Did the Steelers Help the Ravens By Beating Them 23-20?

No one is talking about it, but what if the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Ravens by more than three points? In winning the game, the Steelers became tied with the Ravens and several other teams seeking a wild card spot at 8-6. Although they tied the Ravens, the Ravens had the tie-breaker over the Steelers.

Because the Ravens and Steelers split the two games they played against each by the same winning margin of three points, a tie-breaker would have to settle it. The only problem with that is the Steelers could have went for a score on their last drive instead of kneeling down three times and owned the tie-breaker.

They had almost two minutes left and were on their own 46 yard line. If they would have tried to get another 20 yards they could have tried a field goal and had a six point margin of victory. This would have given them the head to head tie-breaker, which is the first tie-breaker in the NFL, over the Ravens. But they were content to just win the game and helped the Ravens be in the driver's seat for the wild card. This was probably a coaching decision

I'm not sure what other tie-breakers some of the other teams involved in the wild card chase would have over the Steelers, but at least we would be ahead of Baltimore. Watch the Steelers vs Ravens video highlights and check it out for yourself.

Can The Steelers Bounce Back?

Three straight losses and two in overtime and the Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves fighting for a wild-card spot. Winning the division looks like a long-shot and making the playoffs as a wild card will take a lot more effort than they've shown lately. With Ben and Charlie hurt, the Steelers had to use Dennis Dixson at quarterback. He did well enough to keep the Steelers in the game, even with the interception in overtime in a 20-17 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

The real disappointment was how the defense played. Without Troy Polamalu the Steelers defense looked tired and lackadaisical. The corners were playing so far off the receivers that Flacco had no problem getting them in field goal range for the final score. The tackling was awfull and they could have blitzed a lot more than they did. Every time they left Flacco have time, he burned them.

That's three games in a row that the Steelers should have won. Mike Tomlin says the Steelers are ready to surge after their recent slump. It looks like Ben will play against the Oakland Raiders. Let's hope that Dick LeBeau has the defense back to it's aggressive self with that killer instinct. Check out the Steelers vs Ravens video highlights.