Polamalu’s big play completes Baltimore’s fourth quarter collapse

Sunday night’s game between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers was a typical defensive battle. The Ravens, however, were able to strike first. The Steelers, and Troy Polamalu, got the last laugh.

In the fourth quarter with the Ravens up 10-6, offensive coordinator Cam Cameron called for a pass on second-and-five. Polamalu, blitzing from the end, had a clear path to Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco and sacked him while forcing a fumble. The fumble was bad enough, but linebacker LaMarr Woodley recovered the ball at the Baltimore 10 yard line.

After the recovery Ben Roethlisberger completed a pass to Isaac Redman for Pittsburgh’s only touchdown of the game. The touchdown gave Pittsburgh a 13-10 lead and, eventually, the win.

The Ravens were backed up in their own territory in first quarter when Flacco connected with Anquan Boldin on a 61-yard completion in to Pittsburgh territory. The play led to a 14-yard touchdown pass to Boldin. The pass gave Baltimore a 7-0 lead over their arch-rival along with some confidence for the rest of the game.

Pittsburgh then cut the lead to 7-3 on a Shaun Suisham field goal. On their next drive, Baltimore scored on a Billy Cundiff field goal and then didn’t score again.

With a 10-3 lead in the fourth quarter, the Steelers were still struggling to move the ball, but mustered a field goal against the Ravens. Late in the game is when Polamalu and Roethlisberger made their plays to put the Ravens away sending the Ravens to 8-4 and lifting the Steelers to 9-3 and first place in the AFC North.

One positive from this game was the play of linebacker/defensive end Terrell Suggs. Suggs was everywhere, earning a sack and a half, three tackles for a loss and five quarterback hits. Suggs now has nine sacks on the season and has had a great last month.

Baltimore now has the Houston Texans (5-7) who are coming off of a Thursday night loss. They will play at Houston next Monday night. For the Ravens to be successful in that game the play calling needs to improve, especially against a weak secondary.