Baltimore Ravens: Ryan Mallett Spoils Pittsburgh Steelers Season

Ryan Mallett may have ended the Pittsburgh Steelers season with a 20-17 win in his first start for the Baltimore Ravens.

Ryan Mallett made all the throws you expect from a professional quarterback. He fired balls into tight windows. He pushed the ball deep down the field. He showed great touch passes when necessary. For the first time since Joe Flacco has been out, the offense had some life to it.

The Steelers came out of the gate rushing the football at will, but Mike Tomlin’s willingness to go for it on fourth down backfired. Pittsburgh would go for it on fourth-and-1 at the 25-yard-line instead of taking the points. The Ravens defense got into the backfield to stop Deangelo Williams short and the momentum was in Baltimore’s favor early.

Mallett engineered a perfect drive to start the game for the Baltimore offense, using a 15-play, 75-yard drive to score the first points of the game. Mallett was decisive in his throws and converted four third-down plays before finding Chris Matthews in the back of the end zone. It was the start the Ravens needed to keep up with Pittsburgh’s high octane offense.

The Steelers looked to respond quickly on the ensuing drive as Ben Roethlisberger found Antonio Brown in the end zone, but the catch was ruled out of bounds. It was a big play for the Ravens as it forced the Steelers to get three points instead of six. Brown got open several times on the drive, but holding Pittsburgh to three was huge at that point in the game.

The Ravens offense continued to keep it going as Terrance West opened the drive with a 14-yard pickup on the ground. Chris Givens made a terrific catch a few plays later and was the center of some controversy. Givens looked to pick up a 40-yard gain, but after a series of conversation and confusion, Baltimore was ruled to have been stopped short. Mallett would connect with Matthews once again to pick up the first down. However, the drive would stall inside the 30 and Justin Tucker would hit from 37 yards out to extend the Ravens lead to 10-3.

Roethlisberger would throw an interception with under five minutes remaining in the first half that put Baltimore in position to add to their lead. Linebacker Daryl Smith came up with the Ravens first interception since Lardarius Webb picked off Blake Bortles in Week 10. Tucker would connect on a 50-yard field goal to increase the Ravens lead to 13-3 with 1:17 remaining in the first half.

The Steelers would cut the deficit after Kendrick Lewis was called for pass interference in the end zone against Brown. Lewis did not look back at the football and laid out Brown for the penalty. Williams would punch it in from a yard out one play later to make it a 13-10 game.

Mallett had two huge plays on the Ravens final scoring drive that proved to be the enough for the win. First, he found Chris Givens deep down the sideline for 39 yards. A few plays later, he hit Kyle Jusczyk for 34 yards inside the 5-yard-line. Allen punched it in from three yards out to extend the Ravens lead to 20-10.

Pittsburgh answered with a drive of their own, going 80 yards for an answer. Jimmy Smith was called for pass interference in the end zone, but made up for it with a pick-six in the end zone. The interception was called back due to an offsides penalty on Courtney Upshaw and Pittsburgh capitalized two plays later on a Williams 1-yard touchdown to make it a 20-17 game.

The Steelers had one more opportunity to come up with a score, but the Ravens defense prevailed and held on for a huge win over their arch rival.

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Many felt Mallett gave the Ravens the best chance to win and that is exactly what he did for a team needing stability at the most important position. He will have another chance to showcase himself next Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. Another solid performance and he could find himself looking for a starting job next season with a different team.