Post-Baltimore thoughts
That one hurts, at least from the standpoint for the Steelers that they had the Ravens on the ropes – several times, in fact – and did not put them away.
A big part of the reason for that is because the coaching staff just didn’t trust Mike Vick to make a lot of throws down the field.
And Vick didn’t trust Antonio Brown enough.
Vick and Brown just weren’t on the same page all the time in this one, missing by a few inches here or a few feet there.
None was as big as Vick’s fourth-and-1 pass from the Baltimore 33 in overtime, when he overthew Brown by a lot on what should have been an easy completion for a first down.
“That one is going to haunt me for a long time,” Vick said.
Vick is now 3-13 in his past 16 starts. Quarterbacks always get too much credit for the wins and too much blame for the losses, and Vick hasn’t been awful in those games, throwing 19 touchdown passes and nine interceptions.
But he lost this one much in the same way Joe Flacco “won” it.
Neither was great.
@ Much of the blame for this loss will be placed at the feet of placekicker Josh Scobee, and while that is fair, it’s not the only reason the Steelers lost.
They couldn’t convert some first downs late in the game despite having good field position and the defense, which had been solid against the run in the first three weeks, allowed Justin Forsett to go for 150 yards on 27 carries. Forsett was averaging 3.2 yards per attempt and had 124 yards in three games coming into this one.
That won’t do.
@ I thought the Steelers did a nice job in pass defense overall in this one and while Ross Cockrell came up with two big plays, making an interception and fumble recovery, the latter of which set up a Pittsburgh touchdown that made it 20-7 early in the third quarter, he also gave up a TD on the ensuing possession.
Forsett hit a 33-yard run and then Cockrell allowed a 17-yard TD catch by Kamar Aiken that made it 20-14.
“From all aspects of the game, we could have all done something,” said Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons. “We gave up 191 yards rushing. I feel like we could have done something better there. We look at it all across the board. We all could have done something better. It was definitely a team loss.”
@ Can the Steelers get it together and rebound from this? I think so. The defense is still showing flashes of being better. It sacked Joe Flacco five times and forced a pair of turnovers.
Vick, with a full week of practice before the Steelers play again – and actually a couple of extra practices since they don’t play until Oct. 12 at San Diego – will get plenty of practice time with the receivers.
And there’s a guy named Martavis Bryant that will be back for the next game. That should help as well.
@ Dri Archer and Brown both had big returns in overtime that should have helped the Steelers to a win. They didn’t.
And punter Jordan Berry had an off game that should have cost the Steelers points, especially when he hit one that only went 40 yards standing on his own goal line. It was returned to the Pittsburgh 33.
But for some reason, John Harbaugh decided to attempt a fake field goal after the Ravens stalled. And Sean Spence sniffed it out.
It was one of three failed fourth-down attempts for the Ravens in the second half. And the Steelers didn’t make them pay.
They let Harbaugh off the ropes for his stupidity.
@ The Steelers continue to have issues with tackling. But it’s a problem around the league.
I get the fact that fans focus on what their team is doing. But the Ravens missed plenty of tackles in this game as well.
In fact, watch any game around the league and you’ll see plenty of missed tackles.
But it doesn’t change the fact the Steelers seem to be missing them at inopportune times. Yes, I’m talking about you, Arthur Moats.