Ravens 34-17 Steelers (December 21, 2024) Game Recap

BALTIMORE — Lamar Jackson was solid in Baltimore’s biggest game of the season so far.

Then, after one of the star quarterback’s rare gaffes, one of his teammates delivered the play of the day.

Jackson threw three touchdown passes and Marlon Humphrey scored on a fourth-quarter interception return to help the Ravens move level with Pittsburgh atop the AFC North with a 34-17 victory over the Steelers on Saturday.

Pittsburgh (10-5) would have clinched the division with a win, but now the teams are deadlocked after the Ravens (10-5) won for just the second time in the last 10 games of this series. Baltimore secured a spot in the playoffs. The Steelers had already done this.

“It was cool to get a pick-6, but when I clinched a playoff spot and beat the Steelers, I’m just glad the guys came in, put in the work and we just took care of business “Humphrey said. “I felt like this team has had our number over the years. Just take care of business, man. I felt like the performance we did wasn’t perfect, but I felt like it was what we were supposed to do.”

Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes, the second of which tied the game with 5:14 left in the third quarter. Jackson answered with a 7-yard scoring strike to Mark Andrews, and after Pittsburgh turned the ball over on downs, a 44-yard run by Derrick Henry put the Ravens in the red zone.

That attempt failed as Jackson was intercepted for the fourth time this season, but then Humphrey – who was celebrating the birth of his son Duke – picked off Wilson and went 37 yards to the end zone to give Baltimore a lead in the last series Time was wafer thin. The previous nine games between the Steelers and Ravens have been decided by seven points or fewer.

“My whole family is in town to help my wife and everything,” Humphrey said. “I texted her before. I’m supposed to pick her up from the hospital and discharge her with the baby. So just a lot of great things happened this week.”

As a starter, Jackson improved to 2-4 against Pittsburgh. This was his first home game against the Steelers since 2020.

“I feel like we worked hard all season and had ups and downs all season, but to win a playoff against such a great team is great,” Jackson said. “It means we are moving in the right direction.”

Henry rushed for 162 yards.

Pittsburgh entered the game with a plus-18 lead in turnovers, but the Ravens had the edge in that regard Saturday. Baltimore recovered three of its own mistakes and had two big takeaways.

“We didn’t control the running game. We never did that. If you don’t do that, you’re going to have to make some splash plays or clearly win the turnover battle, and we didn’t do that either,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “There were a few balls on the ground that we didn’t catch. Then of course we turned the ball over going in – that got seven points off the board – and they had a pick-6. The rest is history, as they say.”

Jackson hit Isaiah Likely for a 9-yard touchdown to open the scoring. Wilson answered with a 1-yard scoring pass to MyCole Pruitt, and the Steelers appeared poised to take the lead when the veteran quarterback broke through for a 19-yard run into Baltimore territory.

But Ar’Darius Washington delivered a hard hit to Wilson at the end of that play that knocked the ball off his feet. Kyle Van Noy rebounded for the Ravens at the Baltimore 4.

The Ravens then drove 96 yards and took a 14-7 lead on Jackson’s 14-yard touchdown toss to Rashod Bateman.

Wilson threw a 12-yard TD to Cordarrelle Patterson to tie the game in the third.

Milestones

Jackson set a team record with his 37th touchdown pass of the season and has now passed for a career-high 3,787 yards.

Ravens receiver Zay Flowers had five catches for 100 yards, surpassing the 1,000 mark this season.

Henry surpassed the 1,500-yard mark for the fourth time. He’s now at 1,636, a mark he’s only surpassed once – in his 2,027-yard campaign in 2020.

Injuries

Steelers CB Joey Porter Jr. injured his calf and WR Ben Skowronek injured his hip. … Baltimore RB Justice Hill left the game due to a concussion.

Next

Both teams play on Christmas Day to complete three games in 11 days. Pittsburgh hosts Kansas City on Wednesday and Baltimore plays at Houston.

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