Baltimore Ravens edge past Pittsburgh Steelers 13-10 to extend AFC North lead to 8-2 – NFL Recap
The Baltimore Ravens on Sunday (Nov 18) consolidated their American Football Conference (AFC) North lead to two games by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers (13-10) at 8-2 just ahead of the Steelers 6-4.
It was another hard-fought game with a tight finish, but thanks to return of Jacoby Jones the Ravens were able to create opportunities at the right time to make sure they came out as winners.
Justin Tucker kicked two field goals and receiver Jones provided the offence a very important opportunity on a return to score the difference-making touchdown.
It was overall a strong offensive show by the Ravens despite the fact that the game was a low-scoring tie. The offensive effort was again crucial for the Ravens to claim another win against the Steelers who appeared to be struggling without quarterback Ben
Roethlisberger in the side.
Ben has missed first game of the season with a shoulder and rib injury and might do so a couple of more weeks because some media sections have cited doctors’ opinion that the player will be out for at least three weeks.
It was predicted to be a tough fight for the Steelers without Ben and it ended to be well within line of the earlier projections. The problem for the Steelers now is that Ravens have got a dominant advantage in the division.
The Ravens courtesy of the win are in commanding position atop the AFC North, while actual competition of the Steelers is now with the Cincinnati Bengals who are fast catching up on the league’s points table.
It is now a must-win situation for the Steelers if they want to stay ahead in the race for playoffs, while the divisional title would be a real challenge for them.
Last year, the Steelers had lost their both games to the Ravens and at the end surrenderd the tiebreaker advantage as well. They were lucky to make the playoffs without requiring a wildcard opportunity race, but they were thrashed out by the Denver Broncos
in a humiliating manner.
It is pertinent to mention that kicker returner Justin Tucker was the main difference in the side. He has been performing well throughout since the preseason phase.
Overall, all players contributed to the Ravens’ victory, including quarterback Joe Flacco. It was a total team effort not a work of an individual player. Since it was a low-scoring game, no player had an opportunity from either side to put higher tally of
numbers in their record books.
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