Baltimore Beatdown
The Baltimore Ravens lost their second straight game in Week 14, again to a divisional rival at home, falling 27-22 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here are the Baltimore Beatdown staff’s reactions to this game:
The Ravens season is on a lifeline. After falling at home to the Steelers, the Ravens have now lost consecutive games to division opponents at home. The Ravens offense finally started to look dynamic in the second half, but couldn’t convert in high leverage situations. The most controversial point of the game came late in the 4th quarter when an Isaiah Likely touchdown, which looked like a catch, was overturned. I still don’t know what a catch is and Jim Nantz and Tony Romo seemed to echo that. Throughout the game, there were some other interesting flags thrown, one on Travis Jones that turned a Steelers field goal into a touchdown. Regardless, it’s been a disappointing season for the Ravens and they will probably have to win out to make the playoffs. — Stephen Bopst
I’m lost for words. The Ravens didn’t do enough on offense early. The defense collapsed in the middle and allowed an anemic Pittsburgh offense to score 27 points. They let up multiple deep shots to an offense that hadn’t hit one in weeks. The special teams units made multiple errors. Missed extra point and penalties on multiple kickoffs, punts, and on a field goal attempt from Pittsburgh.
And yet, it still feels like this one should have been a win. A touchdown was absolutely stolen from them late in the game. Isaiah Likely caught was could have been the game winning touchdown. Two feet down, hands extended with possession of the ball for multiple seconds before a late punch out. Instead the call was reversed and ruled not a touchdown. Add on an interception that was reversed before that drive and the phantom penalty that was called on Travis Jones that gave Pittsburgh a first down, replacing a field goal with a touchdown. Now the Ravens season is on life support and it probably doesn’t matter even if they manage to revive the playoff run.— Zach Canter
It feels like the Ravens’ season was finally taken out back and put down with this loss. Their hopes of winning the AFC North and making the playoffs took a massive hit with back-to-back losses to divisional rivals. Suspect officiating certainly hurt Baltimore today, but they still put themselves in a hole early on that they were ultimately unable to climb out of. This team does not have the offensive line or a good enough pass rush to make a serious run if they somehow backed their way into the playoffs. It’s hard to imagine serious changes not happening if the team with the best Super Bowl odds coming into the year misses the playoffs. At this point, that is probably best for the future of the franchise. — Dustin Cox
Blame the refs, blame Lamar, blame the OL, blame...
