Steelers top mistake-prone Jackson, Ravens

BALTIMORE — Willie Snead ripped off his helmet and left it lying in the end zone. Then he began to undo his gloves and walk off the field, the ball from the last-second throw the Ravens receiver was unable to haul in a few seconds earlier still sitting on the turf.

Snead and his Baltimore teammates had a couple of chances to win Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, including on the final play, an unsuccessful “Hail Mary” shot at the end zone in hopes of a miracle. But quarterback Lamar Jackson’s heave fell harmlessly as Snead took a big shot from the safety and the Steelers’ defense held on for a 28-24 victory.

The Ravens’ other missed late-game opportunity came Jackson and the offense, trailing by four, stayed on the field for a 4th-and-3 at the 8-yard line. Jackson ran a draw, attempting to tap-dance and spin his way to the first-down marker, flashing the electric playmaking ability that earned him the 2019 MVP award.

But on a day in which Jackson struggled mightily, his shiftiness didn’t pan out. Pittsburgh’s defense crashed down on Jackson. Minkah Fitzpatrick poked the ball loose and Robert Spillane landed on it for the Steelers’ fourth takeaway.

Pittsburgh took advantage of Jackson’s giveaways — he finished with two interceptions and two fumbles — to remain the league’s lone undefeated team.

“The turnovers, I feel, are the reason we lost the game,” Jackson said. “I put that on me.”

Jackson’s maladies began early. He telegraphed a third-down throw on Baltimore’s first drive of the game, allowing Spillane to jump the underneath route and return the interception 33 yards for a touchdown.

But after that miscue, the Ravens’ offense found its footing. Jackson bounced back with a 14-yard strike delivered into a tight window to wideout Miles Boykin, then found him again eight plays later for a touchdown in the corner of the end zone.

And Baltimore took some pressure off Jackson later in the first half, managing to pound the ball against the NFL’s second-best run defense. Jackson handed it off eight times on a nine-play, 80-yard drive capped by running back Gus Edwards powering in on a 1-yard score.

That score and a 51-yard field goal from Justin Tucker as time expired allowed the Ravens to take a 17-7 lead into halftime despite what looked like a dismal first 30 minutes of action. They gave away the ball twice, including a fumble from Jackson inside the Steelers’ red zone, and lost two starting offensive linemen to injury.

“The turnovers, obviously, were disappointing,” coach John Harbaugh said. “That’s the difference in the game in some ways, obviously.”

Those first-half stumbles continued into the final two periods as a 10-point lead vanished. On the Ravens’ first play of the second half, Jackson looked left for tight end Mark Andrews. He saw linebacker Alex Highsmith in underneath coverage, but he thought Highsmith would break to cover fullback Patrick Ricard in the flat.

Instead, Highsmith dropped back once Jackson released the ball, reached up and snagged Jackson’s second interception. And like the previous one, the takeaway led directly to points, with Ben Roethlisberger finding tight end Eric Ebron over the middle for an 18-yard score.

Then Roethlisberger drove Pittsburgh down the field again on the next drive, taking a lead for the first time Sunday.

For an offense that had outperformed its counterpart — the Ravens had 79 plays and 457 yards compared to 50 plays and 221 for the Steelers — the turnovers provided a lifeline. And Pittsburgh took it.

“It’s a little bit frustrating man, when we go out there and don’t take care of the ball, with the penalties,” Ravens offensive lineman Orlando Brown said. “We’ve got to do a better job as a collective group putting ourselves in the best position, man. It sucks, because we go out here and lose this game the way we did. And we’ve been in this situation before and won.”

Baltimore kept coming though: Jackson drove the Ravens down the field and finished an early fourth-quarter possession with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Brown. 

After the Steelers and Roethlisberger responded with their own scoring drive, Jackson orchestrated a 10-play drive that brought his squad inside the 10-yard line, trailing 28-24. But on fourth-and-3, with two minutes left, the Louisville product fumbled as he tried sneaking through the center of Pittsburgh’s defense.

When the Ravens got the ball back again with 52 seconds remaining, mounting a game-winning touchdown drive was too big an ask. Snead was left to ditch his helmet in the end zone, Steelers defenders ran off to celebrate, and Pittsburgh maintained its place atop the AFC North with a major assist from Jackson’s four turnovers.

“Every mistake that we make, it’s a collective group, we’ve just got to continue to move forward,” Snead said. “We were in a position to win the game the whole game. With everything that happened, we were still in a position to win the game.”