Ben Roethlisberger capped off his stellar 18-year career by leading the Steelers to a come-from-behind win in Baltimore. A year later, Roethlisberger's successor, Kenny Pickett, led Pittsburgh to a dramatic, last-minute win in Baltimore that kept the Steelers' playoff hopes alive.
A month after leaving the first Steelers-Ravens game early, Pickett's game-winning touchdown pass to Najee Harris lifted Pittsburgh to a 16-13 win. The win keeps Pittsburgh (8-8) alive in the race to earn the AFC's seventh playoff seed. The Steelers have won five of their six games after a 3-7 start.
Trailing 13-3, Pickett helped lead two second-half scoring drives that ended with Chris Boswell field goals. The Steelers defense then forced a punt before watching Pickett orchestrate an 80-yard, game-winning drive that culminated with his 10-yard pass to Harris with 56 seconds left.
Pickett's completions of 20 yards to Pat Freiermuth and 28 yards to Steven Sims set up his game-winning touchdown pass. Pittsburgh's defense then finished the job when Minkah Fitzpatrick picked off Tyler Huntley with 13 seconds left.
Pickett was aided all night by Harris, who recorded his first 100-yard rushing performance of the season. The Ravens offense was lead by Mark Andrews, whose 100 yards on nine catches wasn't enough on a night where points were at a premium. The loss dropped Baltimore to 10-6 and 1.5 games behind Cincinnati for first place in the AFC North.
Here's a full breakdown of what transpired on Sunday night.
Why the Steelers won
Pittsburgh overcame several self-inflicted wounds that included Boswell's missed first-half field goal and Cam Heyward's unnecessary roughness penalty that led to the Ravens' only touchdown just before halftime. Both players made up for those miscues in the second half. Boswell made both of his second-half field goal tries, while Heyward was part of a big third-down stop that set up Pittsburgh's game-winning drive.
The Steelers defense made several other big stops throughout the game. And while they struggled in the red zone for most of the game, Pittsburgh's offense found the end zone when it needed to. Pickett, Harris and Jaylen Warren (who rushed for 76 yards on 12 carries) took advantage of an exceptional effort by the Steelers offensive line that helped Pittsburgh rack up 198 rushing yards.
Why the Ravens lost
Baltimore's defense was unable to make a game-changing play during the Steelers' last two possessions. The pass rush was a nonfactor at that point in the game, while Baltimore's secondary struggled to contain Pickett and the Steelers' passing attack. Throughout the night, Baltimore's defense was also unable to slow down the Steelers' duo of Harris and Warren, who combined to run for 187 yards on 34 carries.
On offense, the Ravens largely leaned on Andrews and J.K. Dobbins. While both players were largely effective, Baltimore's lack of offensive diversity contributed to the Ravens scoring just three points during the game's final 30 minutes. It also contributed to the Ravens converting on less than half of their dozen third-down situations.
Turning point
Trailing 13-9, the Steelers needed a stop by their defense in order to give the ball back to their offense after Baltimore's defense forced a punt with 6:32 left. Pittsburgh got its necessary stop when Heyward and linebacker Mark Robinson combined to stuff Dobbins for no gain on a third-and-2 play from the Ravens' 44-yard-line with 5:05 left.
The stop gave the Steelers more than enough time to mount a game-winning drive that saw Pickett go 5 of 6 for 64 yards.
Play of the game
Pickett and Harris were unable to score on a pass near the Ravens' end zone earlier in the game. The duo wasn't denied with the game on the line, as Harris managed to pull down Pickett's pass that came after Pickett evaded Baltimore's pass rush. The game-winning touchdown pass was Pickett's second in as many weeks after he threw the game-winning pass to George Pickens against Las Vegas on Christmas Eve.
Quotable
"I thought we really kind of got a hold of ourselves at the half and had some real frank conversations and had the type of focus that was needed to finish the game out, and for that, I'm thankful.
"Can't say enough about our young [quarterback]. He smiles in the face of it. He's always ready to be that guy in the moments that we need him to be that guy." -- Steelers coach Mike Tomlin on his team and his rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett
What's next
The Steelers will host the Browns in a game Pittsburgh needs to win in order to keep its playoff hopes alive. The Steelers also need a Jets win in Miami and a Patriots loss in Buffalo in order to have a shot at the postseason. Pittsburgh fell to Cleveland when the two teams first met back in Week 3.
Baltimore will travel to Cincinnati for a game that will surely impact the AFC playoff seedings. The game may determine who wins the AFC North if Cincinnati is unable to defeat Buffalo on Monday night. Regardless, the Ravens have already clinched their spot in the playoffs.