BALTIMORE — Lamar Jackson jogged through wind and driving rain, soaking in muffled cheers from frigid fans when he was introduced before the game as one of the team’s seven Pro Bowl honorees. That, though, was the only time anyone at M&T Bank Stadium for the regular-season finale really saw Jackson.
For the rest of the day, the Ravens quarterback watched from the sideline huddled under a big coat, a reward for a job well done in the previous 16 games.
With the AFC No. 1 seed already assured, Jackson, linebacker Roquan Smith and several other starters sat out the regular-season finale, and the short-handed Ravens fell, 17-10, to the Pittsburgh Steelers in brutal, raw conditions at M&T Bank Stadium on Jan. 6.
The loss snaps a six-game winning streak for the Ravens, who finish the year at 13-4, tied for the second-most wins in franchise history. And, led by Jackson, the favorite to win the league’s Most Valuable Player Award, they have earned an extra week of rest. As the No. 1 seed, they earn a bye in the opening round of the postseason and will learn next weekend who they will meet in the divisional round of the playoffs at M&T Bank Stadium in two weeks.
With Jackson sidelined, Tyler Huntley made his first start of the season at quarterback and he struggled to get much traction in the miserable conditions. The offense was also playing without top receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Zay Flowers.
Huntley finished 15-for-28 for 146 yards and one touchdown.
The Steelers (10-7) increased their postseason chances with the win, but they still need help to earn a playoff berth and give the AFC North three playoff teams. (Cleveland, behind Joe Flacco, has already wrapped up a spot.)
The Steelers used their ground game to establish an early 7-0 lead. They marched 76 yards in 12 plays, much of it on the ground, and running back Najee Harris slashed up the middle for a 6-yard score late in the first quarter. At that point, the Steelers were averaging better than 6 yards a carry.
Huntley and the Ravens’ offense tallied just 34 yards on their first 15 plays. In the second quarter, though, Huntley hit Laquon Treadwell for a 16-yard reception, and then Huntley connected down the middle with tight end Isaiah Likely.
Likely broke one tackle, stiff-armed a defender and dove into the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown that tied the game at 7 with 2:19 left in the first half.
The Ravens’ defense later denied the Steelers by forcing a pair of first-half fumbles. Former Steeler Arthur Maulet recovered one, and then Broderick Washington recovered the other after Kyle Van Noy strip-sacked Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph with the Steelers driving in the final minute of the first half.
The Steelers took the lead for good on the opening play of the fourth quarter when Rudolph threaded a pass to Diontae Johnson over the middle. He got behind cornerback Rock Ya-Sin with no safety help behind him, and Johnson raced to the end zone for a 71-yard score and 14-7 Steelers lead.
Any comeback hope for the Ravens faded when Gus Edwards coughed up the ball at the Ravens’ 32-yard line midway through the fourth quarter. The Steelers mounted a short drive that cost the Ravens all three of their timeouts, and Chris Boswell’s 25-yard field goal extended the Steelers lead to 17-7 with 3:13 left.
That marked the first time all season that the Ravens trailed by more than one score, and a final drive ended with an anticlimactic 36-yard field goal by Justin Tucker with 16 seconds left.
Here are five quick impressions of the game, the Ravens’ seventh loss in the past eight games against the Steelers:
1. The Ravens avoided major injury, and that’s the biggest win.
The score of this game never mattered to the Ravens as much as their health coming out of it. With the AFC’s No. 1 seeding already secured, the Ravens’ top objective against the Steelers was to avoid major injury heading into the postseason.
With a 53-man roster, though, the Ravens couldn’t afford to sit every starter, and several of them played most of the game. The biggest injury scare came late in the third quarter when safety Geno Stone went down with an apparent left knee injury. He eventually walked off and did not return.
Early in the game, linebacker Odafe Oweh hobbled off with an ankle injury. Inside linebacker Del’Shawn Phillips suffered a shoulder injury — on the same play that Stone was injured — and defensive end Brent Urban was being evaluated for a concussion.
After the game, though, head coach John Harbaugh said, “It looks like we got through OK. Some of them looked a little tough. Right now, it looks like we would have all those guys back … for the divisional game.”
The Steelers, incidentally, might not have done so; All-Pro outside linebacker T.J. Watt left with a potentially serious knee injury that could sideline him for any playoff game next week. The Steelers must wait on other results to see whether they will earn a final AFC postseason berth.
Sure, the Ravens wanted to beat their archrivals from up the Pennsylvania Turnpike, but getting out of this game without major injury was always going to be the main goal.
2. Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy continue to pay big dividends.
In a Week 18 game in a driving rainstorm, with no playoff implications, Ravens’ 30-something edge rushers Jadeveon Clowney and Kyle Van Noy again proved that their signings by general manager Eric DeCosta were two of the best of the season.
With the Steelers moving late in the first half of a tie game, both Clowney and Van Noy blew up the Steelers’ drive. First, Clowney sacked quarterback Mason Rudolph and forced a fumble, though the Steelers recovered at the Ravens’ 42-yard line. Two plays later, Van Noy came off the edge and strip-sacked Rudolph, and this time, Broderick Washington recovered for the Ravens to keep the game tied at halftime.
With the Ravens’ edge rush group still ailing — Tyus Bowser hasn’t played a snap all season and David Ojabo has been hurt for most of it — Clowney was brought on board in mid-August, and Van Noy signed a month later.
On the high side of 30, both insisted they still had something left, and they’ve proved it. Clowney’s sack against the Steelers gives him 9.5 for the season, which matches a career high and also triggered a contract incentive that pays him an additional $750,000.
After the play, Brent Urban and other players celebrated with Clowney during a Steelers timeout.
“He’s been talking about that [incentive] for like the past two weeks,” defensive tackle Michael Pierce said with a grin. “That was a very long celebration. That might have been a record for the longest celebration. No, we’re happy for ‘J.D.’ He’s having a career year.”
So, too, is Van Noy, who recorded his career-best ninth sack in this game and didn’t even join the Ravens until Week 4. When he signed, the 32-year-old said some viewed his age as a liability, while he viewed his experience as an advantage. Both he and Clowney have looked reborn in this defense.
“We wouldn’t be where we’re at without those two guys,” Harbaugh said.
“We knew they were great players,” he added. “You don’t exactly know how it’s going to go. … But talking to both of those guys when we signed them, they said the right things, and I would say they followed through with everything they said they wanted to do and more.”
3. Isaiah Likely is a force, especially after the catch.
When Mark Andrews suffered a serious ankle injury against Cincinnati in Week 11, tight end Isaiah Likely expressed complete confidence that he could step into the role of the Pro Bowl tight end. Likely might not have the telepathic connection with Lamar Jackson that Andrews has had since the duo’s rookie summer together, but Likely every week looks more and more like a dominant offensive force, especially with the ball in his hands.
For the second straight week, Likely turned a catch into a touchdown with outstanding individual effort after the catch. Last week, Likely fought off defenders and raced down the right sideline for a 35-yard touchdown. In this game, Likely caught a pass at the Steelers’ 10-yard line with cornerback Levi Wallace draped on him. Wallace shook the tackle attempt by Wallace, then stiff-armed Patrick Peterson to the turf and dove into the end zone for a 27-yard score.
“I’m just trying to not get tackled,” Likely said. “I’m trying to fight for any extra yards I can get. I’m just trying to get in the end zone, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to get there. I stiff-armed [Peterson] because I knew I was close.”
Two weeks ago against San Francisco, Likely had thrown a stiff-arm into 49ers safety Ji’Ayir Brown that sent Brown straight into the turf on what proved to be a 34-yard catch-and-run by Likely.
In the past six games with Andrews out, Likely has totaled 21 catches for 322 yards. That’s an average of 15.3 yards a catch, and Likely is doing much of that damage with the ball in his hand. He has five touchdowns in the past five games.
The Ravens have expressed optimism that Andrews can return at some point in the postseason, but Likely’s emergence as a seamless replacement for the Pro Bowl tight ends has been impressive. It’s a big reason why the Ravens are entering the playoffs as the No. 1 seed.
4. Trenton Simpson showed he’ll be one to watch in 2024.
The Ravens drafted inside linebacker Trenton Simpson in the third round out of Clemson this year, and the prevailing view was that he would be the heir apparent to Patrick Queen. The Ravens had already signed Roquan Smith to a long-term extension, lessening the likelihood they would also re-sign Queen after his rookie deal expires this season.
Both Smith and Queen played at a Pro Bowl level this season, though, leaving Simpson little chance to make an impact. In the first 16 games, Simpson had just two tackles on defense, playing a total of 20 defensive snaps across four games.
In this game, though, Simpson took over at inside linebacker early in the second half when Queen went out, and then he played the remainder of the game alongside Queen after Del’Shawn Phillips suffered a shoulder injury.
Midway through the third quarter, Simpson roared through a gap on the left side of the line and hammered Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph for Simpson’s first career sack. Later, with the Steelers driving deep in Ravens territory, Simpson sniffed out a jet sweep run by Jaylen Warren and dropped him for a 5-yard loss.
Simpson finished with five tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss.
“Couldn’t be happier for him,” Queen said, adding with a grin that Simpson might even be faster than him. “I just love the guy. Great player. … His name is definitely going to be hot for the rest of his time [in Baltimore].”
Simpson said every time he came to the sideline, Smith was there to offer tips about Steelers tendencies and formations. “He definitely played a huge role in my success today.”
It’s unclear what the Ravens will do in the offseason with their numerous defensive free agents. General manager Eric DeCosta plainly said this past fall that in light of the Lamar Jackson deal, building the rest of the roster becomes more challenging with the constraints of a salary cap. Smith has already been paid. They might choose to use a costly franchise tag on Pro Bowl defensive lineman Justin Madubuike.
If the Ravens determine that they can’t afford to keep Queen — a player they admire greatly — then they might be looking for Simpson to step into that role. He’s never looked more ready.
5. The work of running from past playoff ghosts begins now.
The questions started last week, and they continued in the locker room after this game. The Ravens have earned the No. 1 seed for the playoffs, just as they did in 2019, and any coach or player who was with the team at that time recalls how that went.
After resting several starters in the regular-season finale, and then resting through a bye week, the Ravens came out flat and sputtered through a stunning 28-12 divisional-round loss to sixth-seeded Tennessee at M&T Bank Stadium.
With the No. 1 seed secured, the Ravens again chose to rest key players including Jackson, Roquan Smith, Odell Beckham Jr. and a few other hobbled starters such as Zay Flowers and Kevin Zeitler, and that move looked especially wise given the brutal weather conditions.
But fair or not, any measurement of the 2023 season really will hinge on what comes next. Should the season be deemed a success? Absolutely. Head coach John Harbaugh likes to say winning is hard in the NFL, and the Ravens have done it more often than anyone else this season.
But another early playoff exit would send the good feelings of this season careening off a cliff given the painful memory of 2019. The pressure is on this team to change that narrative and move deeper into the postseason. The pressure is also on Jackson, whose spectacular regular-season success has not been duplicated in the playoffs. His 1-3 postseason record remains fodder for the persistent critics of the soon-to-be two-time MVP.
The Ravens insist that sitting Jackson and other key starters against the Steelers won’t disrupt the rhythm and mojo of this year’s team, and it shouldn’t. This might be a more talented and deeper team than that 2019 team that finished 14-2. Jackson is a more mature player, and his offensive firepower at wide receiver is far superior. The defense is deep and fast. And with the week of rest, it should be healthy.
In 2019, Jackson suggested that the Ravens might have been looking past Tennessee toward a highly anticipated meeting with the second-seeded Kansas City Chiefs. Harbaugh bristled at that idea, but regardless, no one in the Ravens building in the next two weeks who was also in that building in 2019 will be looking past any opponent they might face. That memory itself will be highly motivating.
“We’re definitely mindful [of] what happened last time,” defensive tackle Michael Pierce said.
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