Pittsburgh Steelers Routed By The Ravens In Baltimore

Perhaps the play that summed up the 26-6 loss the Pittsburgh Steelers suffered at the hands of the Ravens on Thursday in Baltimore was defensive tackle Haloti Ngata intercepting Ben Roethlisberger for the second time in his career.

Ngata tipped Big Ben’s pass into the air to himself and made a diving interception in the fourth quarter, capping a night that was all Ravens.

It was apparent that it was not the Steelers night as the offense has now gone six quarters with out putting up a touchdown. After the tremendous first half against the Browns last week, Todd Haley’s crew has not been able to get into the end zone.

Baltimore’s defense rose to the occasion, curtailing Roethlisberger’s team record of 30 consecutive games with a passing touchdown. They also recovered two fumbles for a total of three turnovers against the Black and Gold.

On the evening, Roethlisberger completed 22 of 37 for 217 yards while Le’Veon Bell had 11 carries for 59 yards leading the ground attack.

Shaun Suisham provided the scoring for Pittsburgh with a 25-yard field goal that capped an 11-play, 73-yard drive with 2:50 left in the second quarter and a second field goal of 43-yards at the 10:30 mark of the third quarter.

Meanwhile, Dick LeBeau‘s squad had no takeaways and no sacks on the score sheet. They surrendered scoring drives to the Ravens on their first two possessions – a 12-play, 85-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter, and a 11-play, 73-yard field goal drive early in the second quarter.

The Black and Gold was led by inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons with seven solo tackles and assists on five more for a total of 12. First-round draft pick Ryan Shazier contributed six solo stops and helped with five more for a total of 11 while strong safety Troy Polamalu put up six solo tackles and assisted on two more for eight tackles.

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Where the Steelers did lead in the box score was in collecting referee’s flags as they were penalized nine times for 75 yards while Baltimore was found guilty four times for 35 yards.

After last week’s loss against Cincinnati, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco redeemed himself as he went 21 of 29 for 166 yards and two touchdowns.

Wide receiver Steve Smith led the way with six receptions for 71 yards, but it was tight end Owen Daniels who hauled in five passes for 28 yards and the two touchdowns.

Bernard Pierce claimed 96 yards on 22 carries for Baltimore while Justin Forsett rushed eight times for 56 yards at M&T Bank Stadium.

The rest of the Ravens scoring came on the foot of placekicker Justin Tucker as he went 4 for 4 on field goals from 30, 23, 22 and 20 yards.

Next up, Pittsburgh travels to Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte to take on the Carolina Panthers on Sept 21 at 8:30 p.m. as part of NBC’s Sunday Night Football.

From The Clipboard: These were the seven players inactive for the contest: quarterback Landry Jones, running back Dri Archer, wide receivers Martavis Bryant and Lance Moore, center Wesley Johnson, guard Chris Hubbard, and nose tackle Daniel McCullers.

Steelers Digest named wide receiver Antonio Brown as the Player of the Week as he caught seven passes for 90 yards and rushed for 10 more against the Ravens.