NFL 2008: Steelers Sweep Division Rival Ravens

Hines Ward of the Pittsburgh Steelers Ward caught 10 passes for 164 yards against Ravens this season

The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated their AFC North Divisional Rivals twice during the 2008 NFL Regular season.

The Steelers defeated the Ravens 23-20 in overtime on a Monday Night Football (9/29/2008) at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh and 13-9 in Baltimore (12/14/2008).

The second Steelers - Ravens matchup is remembered for the overturning of a last minute, 4th-quarter play that was reversed and called the winning TD for the Steelers.

In the second game, the Steelers came back from a fourth-quarter deficit by scoring 10 points in the final quarter to stretch their winning streak to five games with a 13-9 victory over the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

With the 13-9 victory over Baltimore, Pittsburgh clinched their second straight AFC North Division title.

Pittsburgh Steelers 23, Baltimore Ravens 20 (OT)

Steelers kicker Jeff Reed booted a 46-yard game-winning field goal in overtime as Pittsburgh defeated the visiting Baltimore Ravens, 23-20, on Sept. 29 on Monday Night Football. The Steelers improved to 3-1 while the Ravens fell to 2-1 on the season. Reed's 46-yard field goal was his third of the game (49, 19) and marked his seventh career game-winning field goal.

The Ravens came back from 2 deficits against the Steelers -- even mounting a late scoring drive to force OT -- but it wasn't enough.

Baltimore jumped out to a 13-3 halftime lead when K Matt Stover connected on 33- and 20-yard FGs, and Flacco found TE Daniel Wilcox in the back corner of the end zone for his 1st-career passing TD. Stover's 1st FG was set up by DT Haloti Ngata's INT of QB Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh territory. The Steelers struggled in the first half to put any drives together as it finished with just 46 yards of total offense in the first two quarters.

However, Pittsburgh scored 14 points in 15 seconds in the third quarter to take a 17-13 lead. After Roethlisberger hit WR Santonio Holmes for a 38-yard touchdown, LB LaMarr Woodley picked up a fumble on the Ravens' first play from scrimmage and darted seven yards for a touchdown.

On the first TD, Roethlisberger hit WR Santonio Holmes with a short pass over the middle, and Holmes escaped several tackles en route to the end zone. The second TD came on the next play from scrimmage. Flacco was sacked by LB James Harrison, who knocked the ball away. LB LaMarr Woodley scooped the fumble and went 7 yards for a TD.

The Steelers extended their lead to 20-13 on Reed's 19-yard field goal with 9:19 left in the fourth quarter. On that drive, the Ravens kept Steelers out of the end zone on third down as RB Mewelde Moore was stuffed at the 1-yard line.

However, the Baltimore Ravens responded with a nine-play drive that ended with Le'Ron McClain running in from two yards out to eventually force overtime. On the drive, rookie QB Joe Flacco connected with WR Derrick Mason for 15, 10 and 35 yards. Mason led all receivers with 8 catches for 137 yards.

The Ravens won the coin toss, but 2 penalties and 1 sack forced P Sam Koch to punt out of his own end zone. That allowed Pittsburgh to start from its own 43-yard line, gain a 1st down and subsequently Reed's 46-yard game-winning field goal.

The Ravens harassed Roethlisberger for 3 sacks, while the Steelers sacked Flacco 5 times. Roethlisberger finished 14-for-24 for 191 yards passing with one touchdown and one interception. Rookie QB Joe Flacco played his 1st road game, completing 16 of 31 for 192 yards, a TD and no INTs.

Mendenhall had 30 rushing yards on nine carries (3.3 avg.) before leaving with a shoulder injury.

The Steelers limited the Ravens to just 97 yards of total offense in the second half and overtime. For the game, Baltimore had 243 yards of offense to Pittsburgh's 237.

Steelers LB James Harrison led the Steelers with 2.5 sacks, 10 tackles and a forced fumble. Woodley added eight tackles, 1.5 sacks and fumble return for a score.

Pittsburgh Steelers 23, Baltimore Ravens 20 (OT)

Baltimore Ravens31007023
Pittsburgh Steelers30143320

 

6:440:183:480:174:093:549:194:028:55
TeamQtr.TimeScoring PlayDriveScore
PIT1Reed 49 FG11-45; 6:413-0
BAL1Stover 33 FG10-33; 4:513-3
BAL2Stover 20 FG11-48; 5:393-6
BAL2Wilcox 4 pass from Flacco (Stover kick)6-44; 1:353-13
PIT3Holmes 38 pass from Roethlisberger (Reed kick)4-67; 1:4010-13
PIT3Woodley 7 fumble return (Reed kick)—; —17-13
PIT4Reed 19 FG7-60; 4:4420-13
BAL4McClain 2 run (Stover kick)9-76; 5:1720-20
PITOTReed 46 FG7-29; 3:5623-20

 

TEAM STATISTICSRavensSteelers
1st Downs16 (4-12-0)11 (2-7-2)
3rd Downs7-17 (41%)5-15 (33%)
4th Downs0-0 (0%)0-0 (0%)
Total Net Yards243237
Plays-Avg.69-3.555-4.3
Rushing Yards10369
Rush Att.-Avg.33-3.128-2.5
Passing Yards140168
Att.-Comp.-Int.31-16-024-14-1
Sacks By3-235-52
Punts-Avg.8-47.47-40.1
Penalties8-725-29
Fumbles-Lost4-12-0
Time of Poss.34:2231:43

 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING:

Ravens - McClain 16-63, 1 TD; McGahee 13-42; Rice 1-0; Flacco 2-(-1); Clayton 1-(-1).

Steelers - Mendenhall 9-30; Davis 8-15; Moore 8-13; Washington 1-8; Roethlisberger 2-3.

PASSING:

Ravens - Flacco 31-16-0, 192, 1 TD.

Steelers - Roethlisberger 24-14-1, 191, 1 TD.

RECEIVING:

Ravens - Mason 8-137; McClain 3-26; McGahee 3-19; Williams 1-6; Wilcox 1-4, 1 TD.

Steelers - Holmes 3-61, 1 TD; Moore 3-37; Ward 2-57; Washington 2-23; Miller 2-8; Mendenhall 1-6; Davis 1-(1).

Pittsburgh Steelers 13, Baltimore Ravens 9

In an epic clash of the NFL's top 2 defenses, it was the Steelers' offense that captured a 13-9 victory over the Ravens. Pittsburgh drove 92 yards in 12 plays to score a controversial winning TD with 43 seconds left in the game. WR Santonio Holmes hauled in a 4-yard scoring pass from QB Ben Roethlisberger to cap the Steelers' final march. Facing 3rd-and- goal on Pittsburgh's 4-yard line, Roethlisberger bought time with his legs before finding Holmes, who had 2 feet in the end zone but seemed to grasp the ball outside of it as S Ed Reed tackled him to the 1-yard line. It was originally ruled that Holmes did not score, but after a booth review, referee Walt Coleman reversed the call when he saw a tip of the ball cross the barrier.

K Matt Stover booted 3 FGs (28, 26 and 28 yards) for the Ravens, while Pittsburgh came away with a pair of Jeff Reed FGs before the game's only TD.

After a scoreless first quarter, Baltimore struck first following a 46-yard punt return by Ravens S Jim Leonhard. QB Joe Flacco led the Ravens to the Pittsburgh 10-yard line before the drive stalled, and K Matt Stover came on to hit a 28-yard field goal to give Baltimore a 3-0 advantage.

Pittsburgh responded with a field goal on the ensuing possession. QB Ben Roethlisberger drove the Steelers deep into Ravens' territory, but this time it was Baltimore stopping Pittsburgh inside the red zone, and K Jeff Reed came on to tie the score at 3-3 with a 31-yard field goal. Baltimore regained the lead when Stover hit a 26-yard field goal with 52 seconds remaining in the first half to help Baltimore regain the lead 6-3.

The Ravens upped their lead to 9-3 midway through the third quarter when Stover nailed his third field goal, another 28-yard boot, following an S Ed Reed recovery of a WR Santonio Holmes fumble at the Pittsburgh 16- yard line.

The Ravens were clinging to a 9-3 lead when LB Terrell Suggs sacked Roethlisberger on the 1st play of the 4th quarter and jarred the ball loose into the hands of DT Brandon McKinney. But Baltimore could not convert the turnover into points and ended up punting.

The Steelers then drove to the Ravens' 12 with the help of a 30-yard completion to WR Hines Ward, setting up a 30-yard FG from K Jeff Reed. With just over five minutes elapsed in the fourth quarter the Steelers had trimmed the Ravens advantage to 9-6.

The Ravens were forced to punt again when QB Joe Flacco was sacked by LB Lawrence Timmons and fumbled. The play had started on Pittsburgh's 27-yard line, but the Ravens were pushed out of Stover's range when RB Willis McGahee recovered the ball at the 41.

That lead looked like it was going to hold up when the Ravens pinned the Steelers at their own eight-yard line with 3:36 remaining in regulation. But Roethlisberger drove the Steelers 92 yards in 12 plays, culminated by Roethlisberger throwing a four-yard scoring strike to Holmes with less than one minutes remaining. CB William Gay picked off a Flacco pass intended for WR Derrick Mason, and the Steelers secured their sixth road win of the season.

Baltimore gained 112 rushing yards against the NFL's best run defense, including a game-high 87 from FB Le'Ron McClain.

Ben Roethlisberger completed 22-of-40 passes for 246 yards with one touchdown for a passer rating of 81.9. WR Hines Ward caught eight passes for 107 yards (13.4 avg.).

Defensively, the Steelers gave up only 202 yards to the Ravens, including 90 net yards passing. DE Aaron Smith and LB Lawrence Timmons had the Steelers' sacks. S Ryan Clark had the Steelers other interception.

Pittsburgh Steelers 13, Baltimore Ravens 9

Dec. 14, 2008 - M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore

Pittsburgh Steelers0301013
Baltimore Ravens06309

 

12:305:440:496:029:260:43
TeamQtr.TimeScoring PlayDriveScore
BAL2Stover 28 FG7-33; 2:300-3
PIT2Reed 31 FG14-68; 6:463-3
BAL2Stover 26 FG15-69; 4:553-6
BAL3Stover 28 FG4-6; 1:323-9
PIT4Reed 30 FG9-54; 3:526-9
PIT4Holmes 4 pass from Roethlisberger (Reed kick)12-92; 2:5313-9

 

STATISTICSSteelersRavens
1st Downs18 (5-13-0)12 (4-8-0)
3rd Downs8-17 (47%)4-14 (29%)
4th Downs0-0 (0%)0-0 (0%)
Total Net Yards311202
Plays-Avg.70-4.461-3.3
Rushing Yards91112
Rush Att.-Avg.27-3.431-3.6
Passing Yards22090
Att.-Comp.-Int.40-22-028-11-2
Sacks By2-253-26
Punts-Avg.6-42.07-41.7
Penalties6-486-40
Fumbles-Lost3-21-0
Time of Poss.31:3828:22

 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING:

Steelers - Parker 14-47; Roethlisberger 4-21; Moore 7-16; Washington 1-6; Russell 1-1.

Ravens - McClain 23-87; McGahee 6-18; Flacco 1-5; Neal 1-2.

PASSING:

Steelers - Roethlisberger 40-22-0, 246, 1 TD.

Ravens - Flacco 28-11-2, 115.

RECEIVING:

Steelers - Ward 8-107; Washington 5-76; Miller 3-26; Holmes 3-21, TD; Parker 2-9; McHugh 1-7.

Ravens - Clayton 3-38; Mason 3-23; Neal 2-15; McGahee 2-15; Heap 1-24.

Pittsburgh Steelers Sweep Baltimore Ravens - NFL 2008