Chris Boswell and the Steelers Defense Come Up Clutch to Help Squeeze Past the Ravens, 18 – 16 

PITTSBURGH, Pa – Chris Boswell has another six field goal outing to help the Pittsburgh Steelers outlast the Baltimore Ravens, 18 – 16, in an AFC North matchup despite having trouble finding the end zone at Acrisure Stadium. 

“We got the best kicker in the world,” quarterback Russell Wilson said. 

“I love Boz, man, I’m tired of him getting player of the week, head coach Mike Tomlin added, “but it reminds us of our warts. It reminds us of the work that we need to do.”  A big reason for that stems from a stout defense that walked away with three turnovers against the No. 1 offense in the league. 

“I like the way our guys responded to the challenge, particularly our defense,” Tomlin said. “A lot was written and said about that offense…they got a lot of talent, they got a lot of weapons, they got good schematics.” 

Patrick Queen, a former Raven, played an important role in the win against his former club. He recovered one of the fumbles and had 10 total tackles on the day, which led the team.   “I think our defense went out there and just trusted everyone to do their job,” Queen said. “Nobody tried to do anything extra, nobody tried to be Superman…we just went out there and balled.” 

Two plays into the game, the Steelers defense immediately forced a fumble to start their opening possession in Baltimore territory. They marched inside the red zone, but couldn’t get it past the Ravens defense, setting up Boswell for an easy 32-yard field goal. 

Pittsburgh didn’t have much offense after that. However, it had some help from the Ravens to maintain that 3 – 0 advantage. 

Baltimore had the opportunity to take a 6 – 3 lead, but that didn’t happen. On back-to-back field goal attempts, Ravens kicker Justin Tucker missed both tries. His first 47-yard attempt hit the left upright followed by a 50-yarder that was booted wide to the left. 

Tomlin has opted to more aggressive on offense and went for it on fourth down on multiple occasions. It failed earlier, but was successful on the next attempt to continue the drive and lead to a field goal. Boswell nailed his 52-yard attempt right down the middle to put the Steelers ahead, 6 – 0. 

The Ravens finally got on the board late in the second quarter after three chunk plays, which found themselves inside the red zone. This allowed running back Derrick Henry to barrel his way up the middle for a one-yard touchdown to take a 7 – 6 lead.   It looked like Baltimore would have the lead headed into halftime, but the black and gold forced a second fumble with under a minute left to play. This set them up in the red zone, but they only capitalized with a field goal to retake the lead, 9 – 7. 

The second half started with a pair of field goals by Pittsburgh alongside one from the Ravens.  A few drives later, Wilson led the Steelers on an efficient drive down to the Ravens 5-yard line before he threw an interception in the end zone, taking away crucial points in this AFC North matchup. 

“We just got to make the play,” Wilson said when asked about red zone efficiency.  However, that was negated by an interception from Pittsburgh’s defense after linebacker Payton Wilson ripped the ball out of receiver Justice Hill’s hands.  

“For a rookie to make a play like that, it’s insane,” Queen said. 

The Steelers continued to struggle in Ravens territory and had to settle for yet another field goal to mount an eight-point lead, 18 – 10.  Baltimore didn’t give up and quickly marched down the field in the final minutes of the game. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson led a 69-yard touchdown drive, but the Steelers were all over Jackson and prevented the game tying two-point conversion. 

“We even saw some of the semblance of the schematics they intended to run,” Tomlin said. “I think that made them change and go the other direction…Mr. Jackson is a little less dangerous when going to his left.”  

The Ravens had one final attempt to stop Pittsburgh and fell just short. The black and gold found one final first down to milk the remaining seconds off the clock and remain atop the division.  

“These AFC North relationships are intimate ones,” Tomlin said. “You can’t circumvent that challenge; you got to go through it.” 

 

Story By Carlin Whalen:  (Cjw6426@psu.edu)