It's crazy how it seems like almost all games between the Ravens and Steelers come right down to the wire no matter what the cirumstances may be surrounding their clash.
Sunday night, the Steelers were missing Ben Roethlisberger and Troy Polamalu (it's worth nothing the Ravens had to do without Terrell Suggs) and still pushed Baltimore to the brink before falling in overtime.
The Ravens can be proud that they finally finished a game against a quality opponent, although the excitement has to be tempered by the fact that the Steelers were starting their third-string quarterback. It's hard to tell what can be taken away from this game, but the Ravens hope the critical win launches a late-season playoff push.
Quarterbacks: Joe Flacco had a pretty good night and finally got some help from his receivers. He missed on a deep ball late in regulation that would have sealed a victory, but it was nice to see him air it out and make a couple of plays down the field, especially the balls thrown over the middle. He did sprain the ankle on the same foot that has been bothering him since the Minnesota game, and it's becoming apparent that he has lost a lot of his mobility. Grade: B
Running backs: The Ravens utilized all three running backs and it worked to perfection. Ray Rice was outstanding and made a couple of game-changing plays in the passing game. He is invaluable to this team and a budding superstar. Le'Ron McClain was really getting things going in the second half until an injury sidelined him. Willis McGahee also some action. He was the most ineffective of the three, but he ran hard in limited opportunities and did get into the end zone. Grade: A-
Wide receivers: Derrick Mason scored his first career touchdown against the Steelers (what a crazy, surprising statistic) and Mark Clayton rebounded to have a big game. Clayton responded well to criticism the past couple of weeks that he couldn't get open, making a couple of big catches. Kelley Washington was also a factor, but Todd Heap spent most of his night blocking to help out the offensive line. Grade: B-
Offensive line: The group did a nice job pushing the Steelers around in the running game. They opened up a lot of big holes and dominated the fourth quarter and game-winning drive. The pass protection was disappointing to say the least, as the Ravens surrendered five sacks. There were also way too many penalties from this group, but they have all of the potential in the world. Grade: C
Defense line: A very disappointing effort from this group. The Steelers pushing the Ravens around at the point of attack and ran the ball very effectively. Haloti Ngata is having a down year and is getting to the point where he could be considered overrated. The defensive line put absolutely no pressure on the quarterback. Trevor Pryce is really aging in a hurry, although I have to admit he gets held constantly and never seems to get a call. They need Suggs back, and I'm talking about the one from last year's AFC championship game. The one positive was the game-changing interception by Paul Kruger. Maybe that play with give him some confidence and boost his performance going forward. Grade: D+
Linebackers: Ray Lewis was pretty active all night long and effective on the blitz. Jarret Johnson was solid as usual but missed a tackle he usually makes, and it eventually cost the Ravens on the scoreboard. Tavares Gooden played one of his better games, but this group really needs some work on their tackling. Actually, that goes for the whole defense. Grade: C
Secondary: Looking at the numbers, you would call it a good night for this unit. In actuality, they are really lucky that Big Ben wasn't playing. Domonique Foxworth settled down after a rough start, but he is a second cornerback at best. He really would be a nice nickelback. Too bad the Ravens way overpaid to get him to come home. Lardarius Webb is the bright spot of this group. The rookie is physical despite his relatively small size, has good speed and is an aggressive tackler. Even if the Ravens get a top corner in the offseason, Webb should still have a starting spot next season. Grade: D+
Special teams: The Ravens actually received a solid performance from their special teams, but penalties continue to hurt them. Chris Carr was actually very good returning punts but had a couple nice runs brought back by penalties. Billy Cundiff is shaky, but he continues to put the ball through the uprights. The coverage units did a nice job, and Sam Koch is more than earning his paycheck. Grade: C+
Coaching: The call of the game was John Harbaugh's decision to go for the first down on fourth-and five with just over three minutes to play in regulation. Facing single coverage, the Ravens found the perfect play-call by putting Rice in the slot and getting him the ball over the middle. I thought the offensive playcalling was pretty good, but Greg Mattison didn't seem to come up with the right defensive game plan until very late in the fourth quarter. Once he found it, the Ravens shut down the Steelers offense. Still, too little, too late in my book. Grade: C+
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