This past Sunday, November 17th, 2024 the Steelers took on the Ravens at Acrisure Stadium. Both teams showed up ready to win, although the Raven’s win rate against the Steelers was significantly lower than any other team.
These two rival teams went head to head in what was one of the biggest games for both teams. The Steelers’ defense locked down what is known to be the NFL’s “greatest offense” during this game. Only allowed the Ravens to score twice.
This divisional game was a huge win for the Steelers locking down 1st place in the AFC North. Lamar Jackson (The quarterback of the Ravens) states, “We had a lot of slow starts, if anything … a lot of penalties, turnovers and stuff like that.” Jackson felt that if his team could have had fewer penalties, then they would have had a better chance of winning the game.
The Ravens offense did not reply to the pressure that the Steelers defense delivered. Both quarterbacks threw for around the same yards, with Jackson throwing for 207 yards and Wilson throwing for 205 yards. Jackson threw one touchdown and one interception, while Wilson threw for zero touchdowns and one interception.
The real star of this game was Chris Boswell kicking six field goals, three being over 50 yards. “Pittsburgh needed every one of Boswell’s kicks on a day the offense sputtered while largely avoiding the miscues that cost Baltimore so dearly,” (ctpost). Although the Steelers’ defense was able to play and defend so well against the Ravens’ offense, the Steelers were bailed out many times by penalties the Ravens’ offense and defense produced throughout the game.
Although the Steelers’ defense was dominant for the vast majority of the game their offense did not give them much support. Though winning the game they were unable to score a single touchdown relying on their kicker Chris Boswell. The Ravens’ defense did a great job at stopping the Steelers’ offense from getting into the red zone, but they could not stop Boswell’s long-range kicks.
This was not the first time the Steelers had snuck away with a win on just field goals. This was first seen when the Steelers went against Atlanta back in week one of the season. The Steelers have had some pretty remarkable wins during this season, though some might say it has been mainly luck. With Wilson’s quarterback skills, along with Justin Fields, the Steelers are looking good this season.
Will the Steelers be able to score with more than just their kicker next week? Or will the Steelers’ offense wake up and be able to score some actual touchdowns? The Steelers will play the Cleveland Browns on Thursday, November 21, 2024. With the way the Browns have been playing, Pittsburg should be able to put up some points.
If the Steelers defense plays the way they did against the Ravens and their offense is able to wake up, the Steelers will be a shoe-in for their upcoming game against the Browns. The Steelers’ offense needs to wake up, but if they can achieve this then they could be a Super Bowl contending team.
