The Pittsburgh Steelers had the sphere at Acrisure Stadium blessed with holy water by a priest forward of their Week 18 matchup with the Baltimore Ravens, so it appears solely becoming that an act of God appeared to push the kick by Tyler Loop vast proper to offer the Pittsburgh Steelers the win and their first AFC North championship since 2020, organising a wild card matchup with the Houston Texans subsequent Monday evening.
Pittsburgh put itself in an early gap, permitting the Ravens to leap to a 10-0 lead within the first half. A Chris Boswell area objective made the sport 10-3, and the Steelers appeared poised to get factors earlier than the half. The offense put collectively a 13-play drive that acquired all the best way right down to the Ravens’ one-yard line with simply seconds left within the second quarter. Instead of taking the sphere objective, Mike Tomlin opted to go for it, which was absolutely the proper name. The play-call itself was not. A toss to Kenneth Gainwell to the weak facet resulted in a sort out in need of the tip zone, leaving the Steelers with out factors on the drive.
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Pittsburgh got here out swinging within the third quarter, although. The offense put collectively a 12-play drive that culminated with a Connor Heyward landing to tie the sport. Once once more, Pittsburgh’s protection within the third quarter was marvelous. They held the Miami Dolphins to unfavorable yards in Week 15. They restricted the Detroit Lions to a few yards in Week 16. And on Sunday evening, the Ravens totaled simply 13 yards on eight performs, and Lamar Jackson threw an interception to T.J. Watt, which led to a Boswell area objective.
Then, the quarter flipped from three to 4, and all hell broke free. A 13-10 rock battle shortly become Red Dead Redemption. Jackson related with Zay Flowers on a 50-yard landing after one way or the other escaping a sack. Rodgers and the Steelers answered with a Kenneth Gainwell landing arrange by a 31-yard go to Pat Freiermuth. The Ravens staggered, however unloaded one other cannonball shot from Jackson to Flowers for a 64-yard landing to take a 24-20 lead.
Then, like he has performed so many instances in his two-decade profession, Aaron Rodgers took the sphere down one rating and with loads of time to make one thing occur. A 16-yard go to Calvin Austin kicked off the drive. Completions to Adam Thielen for eight and Kenneth Gainwell acquired the Steelers on the sting of the crimson zone. And after a really up-and-down season, Austin ran a lovely double-move on Chidobe Awuzie, inflicting the veteran cornerback to slide. Rodgers noticed it and hit Austin for a go-ahead landing with lower than a minute left.
It may have been the proper ending of a late-night shootout for the Steelers, however they couldn’t experience into the sundown of the postseason simply but. Chris Boswell missed the additional level, which means a area objective would win the sport for the Ravens.
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Keaton Mitchell returned the following kickoff to the 41-yard line of Baltimore. And whereas the Steelers introduced the Ravens to the sting of defeat, placing them in a 4th-and-7, Lamar Jackson hit Isaiah Likely for a 26-yard acquire to arrange a 44-yard area objective from Tyler Loop. And on the similar finish of the sphere that the priest blessed earlier than the sport, followers celebrated because the ball swung vast proper and secured the Steelers a house playoff recreation.
There aren’t sufficient phrases to explain what Rodgers and the offense had been in a position to do with out DK Metcalf. Coming off per week through which they scored simply six factors, the Steelers scored 13 within the remaining 4 minutes of Week 18 alone. Considering the fixed lapses on protection that led to a few touchdowns of 38 yards or extra, the offense wanted to discover a option to get factors with out their finest weapon, and so they did, outgaining the Ravens 390-359.
This units up the primary full-attendance playoff recreation at Acrisure Stadium because the Steelers misplaced to the Jacksonville Jaguars to complete off the 2017 season. They will host the Houston Texans subsequent Monday evening, placing their 23-game house successful streak on Monday nights up towards their very own playoff shedding streak.
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