BALTIMORE — The Ravens were looking to get out of the last regular-season game against the Pittsburgh Steelers healthy and ready for the playoffs.
A win would have been nice but not needed because the Ravens had already clinched the top seed in the AFC postseason.
With a number of their key players watching from the sideline, the Ravens could not keep pace with Pittsburgh in a sloppy 17-10 loss in a steady rain on Saturday.
“At least we’ll get a chance to write two [in] the next two weeks, and then we’ll go from there,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “So, hopefully we’ll earn the opportunity to write more than that. But I’m proud of the team, coaches, players [and] everybody in the organization for what’s been accomplished up until this point in the regular season, and now we have an opportunity and a challenge to take it in to the postseason and play the best football we possibly can. I’m excited for our guys to do that, and I know they’re going to work hard to prepare to do that.”
Reserve safety Geno Stone, backup linebacker Del’Shawn Phillips and defensive end Brent Urban did leave the game with injuries, but the Ravens should be close to full strength when they play their first postseason game in two weeks. Harbaugh did not think any of the injuries were serious.
The Raven played without quarterback Lamar Jackson, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., cornerback Marlon Humphrey, guard Kevin Zeitler, wide receiver Zay Flowers, linebacker Roquan Smith and safety Kyle Hamilton.
Ravens backup quarterback Tyler Huntley was inconsistent and completed 15 of 28 pass attempts for 146 yards with a touchdown.
“We’re on the right path,” Huntley said. “[We] had a lot of starters that sat out this game just getting ready for the postseason. We’re on the right path.”
The Steelers took a 14-7 lead on a 71-yard touchdown from Mason Rudolph to Diontae Johnson with 14:49 left in the game.
A fumble by Gus Edwards gave the Steelers the ball on the Ravens’ 32. It was the second straight game in which Edwards has lost a fumble.
Pittsburgh put the game away with a 25-yard field goal by Chris Boswell. It was the first time the Ravens trailed by two scores all season.
Justin Tucker converted a 36-yard field goal with 16 seconds left.
The Steelers also beat the Ravens, 17-10, in Week 5 and have won seven of the last eight games in the series. The teams could meet again in the playoffs.
Steelers running back Najee Harris (22) rushes as Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Justin Madubuike (92) defends during the first half at M&T Bank Stadium. By Tommy Gilligan-USA Today Sports
Steelers running back Najee Harris had 112 yards on 26 carries with a touchdown.
“I thought we played really hard. I thought we played tough,” Harbaugh said. “We didn’t play great by any stretch. We can certainly stop the run better, [and] we gave up the big pass play. I thought the pass rush was really good, and the coverage was good for the most part except for one play.”
Rudolph was 18-for-20 for 152 yards with a touchdown.
The Steelers focused on running the ball and using check-down passes by Rudolph in the tough conditions.
Pittsburgh scored on its second drive of the game with a 6-yard run by Harris. Rudolph handed the ball off 10 times on the 12-play drive.
The Ravens ran six plays for 10 yards in the opening quarter.
After Baltimore running back Melvin Gordon fumbled at midfield, the Ravens got the ball back when Del’Shawn Philips forced another fumble that was recovered by Arthur Maulet, who played one season with the Steelers in 2021.
Gordon has fumbled 19 times over his career, the most of any non-quarterback since 2015, according to ESPN Stats.
The Ravens tied the game, 7-7, on a 27-yard pass from Huntley to Isaiah Likely with 2:19 left in the half. Edwards had a 29-yard run to boost that drive. Likely broke a tackle and then threw a stiff arm before diving into the end zone.
Kyle Van Noy and Jadeveon Clowney each sacked Rudolph to keep the score tied at the half.
“No team better than this one, that I’ve been on, and we prepared that way this week,” Clowney said. “We knew what we had coming in here this week, Pittsburgh, and we sacked some guys, but guys showed up and played and just came up a little short. It’s hard to win with turnovers in this league. But we are looking forward to what is next. We will have a good week of practice coming up. We’ll watch football this weekend and see who our opponent is, and we’ll be ready.”
