PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Rodgers threw the winning touchdown pass to Calvin Austin III with 55 seconds left and the Steelers defeated the Ravens 26-24 in Baltimore on Sunday night. Tyler Loup missed a 44-yard field goal. Time expired and Pittsburgh won the AFC North title.
Pittsburgh (10-7) hosts Houston (12-5) in its playoff opener on Monday, Jan. 12, after a competitive fourth quarter that saw the lead change hands four times, including a 3-pointer in the final four minutes.
The Ravens were poised to regain the lead one last time after Lamar Jackson connected with Isaiah Likely for a 28-yard gain that put the Ravens within looping range.
As the Steelers rushed onto the field to celebrate their first divisional title in five years, the rookie’s kick took no chances and went right of the goal post.
Rodgers passed for a season-high 294 yards. 26 yard toss to Austin The score was 26-24. Chris Boswell missed the extra point, giving the Ravens a chance to win with a field goal.
Despite dealing with back pain, Jackson passed for 238 yards and three scores, including one to Zai Flowers in the fourth quarter. Flowers’ TD runs from 50 and 64 yards, respectively, gave Baltimore the lead.
Pittsburgh has responded each time, and will now host the Texans looking to end a playoff win drought that lasted until the 2016 AFC Championship Game.
Pittsburgh’s running back duo of Kenneth Gainwell and Jalen Warren combined for 173 yards as the Steelers bounced back from last week’s loss to Cleveland, ending a largely disappointing season for Jackson and the Ravens.
The Steelers trailed by 10 points early, and then it was repeated. they beat In the first round of the playoffs last season, it looked like a win at the hands of Baltimore might be possible.
The Ravens’ defense, which has been beaten down by Derrick Henry many times since joining the Ravens last season, is finally fighting back, and the offense, which played wide receiver DK Metcalf without a suspension, is slowly starting to find its footing.
Henry ran for 126 yards for the Ravens, becoming just the ninth player in NFL history to reach 13,000 career rushing yards, but was largely held back in the second half, leading to an improbable shootout.
Jackson’s first touchdown pass to Flowers was beautiful. The two-time MVP ducked out of reach of two potential tacklers and floated a pass to the onrushing Flowers to give the Ravens a 17-13 lead.
With 3:49 left, Gainwell sprinted from 2 yards left to put Pittsburgh back in the lead. The Ravens, seeking to become the first team since the AFC North’s creation in 2003 to win three straight division titles, needed all three plays to regain the lead when Jackson lofted a wide-open Flowers pass for a 64-yard score.
In what could have been the last game of his 21-year career, Rodgers gained 65 yards over the Steelers in six plays, ending with a rainbow down the left sideline of Austin, who was left alone with a Ravens defender down.
Boswell then missed his first extra point of the season after scoring 40 in a row, opening the door for the Ravens. Baltimore looked poised to end the season of their longtime rivals for the second time in 12 months before the loop kicked right in and stayed there.
The victory marked the 193rd regular season win of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin’s career, tying him with Hall of Famer Chuck Noll for the franchise record and ninth on the NFL career list.
Tomlin’s 40th meeting with Ravens coach John Harbaugh (only Hall of Famers George Halas and Curly Lambeau had more) was the most memorable.
I wonder if it’s also the last ruins that can be seen. After a checkered 18 seasons, Harbaugh faces questions about his future.
Tomlin, the longest-serving head coach in a major North American professional sport, enters the postseason with a club that has only occasionally looked like a championship contender.
The real test awaits next week.
injury
Ravens: S Kyle Hamilton was ejected with a concussion after colliding with S Arohi Gilman in the third quarter. Rodgers and Pittsburgh’s passing game took off in the three-time Pro Bowler’s absence.
Steelers: LB TJ Watt returned from a three-game absence while recovering from surgery to repair a collapsed lung. He picked off a pass from Jackson and set up Boswell’s field goal in the third quarter to give the Steelers the lead.
to the next
Ravens: A season that started with a shot at the Super Bowl came to a bitter end, and they face a long offseason.
Steelers: Get ready to welcome the Texans home with a chance to end the franchise’s longest playoff win drought since Franco Harris’ Immaculate Reception more than 50 years ago.
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