Well, that sucked.

Not only did the Steelers drop their third straight game, but they dropped their third straight game to the Ravens, our most hated rival. Nothing seemed to go right, which is always the worst, especially against a division rival.

At least all of this didn’t happen at Heinz Field. I think Twitter would’ve exploded if that was the case. Regardless, it appears the defense showed up to play, minus a play here or there.

Alright, let’s talk defense, starting with some positives.

Father Time doesn’t exist

James Harrison looked ageless out there. He came away from this game with 2 sacks on Ravens QB Joe Flacco, and added this forced fumble which set Baltimore back 9 yards on the play.

The play came near the end of the 3rd quarter, where the Steelers desperately needed to generate some momentum, which Harrison did, forcing the Ravens to punt on the next play following the failed 3rd down conversion.

Young Bucks

Anthony Chickillo had a nice game, playing his most snaps to date.

In the first quarter, Chickillo made a nice play by tracking down Kenneth Dixon and holding him to only six yards. I say “only six yards” because it would’ve been a lot more if he wasn’t paying attention. Overall he had a solid game.

Speaking of younger players stepping up, Artie Burns had his first career interception, which was also the first pick by a Steelers defensive back this season. At 5:59 in the first quarter, Stephon Tuitt and Mike Mitchell were pressuring Joe Flacco. Flacco tried to throw it to his usual checkdown, TE Dennis Pitta, but Artie Burns stepped in front of it and picked it off.

A nice little play for the Steelers first-round pick.

Game Changer

Ryan Shazier really displayed his potential throughout this game. At one point, Shazier shoots through the left guard and left tackle to force a fumble on Terrance West (which was recovered by the Ravens, but for a huge 15 yard loss).

At the beginning of the third quarter, Ryan Shazier makes another great play. The Ravens ran a screen, and Shazier read it before the snap with another tackle for loss.

It’s really amazing to see him read these plays and move quickly to the ball carrier.

Ugh

Now, let’s talk about the bad.

At 1:21 in the first quarter, the Steelers defense gave up a 95-yard touchdown to Mike Wallace. He was running a slant route, which is perfect for a speedy receiver like Wallace.

If you can get a step on your guy, and any defender after that, it’ll be an easy six, and that’s exactly what happened.

The Steelers were in a single high safety on the play. Wallace got a step on Burns, and only had Mitchell to beat, which he obviously did. Wallace gave Mitchell a stiff arm and he was gone, for the longest pass play in Ravens history.

Conclusion

Overall the Steelers were able to put pressure on Flacco, and contain the Ravens running game, after leaking 362 rushing yards in the previous 2 games.

The NFL’s current rushing leader, Dallas Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott (891 yards) comes to Heinz Field this Sunday. It will be interesting to see if the Steelers will be able to contain Dallas’ ground game in much the same way, and create some turnovers in front of the home crowd.