The Top 7 Steelers Moments vs. The Ravens
It's Ravens week.
6-0 Steelers vs. 5-1 Ravens. 1st place vs. 2nd place. Seeding already on the line.
They hate us. We hate them. You know what it is. They swept the Steelers last year.
So with it being the first meeting of the 2020 season between the two, I wanted to bring back some good vibes, some good juju heading into the Week 8 battle for 1st in Baltimore. I'm sure most Steelers fans will have different lists besides one or two, that's why this is my list.
The 6:
7. James Harrison, Big Ben Dominate On MNF - November 5, 2007
Primetime matchups between Steelers and Ravens typically create 13-10 nail biter ballgames especially in November and December. Not this time. 38-7 the final. It was nice to not have to feel like you lost 5 years off your life against the Ravens for once. Total domination from the first snap. James Harrison was a one-man wrecking crew that night. 10 tackles. 3.5 sacks. 1 INT and a fumble recovery. Baltimore had no answer for Deebo.
Then on offense Big Ben was slinging it to perfection. 13-16 for 209 yards and 5 touchdowns. It was 35-7 at half and the game was over.
6. Charlie Batch Wins In Baltimore - December 2, 2012
This game would be a lot higher if the Steelers wouldn't have ended up totally shitting the bed down the stretch that December in 2012. It was our Super Bowl that year because we didn't follow it up with anything after losing the next three games and dropping to a crummy 8-8. Big Ben was out with a rib injury. Baltimore was 1st in the division. We were heading into the Ravens nest with the wily vet Charlie Batch who had just thrown 3 picks in Cleveland the week before.
It wasn't looking good. And it didn't start that great, either. Steelers were down 13-6 at half then they tied it 13-13 in the 3rd before Emmanuel Sanders somehow made himself fumble after catching a ball over the middle of the field that he should have housed. Ravens and Ray Rice punch it in to take the lead 20-13 at the end of the 3rd.
Then at the start of the 4th the Steelers are driving before Batch throws a pick to Ed Reed in the endzone. At that point you're thinking "that's it. It was a valiant effort, but it's just too much to overcome". Somehow, it was not. The football gods were on the Steelers side that day. James Harrison comes up with a strip sack of Flacco, Heath Miller hits the pylon, the Steelers get the ball back for a perfectly executed 4-minute drive, Suisham seals the deal at the buzzer, then we get this.
5. Santonio Sneaks Over The Goal Line - December 14, 2008
Ahhh this is more like it with Steelers-Ravens. 13-9 Steelers win on the road. There's just something so much sweeter about beating the Ravens in Baltimore. It was the real start of the run to Super Bowl XLIII in Week 15.
It was a classic Steelers-Ravens throw down back and forth. Not a lot of points. A lot of physicality. And Big Ben with the ball in his hands for the final drive. Winner takes the AFC North.
Baltimore punted back to the Steelers with 3:40 left leading 9-6. Big Ben had to go 92 yards in that time if he wanted to win it. That's exactly what he did. An all-time clutch drive with a vintage Big Ben backyard play to hit Santonio for the game clinching touchdown with 45 seconds left.
It was an eerily similar drive to what we were going to see less than two months later in Tampa Bay.
4. Troy Polamalu Strip Sack - December 5, 2010
Here we go again. Steelers-Ravens in Baltimore on Sunday Night Football with the division on the line. Steelers couldn't get anything going at all on offense trailing 10-3 in the 4th quarter. They hit a field goal to cut the deficit. Baltimore has the ball near midfield with 3:30 left in the game looking to drain the clock before Troy happens.
The lone ranger instincts of Troy at it's finest. Somehow no one even looks his way. My pops and I are still shocked he was able to get there that easily.
And this play sets my next moment up perfectly.
3. The Divisional Comeback - January 15, 2011
The two finished the decade by doing what we had become so accustomed to throughout the prior 10 years - meeting three times in a season. They did it in 2008 and once again in 2010.
The season series was split with each team winning on the road and the Steelers winding up taking the North (again). In comes the Ravens in the Divisional round looking to finally bury their Pittsburgh playoff demons and, for a while, it was looking like they would. A disastrous second quarter led the Steelers to be down 21-7 at the half.
Then Heinz Field turned up big time in the 3rd quarter. The comeback was on. Ryan Clark forces the fumble. Flacco fumbles the snap. Flacco throws the pick then BAM all tied at 21. Finished off the game 31-24 to send Baltimore packing in January again and move onto the AFC title game.
2. The Immaculate Extension - Christmas Day 2016
I know this will probably get looked down upon because of who the play prominently features, and believe me I am by no means any where close to someone resembling an Antonio Brown fan nowadays, but this play won a division. Look at the nickname for gods sake. Do or die. No timeouts. 13 seconds left taking on three defenders after getting hit before the goal line. All-time stuff to clinch the North.
1. 43 Sends Pittsburgh To Super Bowl 43 - January 18, 2009
3-0 vs. Ravens in 2008. Game clinching house call to send the boys to the Super Bowl. Nothing more needs to be said.