Past clashes between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers have been heavyweight bouts for AFC North supremacy and while it ended as a one-score defensive struggle on Sunday, the absence of marquee players Ben Roethlisberger and Ray Lewis hurt Sunday night's contest.
Neal Coolong from SB Nation's Steelers blog, Behind the Steel Curtain, described the 13-10 Baltimore win as: "Defensively, it was aggressive, but not like the past. Offensively, it was slogging and unbalanced, not at all like the past."
The Steelers' offense struggled without Roethlisberger, scoring just one touchdown in the 13-10 loss.
Pittsburgh's defense shut down Joe Flacco and the Baltimore offense, holding them to no offensive touchdowns. The only Ravens' touchdown came on a 63-yard punt return by Jacoby Jones, a play that Coolong called, "the main difference in an otherwise dull, sloppy and uninspiring performance on both sides."
Coolong went on to say the following:
In a game with very few fireworks, Baltimore simply made a few more plays on defense, and the edge earned on special teams gave them the win.
Pittsburgh is now 6-4 on the season and two games back of Baltimore in the AFC North standings. Looking at the Steelers playoff hopes, Coolong wrote:
With all four losses coming within the conference, they'll be at long odds to capture any playoff tiebreakers from this point on, and likely won't be able to lose more than once the rest of the season if they wish to qualify for the playoffs.
You can also watch a video recap of the game, complete with analysis and highlights, below.
The Steelers are back in action on Sunday, Nov. 25, when they travel to Cleveland to take on the 2-8 Browns at 1 p.m. ET.
To read the whole recap and for everything on the Steelers, be sure to visit Behind the Steel Curtain.