The Baltimore Ravens were trailing the Pittsburgh Steelers by four points late in the fourth quarter when fullback Kyle Juszczyk ran in a score.
Ravens fullback’s TD to take a lead vs. Steelers may have lost the game
Pittsburgh had plenty of time left to lock up a victory, and the division.
Jeanna Kelley has been covering the Falcons for The Falcoholic since 2011 and the NFL for SB Nation since 2015.
Juszczyk broke one tackle and then fought his way to the goal line for the score with just 1:18 remaining in the game. It gave Baltimore a 27-24 lead. The problem is that it also left Pittsburgh plenty of time to score.
It was a hell of a touchdown. Juszczyk broke a tackle, kept rolling after contact, and dove to break the plane and put six on the board for the Ravens. But was that the right call, or did it cost Baltimore the game?
Ryan Mink of BaltimoreRavens.com raised that question. He asked whether or not Juszczyk should have intentionally gone down outside of the end zone to take more time off the clock and leave the Steelers less time to score.
Head coach John Harbaugh said that wasn’t necessarily the case.
“Yes, it’s tough to balance that,” Harbaugh said, via Mink. “We’re trying to score a touchdown. If you’re saying we should have sat on the ball and then kept our fingers crossed to score later, I would say that’s not a strategy I’ve seen attempted too often.”
If Juszczyk had given himself up outside of the end zone, there’s no guarantee the Ravens would have been able to punch in a score. Mink points out that the Steelers have been stout this season inside the 5-yard line, ranking No. 5 in the NFL with just nine scores allowed on 13 attempts.
As it turned out, though, the timing didn’t work in the Ravens’ favor. Ben Roethlisberger led a 10-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in a hard-fought, one-armed reach for a touchdown by Antonio Brown.
The score gave the Steelers a 31-27 lead with just nine seconds remaining to play. Joe Flacco threw an interception to seal the win, and the AFC North title, for Pittsburgh.
A win against the Steelers would have put the Ravens in control of their own playoff destiny. Instead, Baltimore has been eliminated from postseason contention, and the Ravens are left to wonder what might have happened if Juszczyk hadn’t scored that touchdown.
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