The more things change, the more they stay the same. That sentence about sums it up at 1am in the morning after the Baltimore Ravens literally snatched defeat from the jaws of victory late Sunday night as they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 13-10. The Ravens had every reason to expect to win this game, as they had the lead and the ball with under four minutes to go. However, rather than running the ball and the clock, they inexplicably decided to throw the ball and All Pro safety Troy Polamalu made a game-changing play, forcing Ravens QB Joe Flacco to fumble the ball which the Steelers recovered deep in Ravens territory.
Shortly thereafter, Pittsburgh found the end zone and the Ravens last ditch attempt to drive down the field for the tying field goal fizzled out on an incomplete fourth down pass attempt with seconds left in the game. Many people were saying this was the most disappointing loss in the series between these two teams, but I distinctly remember a similar last second loss in 2008 when Ben Roethlisberger found WR Santonio Holmes for a controversial touchdown which won the game for the Steelers that the Ravens had led up until the final score.
One thing is for certain in the rivalry and that is that Baltimore has just not found a way to consistently beat Pittsburgh, especially in close games and to say that it happened earlier this season, while correct, appears to be an aberration in the trend that continues to frustrate the Ravens organization and its rabid fanbase..
More to follow when the sun comes up, but for now the pain of the loss is a scar that will take a while to heal.