Steelers at Ravens: Highlights, score and recap

The Baltimore Ravens got back to winning ways by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-14 at M&T Bank Stadium in Week 9.

Baltimore used a suffocating defensive performance to stymie their bitter AFC North rivals. The Steelers were held to just 300 yards of total offense, including a mere 36 rushing, despite the return of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Big Ben was sacked twice and threw an interception. But he really suffered by seeing his running game stuffed. The Ravens thoroughly blanked Le’Veon Bell, holding arguably the NFL’s most dynamic running back to just 32 yards on 14 carries.

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco connected with Mike Wallace on a 95-yard scoring bomb, before Justin Tucker kicked a pair of field goals.

Baltimore’s second touchdown came from special teams, when running back Javorius Allen blocked a punt. Wideout Chris Moore scooped up the loose ball and ran it in for six. Flacco added icing by throwing a two-point pass to Steve Smith Snr.

The Steelers were abused, but resilient. Roethlisberger hit Antonio Brown for a score and ran one in himself to make things interesting.

But the Ravens recovered the onside kick to even their record at 4-4. Their first win after four-straight defeats also dropped the Steelers to the same record.

Here are the stars from the game:

Three Stars

1. Zach Orr

Baltimore’s linebackers were all over Bell from start to finish. It was Zach Orr who most often led the charge.

He accounted for eight combined tackles, including six solo stops. Orr and fellow inside ‘backer C.J. Mosley combined for 13 tackles.

The pair also stayed disciplined in pursuit against one of football’s shiftiest runners. They took away Bell’s cutback lanes superbly.

Orr is defying expectations as a 6’0″, 225-pounder. He should be too lightweight for the middle, but the third-year man’s sideline-to-sideline speed is making it close to impossible for offenses to get blockers on him at the second level.

2. Timmy Jernigan

There isn’t a better one-two, defensive tackle punch in the NFL than Brandon Williams and Timmy Jernigan. The latter is the big-play specialist of the two, a fact he proved by pulling off a critical interception of Roethlisberger in the third quarter.

Jernigan pounced to snag a ball tipped by man-mountain Williams. There’s that combination again.

Jernigan and Williams were also at the forefront of Baltimore’s efforts to stop Bell. They pushed blockers back in his face and kept O-linemen off Orr and Mosley.

With these two at the heart of the front seven, the Ravens defensive front will continue to dominate.

3. Mike Wallace

Two games in a row with 120 yards or more receiving proves Wallace is still a pretty consistent source of big plays. In fact, his 95-yard catch and run for the points gave him a distinctive mark in league history.

Wallace only managed three more catches on the day, but finished with 124 yards to bring the game-breaking dynamism back to what had been a stunted passing attack.

The Ravens and Flacco need Wallace to continue taking the top off coverage to keep defenses honest and maybe create some lanes for a stumbling running game.

Next: Steelers at Ravens Week 9: Game preview, odds, prediction

But Pitta remains as sure-handed as ever. He’s made catches on 66.7 percent of the targets where Flacco’s called his number, per Sporting Charts. Pitta will come up big in the clutch again against the Steelers.

Next Week

The Ravens will host another AFC North rival, the Cleveland Browns, on Thursday night to begin Week 10. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh welcome the Dallas Cowboys to the Steel City next Sunday.