Breaking down the good, the bad, and the ugly in the Steelers loss to the Baltimore Ravens
The Good, Bad, and Ugly column is a breakdown of several segments of each game into each of a grading category of “good”, “bad”, or “ugly”. To get to the nitty gritty, Joe Kuzma dissects three moments from each game which could be best classified as each of those labels.
I’m going to mix it up this week for the final edition of “GBU” for the Steelers 2019 season and just go in order of preference here…
Bad – Duck Hodges’ fumble
Steelers Ball: 2nd Quarter 0:54 – 2nd-and-10 PIT 45
In my opinion, this is the straw that broke the camel’s back.
With the Steelers having just lost their one-point lead and falling behind by two in a now 9-7 game, they’d get the ball back with 1:05 remaining in the first half, while also looking forward to getting the ball to start the second half.
Then disaster struck.
Duck Hodges was blitzed by Ravens LB Matt Judon, and as the Steelers quarterback tried to spin free, he loosely one-handed the football which was punched away.
The Ravens would get the ball back again with 45 seconds remaining in the second quarter and on the Steelers 23-yard-line. Baltimore would score a touchdown 4 plays later, extending their lead to 16-7 before halftime.
Good – T.J. Watt‘s forced fumble
Ravens Ball: 3rd Quarter 13:21 – 2nd-and-10 BLT 32
The Steelers offense would struggle to start the second half and instantly go three-and-out, giving the ball right back to the Ravens.
Defensive Player of the Year candidate T.J. Watt shows up yet again in a big game with a big play, stripping the football from Ravens running back Gus Edwards on Baltimore’s third play of the drive.
The Steelers would get the ball on the Ravens 34-yard-line and eventually add three points to the scoreboard, their final points of the game.
Note: Diontae Johnson‘s would-be touchdown was also on this drive, but was ruled out-of-bounds with no challenge from Head Coach Mike Tomlin.
Ugly – Jordan Berry‘s fumble
Steelers Ball: 4th Quarter 4:41 – 1st-and-10 PIT 19
Based on the time of the game and the Steelers field position, Mike Tomlin probably felt better about his defense in this spot and was forced to punt when the offense couldn’t generate any yards on three plays.
Then more disaster struck, as Steelers punter Jordan Berry failed to secure the snap, and worse, didn’t secure the ball after that, fumbling and allowing the Ravens to score a special teams touchdown to go up 26-10.
