Missed field goals haunt Steelers in OT loss to Ravens
See Mike run, see Mike throw, see Mike block and see Josh ruin it all.
Mike Vick didn't put up Madden-like numbers in his Steelers' debut on Thursday like some of his younger teammates remember him for, but the 35-year-old veteran fill-in did more than enough to lead the Steelers to a win over rival Baltimore.
Josh Scobee made sure that didn't happen.
Scobee missed 49- and 41-yard field goals in a span of 83 seconds late in Thursday's game that could've sealed a Steelers win over the Ravens.
Instead, it allowed Justin Tucker to send the game into overtime with a 42-yard field goal, then win it on their second possession of OT with a 52-yarder as the Ravens stunned the Steelers, 23-20.
The Ravens scored 16 unanswered points after falling behind 20-7.
“A disappointing outcome,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “It is painful tonight, but this game is not going to define us. Hopefully, it is a building block for us as we move forward.”
Whether they move forward with Scobee is another question.
The Steelers acquired Scobee in a trade with Jacksonville after losing kickers Shaun Suisham and Garrett Hartley to season-ending injuries in the preseason. A fourth kicker in a month isn't out of question for Tomlin.
“We have to turn the stones over,” Tomlin said. “We have to find ways to win games. Obviously, that's element of it. It was an element of the outcome tonight.”
Not only were Scobee's misses an element of the loss, the lack of confidence by Tomlin in overtime was as well. Tomlin decided against a 51-yard field-goal attempt, instead trying to convert on fourth down. Vick's pass was over the head of Antonio Brown.
“Absolutely (I want to attempt the kick), but I understand the decision,” Scobee said. “It was 51 yards against the wind. Because of the previous two, I understand the decision.”
Baltimore drove 32 yards and Tucker kicked his third field goal of the game with 5:13 left in OT to win it.
“This was probably one of the toughest losses of my career,” Vick said. “We had our chances to win the game. There were a lot of plays I could've made. It's disappointing.”
It appeared the Steelers had won the game in regulation … twice.
Leading 20-17 with 2:29 left, Scobee missed wide left to give the Ravens life.
The Steelers' much-maligned defense finished with five sacks, two turnovers and had three stops on fourth down, including a James Harrison sack of Joe Flacco with 2:04 left.
A minute later, Scobee missed a 41-yarder.
“There were too many times that we could've put our foot on their throats and we didn't do it,” Steelers defensive lineman Cam Heyward said. “So many big stops, but we needed one more.”
Justin Forsett rushed 27 times for 150 yards and Flacco added 189 yards, a touchdown and an interception. The Steelers got 129 yards and a touchdown from Le'Veon Bell, 124 yards passing and 33 yards rushing from Vick.
However, Brown wasn't involved much as he had 5 receptions for 42 yards.
“We didn't cash in on it, and that's our responsibility as an offense,” Vick said. “Put the ball in the end zone and don't always settle for three. We just didn't get it done.”
With Ben Roethlisberger out indefinitely with a knee injury, the Steelers turned to the veteran Vick, who was signed on Aug. 25. The high-powered Steelers offense was scaled down for Vick. He didn't make any mistakes, but the offense wasn't as dynamic as it has been with Roethlisberger.
Three of the first four drives resulted in three-and-outs. Before Roethlisberger got hurt, the Steelers offense had only four in 24 drives.
Still, the Steelers took an early lead with a Scobee 45-yard field goal behind run plays of 7, 8 and 11 yards, followed by an 18-yard catch-and-run by Markus Wheaton to set up the field goal.
The Steelers wouldn't hold that lead long.
Baltimore answered with a heavy dose of the run game with Forsett. He ran for 11 yards on back-to-back plays, and the Ravens ground out a 12-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in a 9-yard touchdown run by Michael Campanaro on a jet sweep in which he broke tackles of Arthur Moats and Will Allen to make it 7-3.
The Steelers answered with a touchdown drive to make it 10-7, and Vick put his imprint all over it. He scrambled for 11 and 4 yards, completed an 11-yard pass to Darrius Heyward-Bey and threw a block on cornerback Jimmy Smith on Bell's 11-yard reverse-the-field touchdown run as the Steelers took a 10-7 lead. Scobee's 36-yard field goal on the final play of the first half made it 13-7.
The Steelers defense chipped in early in the third.
Heyward forced a Flacco fumble on the first play of the third quarter that was recovered by Ross Cockrell, who earlier had intercepted Flacco. Six plays later, Vick threw his first touchdown pass as a Steeler when he connected with Heyward-Bey from 9 yards to make it 20-7.
Baltimore answered with an 80-yard drive in six plays. The Ravens got within 20-14 when Flacco hit Kamar Aiken in the corner of the end zone from 15 yards, beating Cockrell.
“We lost,” Bell said. “We have to come out and win.”
Mark Kaboly is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at mkaboly@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MarkKaboly_Trib.
