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Steelers outlast Ravens with field goal in OT

Sep 30, 2008 - 7:30 AM By Brad Everett PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- Down to their last healthy running back, the Pittsburgh Steelers knew the longer an already lengthy game extended, the shorter their hopes of winning were getting. Luckily for them, their kicker's leg was completely fine.

Jeff Reed kicked a 46-yard field goal with 9:01 remaining in overtime, lifting the Steelers to a dramatic 23-20 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night.

The victory rebounded the Steelers (3-1) from their only loss and vaulted them ahead of the Ravens (2-1) into first place in the AFC North. It also stretched Pittsburgh's home winning streak on Monday Night Football to an NFL-record 14 games.

"We fought until the finish," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "That is the National Football League. That is what makes this thing so awesome. You can't blink, and we didn't."

It was the Steelers' fourth-string running back, Mewelde Moore, who played a major role in moving the team into position for the winning score.

After the Ravens went three-and-out on the opening possession of overtime, the Steelers faced a 3rd-and-8 from their own 45. That's when Ben Roethlisberger found an open Moore over the middle, and Moore used a few nifty moves to gain 24 yards to the Baltimore 31.

Three plays later, Reed booted his third field goal of the game to give the Steelers the win.

"I'll be perfectly honest. At all times, I believe in myself as a starter," said Moore, who saw time as a starter with Minnesota prior to joining Pittsburgh in March. "That's how I was when I first came in (to the league), and that mentality has never changed."

Moore very well could see his role expand significantly, as rookie Rashard Mendenhall is expected to be placed on injured reserve Tuesday with a fractured shoulder.

After running for 30 yards on nine carries in his first career start, Mendenhall left the game on the first series of the second half. Already playing without Willie Parker - the AFC's second-leading rusher heading into the weekend - the Steelers also lost Mendenhall's replacement, Carey Davis, who left the game early in the fourth quarter with a left ankle injury.

The Ravens forced overtime by scoring on a nine-play, 76-yard drive capped by Le'Ron McLain's 2-yard touchdown run with 4:02 remaining in the fourth quarter that knotted the contest at 20-20. Joe Flacco's 35-yard pass to Derrick Mason to the Steelers 5-yard line served as the big play in the drive.

"We knew we had it and we knew we needed to score," said Mason, who caught a game-high eight passes for 137 yards. "Joe did a great job at showing a lot of maturity and making some plays out there."

Just when it looked like another bout of injuries coupled with another sub-par outing from their offensive line - as well as the loss of starting right guard Kendall Simmons to a torn Achilles tendon - would add up to another loss for the Steelers, the team's fate changed in a blink of an eye.

Offensively inept for the greater part of game, Pittsburgh used a pair of quick scores on consecutive plays late in the third quarter - one by its offense and one by its defense - to turn around the contest.

With his team trailing, 13-3, Roethlisberger found Santonio Holmes for a 38-yard TD to pull the Steelers within three points.

"Sometimes it just takes one play," Roethlisberger said. "One play can change the tide of the game. It can give you confidence. After that play, it just seemed like on offense, we had a confidence that we could do it, we could get it done."

On the Ravens' first play of the ensuing possession, James Harrison sacked Flacco, forcing a fumble that fellow linebacker LaMarr Woodley scooped up and returned seven yards for a score, giving the Steelers a 17-13 lead with 3:54 left in the third quarter.

"I was looking up the middle and trying to get out of the pocket and just throw the ball away," Flacco said. "But before I threw the ball away, I got hit. I have to take care of the ball. If I took care of the ball there, it's a different story. But I'll learn from it."

Reed's 19-yard field goal with 9:19 left in the fourth extended the advantage to 20-13, but McLain's touchdown tied it a little more than five minutes later.

For the majority of the night, it looked like a win by Pittsburgh was not meant to be, as the Ravens' defense stifled the Steelers while their offense did just enough.

"We were terrible in the first half," Roethlisberger said.

After Reed made a 49-yard field goal on the Steelers' first possession of the game, the Ravens defense tightened, intercepting Roethlisberger and sacking him twice before Pittsburgh netted its next first down midway through the third quarter.

Matt Stover connected on two first-half field goals of his own to put the Ravens ahead, and Flacco tossed his first career touchdown -a 4-yarder to Daniel Wilcox - 22 seconds before the half to put Baltimore ahead, 13-3.

"We let an opportunity get away," Ravens linebacker Bart Scott said. "We had an opportunity to take control of our division. Things get a little tougher. We did some good things, did some bad things. We need to watch the tape and learn from (the bad things)."