The prognosis for a meniscectomy was anywhere from four to six weeks, but Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger returned in only three…

Whether that was a wise decision or not will be left to Ben’s own thoughts, but the Steelers did not look like themselves in this road matchup against AFC North division rival Baltimore.

Right out of the gate it was apparent that Pittsburgh attempted to protect Roethlisberger by running the football.

And running the football some more… and… you get the point. The Steelers could only must 36 rushing yards on 18 attempts in this game. To make matters worse, besides Ben’s timing being out of sync with his receivers (something we’re accustomed to seeing when he first comes back from time off due to injury) center Maurkice Pouncey also left the game early, replaced by B.J. Finney in the first quarter.

Overall, Pittsburgh was penalized an eye-popping thirteen times (for 99 yards) in this game. Each of those flags slowed whatever momentum the club could muster through the first three quarters: false starts, facemasks, illegal use of hands, illegal formation and a bogus roughing the kicker penalty. (Go back and find it in our archives: it was garbage!)

The disruption was enough to derail what little hope the Steelers had to beat the Ravens in their house, something they haven’t been able to do consistently for the better part of this decade. Combine the lackluster offensive output with relinquishing splash plays such as a Mike Wallace 95-yard touchdown reception and a blocked punt return for a score, and you have all the making of a classic Mike Tomlin road loss.

The game wasn’t all for naught: the defense had moments where they shined. Artie Burns had his first career interception. James Harrison came through with two sacks and a strip fumble (which wasn’t recovered by the Steelers). Ryan Shazier had a Troy Polamalu moment where he timed the snap and about took Ravens RB Terrence West’s head off, jarring the ball loose for a giant loss near the Ravens own goal line (which, unfortunately, also wasn’t recovered by Pittsburgh).

Jordan Berry punted nine types. (Not a misprint.) He had an average of 47.9 yards per punt. (Too bad one was blocked.)

The offense finally got going in the fourth quarter, when they realized they had to score and do so quickly. Finally, the team put up some points but would fall short in their comeback bid with an infamous play that will forever live in the bowels of Steelers lore (more on that below).

Play of the Game

It was hard to find one. We’ll have one candidate for a play of the year in Sunday’s specific series by the same namesake, but as for a single, deserving play in this ugly loss, there’s one that made me cringe quite a bit watching it (and it still makes me cringe to this day to see it).

Ben Roethlisberger stands back to pass with the team down 21-7 in the fourth quarter. Just about every Steelers receiver is covered (or blatantly held by a Ravens defender) leaving Ben with only one option: to run.

However, Ben isn’t the same youthful runner he once was. And he was never truly a “running quarterback” by definition either!

Add in his bulky knee brace and surgery less than three weeks earlier, and, well, you watch!

“Not” Play of the Game

I couldn’t help but add this to the array of videos for this week. My vivid memory of this play, following the above Ben touchdown scramble, is that I had hoped Coach Tomlin would give Chris Boswell a shot at trying his “rabona” onside kick attempt.

The gimmick works a lot differently when executed to perfection, which is anything but what happened here!