OTL: The Song Remains the Same

Sunday got overtaken by the misery that was that game between the Ravens and the Steelers. Remember, they only talk the rivalry up when the Steelers have the upper hand. Take an extra break today Baltimore. This is a tough Monday for the Flock. Our own Tony Lombardi sums it up best with this tweet:

Can’t win games when you have 12 penalties, 2 missed FGAs, 3 turnovers and the other team has the ball 13 minutes more. Oh, and 22 wasn’t even on the field for the 2-point attempt pic.twitter.com/a4ITRticUX

— Tony Lombardi (@RSRLombardi) November 17, 2024

Say what you want about this game, the Ravens were the rightful loser. The irony of this game is that despite everything going wrong it still somehow managed to feature a dramatic finish. The amount of opportunities the Ravens had to change this game is mind boggling. This was like getting in a loop of one step forward and two steps back.

Hard to feel much after this game.

Far too often (especially in big games) this team just loses any identity it has established.

Numb to it.

Youre a choker until you prove you don’t choke.

— Cole Jackson (@ColeJacksonFB) November 17, 2024

This is a good point by Cole Jackson (before we branch out of the RSR realm). The Ravens’ biggest sin is being here before. The Ravens seem to lose these games the same way over and over again. They fall apart against Pittsburgh and the narrative haunts them all Steelers week. What I love about Cole’s tweet though, is who is this team? What is this iteration of the Ravens all about? The Ravens are probably playing for a wild card from this point on and those questions don’t have well evidenced answers. Every time you think this is a championship team, they go and do something disappointing.

This was Mike Preston’s instant reaction for the Baltimore Sun:

The Ravens played right into the Steelers’ hands. They didn’t have much of an offense and quarterback Lamar Jackson had an off day, at least according to his standards. The defense played surprisingly well, holding Pittsburgh to six field goals, but the Steelers’ offense is pretty vanilla. They didn’t throw the ball downfield much, and they stuck with a lot of screens and short to intermediate passes across the middle. It was a sloppy game, but there are no excuses. The Steelers outplayed the Ravens up front and dominated the line of scrimmage. It was as simple as that as the Steelers take control of the AFC North.

Before the game I had the sense that the Ravens needed this game to be a track meet while the Steelers needed it to be a dogfight. Preston accurately taps into the big point of the day, that the Ravens did everything they could to help the Steelers win. The other point he tapped into is how easy the Steelers had it in their big AFC North test. The Steelers didn’t even need a single touchdown to win the game. Think about that. Doesn’t that sound completely absurd? Are the Steelers that good or are the Ravens this bad? The one thing I know is that this gave the Steelers a commanding lead in the race for the division crown.

The Steelers beat the Ravens WITHOUT scoring a TD

Pittsburgh takes command of first place in the AFC North pic.twitter.com/8arfTsFdIW

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 17, 2024

It’s hard to be mad at the defense. This is an odd feeling in a season where the offense has been lights out and the defense has played poorly. The Ravens defense had its best showing of the season and the Steelers didn’t even get into the end zone. It feels like a regular season version of the 2006 loss to the Indianapolis Colts – but baked in the despair of getting beaten by a division rival. The defense was getting let down by the offense… What year is it? Check the calendars immediately!

NFL.com’s Nick Shook thinks this was the kind of win that Pittsburgh can build off despite it being ugly. Talking about winning this game without having a great day of offense and relying on six field goals Shook penned this about the game:

They needed all of them, too, considering they were rather ineffective on third down (4 for 16) and stalled despite entering Baltimore’s red zone on four different possessions. These are the games, though, that teach contenders like the Steelers how to succeed. Their defense played with consistent energy and aggression all afternoon, forcing a key turnover late and bowing up on Baltimore’s two-point conversion attempt, which never had a chance once Lamar Jackson rolled left into a wall of Steelers defenders. If we learned one thing from this game, it’s simply this: We can’t wait for the rematch.

At a certain point the Steelers deserve some credit. They are a team that wins ugly, but the bottom line is that they win. It kind of reminds me of Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns comic where Batman gets his much more explosive opponent in a mudhole to gain the edge on him. Batman says, “This isn’t a mud pit, it’s an operating table and I’m the surgeon.” The Steelers feel comfortable in a close game and they scrape these victories out masterfully. It’s a tough day and there’s plenty of blame to pass around the Baltimore locker room, but the Steelers do deserve their credit.

Jackson: “We can’t be beating ourselves in these types of game. We’ve got to fix that.”

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) November 17, 2024

Marlon Humphrey just jogged into the tunnel with 51 seconds left and his teammates still on the field. Not sure what went on there, but the optics weren’t good.

— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) November 17, 2024

It will be interesting to see where the frustrations lead after this game. According to Jeff Zrebiec, Marlon Humphrey ran into the tunnel early. Humphrey was vocally frustrated with the defensive effort against the Bengals last Thursday. Humphrey, who is often the one defensive hero the Ravens seem to be able to count on, may have let his emotions get the best of him, though standing out of the situation, that is simply speculation.

Rest of the NFL after a completely normal play happens:

Steelers Ravens: pic.twitter.com/onIANweCH6

— Bill Crawford (@dveBillCrawford) November 17, 2024

It was a chippy game with heightened emotions. It seemed like a skirmish was around every corner, in every shadow if you will. The offsetting penalties could actually be quite the conversational piece of this game. As long as an opponent joined in it made it seem like everything and anything goes. Was this the best way to handle it? I’m starting to think that the officials should punish the instigator and lean on replay assist to make sure they get it as right as they can in the moment. The officials’ job shouldn’t be to see if cooler heads eventually prevail after a bunch of offsetting penalties mean no consequences. This game clearly was a classic Ravens and Steelers battle. It had everything in the script: Defense, chippiness and a nail biting finish.

The song remains the same. The @steelers have won 8 of the last 9 meetings against the @Ravens Lamar falls to 1-4 all time against Pittsburgh and his numbers against the Steelers D continue to be the worst against any team in his career

— trey wingo (@wingoz) November 17, 2024

As long as he’s not playing the Chiefs (dynasty of his era), the Steelers (his team’s hated rival), or in the playoffs, Lamar is as good as any QB ever.

Unfortunately, in those spots (4-12 record, 75 rating, more turnovers than TDs) he’s simply bad.

Unpopular but undeniable.

— nick wright (@getnickwright) November 17, 2024

This looks an awful lot like the AFC Championship Game version of Lamar. Desperately wanting to prove something to the detriment of playing the best football to win. It’s there. Take what they give you.

— Glenn Clark (@GlennClarkRadio) November 17, 2024

Yeah, you see these takes? We have to defend Lamar Jackson again. It’s amazing how he was practically strolling to his third MVP award 24 hours ago and now it’s open season on his merits as a great quarterback. This is the type of game that unfortunately fuels the narratives that have been held over Jackson his entire career. Doesn’t it seem disingenuous? One second he’s amazing and the next second he can’t beat the Steelers and the sky is falling all around him. It’s going to be a fun week isn’t it? You may want to start watching Christmas movies now; I think we all need the distraction.

If the Ravens game didn’t spoil your football appetite, the Buffalo Bills had a fantastic game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The threat of the Chiefs winning their third straight Super Bowl may be alive, but you don’t have to worry about them having an undefeated season anymore. It’s the kind of Sunday for the Flock, where you have to grab joy anywhere you can. If this does it for you, let’s talk about the game.

The highlight of the entire NFL Sunday was Josh Allen’s 4th & 2 run for a touchdown that essentially put this game on ice for the Bills. The energy of the Buffalo stadium and Allen’s dynamic scamper made quite the scene. It’s the kind of magic we’re used to seeing from Lamar Jackson. This was as good a day for Allen’s MVP candidacy as it was a bad day for Jackson’s.

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?!

: @paramountplus pic.twitter.com/HjhmBiLbcr

— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) November 18, 2024

Allen’s teammates have nothing but glowing praise for him.

“He’s the GOAT. Every time we’re on the sideline watching we’re like ‘Oh sh*it that’s crazy’… that’s OUR guy. That’s MY guy.”

-Dorian Williams on Josh Allen’s touchdown run. #BillsMafia @BuffaloPlus pic.twitter.com/UeTkRsmGv8

— Dan Fetes (@danfetes) November 18, 2024

Amari Cooper on Josh Allen:

“The league has stars and he’s one of them. He’s just a tremendous talent and some guys are just made to play ball. I’ve been having a lot of joy since I’ve been here – we’ve won every game. It’s been cool.”

— Matt Parrino (@MattParrino) November 18, 2024

ESPN’s NFL Nation had one of their big takeaways that Allen is in the MVP conversation.

Describe the game in two words: MVP conversation. Allen made his case for being a front-runner in the MVP race with his 26-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-2 that practically killed any chance the Chiefs had to win the game. He weaved his way past defenders to get to the end zone, which was the second-longest scramble touchdown in his career.

The MVP award is basically a quarterback award at this point and team record and big moments have a lot to do with a quarterback winning it. Jackson took a hit today against a team that he struggles against and the Ravens dropped to the sixth spot in the AFC playoff picture. Allen just gave the Chiefs their first loss and allowed the Bills to remain in the picture for a top seed in the AFC. He clearly had an moment on that fourth down run for his MVP checklist.

Take care of yourselves on this “Don’t Poke The Bear Monday.” It was an interesting weekend of football, but one Baltimore wants to forget.

The post OTL: The Song Remains the Same appeared first on Russell Street Report.