Divisional Round Weekend
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Not at all what was expected to occur, this one turned into a game who’s score is representative of a shoot out, though that isn’t what happened by any means.
After the Steelers took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, the Ravens went on a scoring drive of their own to tie the game. They then capitalized on turnovers to continue on what ended up a 21-0 run. During that run a very bizarre play occurred when Ben Roethlisberger fumbled the ball and, though the whistle hadn’t been blown, everyone except Cory Redding assumed it had been an incomplete pass. As it turned out it had been a fumble and Redding had his first career touchdown.
The third quarter saw quite a turn of events. Pittsburgh cleaned up their act and messed up Baltimore’s, forcing turnovers and scoring points off of them. The Ravens managed only a field goal during the entire second half but the Steelers led several scoring drives.
After scoring two touchdowns in the third quarter and a field goal in the fourth, the Steelers led 24-21. After a field goal for Baltimore tied it up, Big Ben did what he does best, deliver a late game blow. It was a 58-yard pass to Antonio Brown, which led to a 2-yard scoring run by Rashard Mendenhall to take the lead for good.
Both teams put great amounts of pressure on the opposing quarterbacks. Roethlisberger was sacked six times, Flacco was sacked five times. Flacco, however, was the one who was rattled the most as Big Ben kept his composure in the Steelers big comeback victory over their AFC North rival to propel them into the AFC Championship game.
The win clinched them either a visit to Foxboro to face New England or a chance to host the Jets at Heinz Field. Pittsburgh was one game away from their third Super Bowl appearance in the past six seasons.
Final score: Pittsburgh – 31, Baltimore – 24
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