The Baltimore Ravens went into its bye week at 5-2 and now come out of it ready to face its rival in the Pittsburgh Steelers at home.
Ravens kicker Justin Tucker kicks it away for a touchback and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger takes it over at the 20 yard-line.
Both teams play it cagey to open up the game and several stalled drives are executed by both teams.
Eventually, the Ravens look to be heading down a promising path until quarterback Joe Flacco is picked off by former Maryland Terrapin Sean Davis.
After getting sacked, it looked like the Steelers might go three and out again, but Roethlisberger hit wide receiver Markus Wheaton on third down for 22 yards to get their offense rolling. Several long completions to wide receiver Antonio Brown and runningback Le’Veon Bell gets the Steelers down to the Ravens two-yard line, where Bell would punch it in for the Steelers touchdown.
BAL- 0, PIT- 7
The teams trade stalled drives, before the Ravens get it back and finally get it going. Flacco hits wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. for several long completions and hands it off to runningback Buck Allen for a few long gains. The Ravens get down to the Steelers’ five-yard line, where Flacco hits Smith Sr. for the equalizing touchdown.
BAL- 7, PIT- 7
Both teams go three and out again before the Steelers begin to drive the ball with some success again. Roethlisberger goes to Wheaton and Brown again to drive the team into the Ravens half of the field. With under three minutes left in the half, Steelers kicker Chris Boswell hits a 25-yard field goal to give Pittsburgh the lead.
BAL- 7, PIT- 10
The Ravens hope to at least tie it up heading into halftime, but on third down, Stephon Tuitt recovers a fumble at the Ravens 35-yard line.
With momentum on its side, the Steelers don’t waste anytime getting things going. Roethlisberger hits tight end Ladarius Green for a touchdown from the Ravens 35 yard-line, giving the Steelers a 10 point lead with 2:13 left in the first half.
BAL- 7, PIT- 17
The Ravens have some time to do damage before the half. The Ravens end up doing damage, but it’s unfortunately self-inflicted. A holding penalty sets the Ravens offense back and the team has to punt it away to the Steelers.
Roethlisberger drives the the Steelers down into the red zone with some long passes to Sammie Coates, but is sacked from the Ravens five-yard line. The Steelers settle for a field goal with 46 seconds left in the first half.
BAL- 7, PIT- 20
The Ravens could have sat on the ball to head into halftime, but decided to go for some points. Flacco spreads the ball around to wide receivers in Smith Sr., Kamar Aiken, and Mike Wallace to drive into Steeler territory. Tucker hits a 42-yard field goal to give the Ravens a few more points heading into halftime.
BAL- 10, PIT- 20
After the Ravens go three and out and punt it away to the Steelers, Roethlisberger has the defense on the ropes yet again. Somebody on the Ravens defense needs to make a play, and that someone turns out to be Jerraud Powers, who picks off Roethlisberger in Ravens territory to prevent the Steelers from scoring again.
The Ravens roll into the Steelers half of the field through some Buck Allen runs and tack on three more points to the scoreboard after a 43-yard field goal from Tucker.
BAL- 13, PIT- 20
On the next drive, the Steelers hit Wheaton for 26 yards to start things out, but eventually stall near midfield and punt it back to the Ravens.
Now with the ball and down seven, Baltimore saw their chance to tie things up. unfortunately for the Ravens, a third down sack on Flacco forced the team to punt it back to Pittsburgh.
A long completion to Brown is immediately followed up by a 19-yard touchdown to Green for his second score of the day, gives the Steelers an even bigger lead heading into the fourth quarter.
BAL- 13, PIT- 28
The Ravens need points, but are unable to get them and punt it right back to the Steelers. The Steelers have no problem salting the game away, riding runningbacks in Deangelo Williams and Le’Veon Bell all the way down to the Ravens seven-yard line. Big Ben hits Brown for the touchdown from there and this one is all but over.
BAL- 13, PIT- 34
The Ravens use some big gains by Mike Wallace and some nice runs by Buck Allen to get down into the Steelers red zone, where tight Crockett Gillmore would catch a six-yard touchdown pass from Flacco.
BAL- 20, PIT- 34
With just under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the Ravens would try an onside kick only to have it recovered past midfield by Pittsburgh. The Steelers would go three and out after sitting on the ball, and again the Ravens provide some late offense.
The Ravens go to Wallace a few more times to drive deep, where Flacco would hit Kamar Aiken for a 19-yard consolation touchdown pass with just three seconds to go in the game.
FINAL: BAL- 27, PIT- 34
Notable Ravens stats:
Joe Flacco had a good game numbers wise. He completed 57 percent of his passes for 346 yards and three touchdowns as well as one interception.
Buck Allen led the way in rushing with 62 yards on 19 carries.
Mike Wallace and kamar Aiken both had 112 yards, while Smith Sr., Aiken, and Crockett Gillmore all caught a touchdown.
Defensively, Elvis Dumervil, Terrell Suggs, Kamalei Correa, and Carl Davis each had one sack. Jerraud Powers led the way with eight tackles and added an interception.