Baltimore slip up in the snow

The Ravens couldn't overcome the elements or the Pittsburgh Steelers as winter snow covered the M T Bank Stadium. The Steelers avenged their defeat from earlier in the season in a hard fought 7 - 6 victory.

In the atrocious conditions, offensive yards were always going to be at a premium, as Ravens QB Joe Flacco found on the first snap of the game. As he transitioned from his 5 step drop to pass to Boldin his back foot slipped away from him. Before he could regain his balance Cory Hampton smashed him to the floor to record a sack on the first play of the game.

It was a pattern that would be repeated throughout the game. The Ravens had the better of the first half, sacking Roethlisberger 3 times, and registered the games first points just before the half when the ever reliable S Graham kicked over from 39yds.

After the half both sides forced 3 and outs, with Baltimore finding touch on the punt at the 5yd line. Roethlisberger led the Steelers on a 95yd drive that belied the conditions, taking 15 plays and using 12 minutes. On the final play of the drive running back Rashard Mendenhall slipped through to score from 11yds, the only TD of the game.

Baltimore may rue their conservative approach as they kicked a 31yd FG with 6 minutes left to play instead of going for the TD. They did get the ball cak at the two minute warning but Flacco couldn't sustain the drive and they turned the ball over on downs.

The Ravens loss puts them at 9/3 and back in to the chasing pack as competition hots up for the AFC playoff places. Pittsburgh lead the AFC, and the NFL, on 10/2. The ravens head to The Texans next week and will welcome back Ray Lewis to the line up.

NFL Scoreboard - Pittsburgh Steelers (10/2) at Baltimore Ravens (9/3)

December 5, 2010 1 2 3 4 F Pittsburgh Steelers 0 0 0 7 7 Baltimore Ravens 0 3 0 3 6 Top Performers Pittsburgh Steelers - Stats B Roethlisberger 19/25 234yds R Mendenhall 52yds 3.7avg 1TD Baltimore Ravens - Stats R Rice 86yds 4.7avg K Gregg 5tkl 2Tfl 1 sack	Team Stats Comparison PIT BAL First Downs 17 13 3rd Down Efficiency 5/11 4/12 4th Down Efficiency 0/0 0/1 Total Yards 331 287 Passing Yards 222 155 Rushing Yards 54 88 Penalties-Penalty Yards 6/39 1/10 Turnovers 0 0 Time of Possession 36:42 23:18
Scoring Summary Second Quarter PIT BAL BAL 00:51 S Graham 39yd FG 0 3 Fourth Quarter PIT BAL PIT 14:54 R Mendenhall 11yd run (J Reed kick) 7 3 BAL 05:40 S Graham 31yd FG 7 6
Pittsburgh Steelers Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT B Roethlisberger 19/25 234 0 0 B Leftwich 2 2 19 0 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD R Mendenhall 14 52 3.7 1 M Moore 9 6 0.6 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD M Wallace 6 98 16.3 0 H Miller 4 51 12.7 0 A Randle El 3 45 15.0 0 Defense TKL SACK INT TD L Timmons 7 0 0 0 B McFadden 3 0 0 0 L Foote 3 0 0 0 C Hampton 2 1 0 0 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG J Reed 0/0 1/1 1 -- Baltimore Ravens Passing C/ATT YDS TD INT J Flacco 13/28 164 0 0 Rushing ATT YDS AVG TD R Rice 18 86 4.7 0 D Brown 1 -1 -1.0 0 Receiving REC YDS AVG TD A Boldin 4 70 17.5 0 T Heap 3 40 13.3 0 R Rice 3 9 3.0 0 D Stallworth 2 30 15.0 0 Defense TKL SACK INT TD K Gregg 5 1 0 0 S Kindle 5 0 0 0 T Suggs 3 1 0 0 L DIvens 3 1 0 0 C Redding 1 1 0 0 Kicking FGM/A XPM/A PTS LONG S Graham 2/2 0/0 6 39

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NFL Standings - AFC Playoff Race - 2010 Season

Teams	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA
Steelers	10	2	0	83.3	2/2	252	192
Ravens	9	3	0	75.0	3/1	282	187
Patriots	8	4	0	66.6	3/1	273	268
Chargers	8	4	0	66.6	2/2	253	232
Bengals	8	4	0	66.6	2/1	261	237
Jets	8	4	0	66.6	3/1	234	174
Jaguars	7	5	0	58.3	3/1	220	195
Broncos	6	6	0	50.0	3/1	210	220
Chiefs	6	6	0	50.0	2/2	279	293
Colts	4	8	0	33.3	2/1	256	269

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