steelers Playoff Hopes Alive in Week 18

Coming into Week 18 of the regular NFL season, the Steelers were on the outside looking in on the playoffs and had to win against the Baltimore Ravens, as a tie would eliminate both teams.

That was not all.  The Jacksonville Jaguars had to beat the Indianapolis Colts and the Las Vegas Raiders could not tie against the Los Angeles Chargers.

With a lot of “stuff” needing to happen, the chances of the Black and Gold making the playoffs were very slim to none, but they managed to pull it off and pull out a crucial win against the Ravens, on the road, in overtime. The game’s final score was 16 – 13.  The Steelers’ Chris Boswell kicked the field goal which won them the game with only a minute left in OT.

The first half of the game was very slow and didn’t have much scoring taking place. Possession went back and forth between each team and there were only six points scored, a field goal by each team, making it a tie game going into halftime.

Once halftime was over, the Ravens scored a touchdown and took the lead 10-3.  A few minutes later, the Black and Gold was able to get into field goal range and Boswell was able to make his second score of the game. This shortened the score gap to 10-6.

Late in the 4th quarter, with just under three minutes left, Steelers Quarterback, Ben Roethlishberger, threw a quick short pass to Chase Claypool and the wide receiver took the ball to score, which gave the team a three-point lead. The Ravens quickly responded with a field goal which ended regulation in a tie, sending the game into overtime.

Overtime went all the way down to the two-minute warning. Both teams had a chance to score, but the Steelers were able capitalize. Boswell kicked his third field goal of the game which took the team to a victory, 16-13.

Steelers head coach, Mike Tomlin, said in his post game interview: “The growth and development in these young guys throughout this journey and the negativity associated with growth and development did not take away from their efforts.”

The Steelers are the seventh seed in the wild card games this weekend when they take on Kansas City on the Chiefs’ home turf Sunday night.

 

Story by:  Carlin Whalen, Sports Editor (cjw6426@psu.edu)

Photo by:  Karl Roser, Pittsburgh Steelers