Steelers, Ravens renew their familiar contempt

Confetti from an NFL Sunday.

Say this for pro football. Nobody has ever suggested the Baltimore Ravens be moved to the AFC West.

When the NFL realigns, it respects all versions of Fansville. It does nothing to make the hate more difficult. It wouldn’t think of depriving the Ravens from their semi-annual octagon appointments with the Pittsburgh Steelers. That’s why Dallas is still in the NFC East, because it had such a commitment to hostility with the Washington Redskins. It might be why Kansas City is still in the AFC West, because Chiefs and Raiders circled the two dates they had with each other, often with blood.

Pittsburgh and Baltimore did it again Sunday. Since Mike Tomlin began coaching the Steelers in  2007, the two teams had scored the exact same number of points in thier games against each other. The Steelers now have a 7-point edge, thanks to this 17-10 win that typified the physical frenzy and the glorious gracelessness that overcomes both teams when they see each other’s helmets.

Pittsburgh should have been forced to pay to share the field with Baltimore in the first quarter, even though the game was in Pittsburgh’s stadium, right there at The Confluence. The Steelers ran nine plays in that quarter, good for 20 yards. But they bobbed and weaved, and tackled and covered, and waited for their moment. It came when Miles Killebrew, a former fourth-round pick of the Lions from Southern Utah, blocked a punt on Baltimore’s 14, and the ball skipped out of the end zone for a safety. That brought the Steelers to within 10-5 with 11:12 left, just as the crowd was taking offensive coordinator Matt Canada’s name in vain.

The Steelers got it back, and all of a sudden Baltimore’s defense couldn’t tackle Jaylen Warren, a 5-foot-8 vagabond whose college stops included Snow Junior College, Utah State and Oklahoma State. Warren caught a 23-yard pass and ran for 10 and 16 yards, and when the Ravens finally put up the stop sign, Chris Boswell’s field goal made it 10-8.

Then the stadium was taken over by the strange. Rooney-generated atmospherics that have made such things as the Immaculate Reception possible. Gunner Olszewski fumbled a Baltimore punt, and Kevon Seymour recovered it for the Ravens at the Pittsburgh seven, with 5:33 left. With Lamar Jackson on their side, this would certainly be the ballgame, right? No. On third-and-goal from the five, Joey Porter Jr., a legacy Steeler, intercepted Jackson’s pass in the end zone.

That meant Kenny Pickett, whose U. of Pittsburgh team practiced at the Steelers’ facility and played in their stadium, picked up a third down with a 21-yard pass to George Pickens, then speared him with a 41-yard touchdown, with 1:17 left. Until then, the Steelers’ longest play of the day had gone 23 yards.

But when Baltimore stopped the 2-point try, the Pittsburgh lead was only 14-10. Jackson had two time outs left and plenty of clock. Except that he got sacked by Alex Highsmith and fumbled the ball to T.J. Watt. That set up another field goal by Boswell, for 17-10, and then Watt sacked Jackson on fourth down to finally surround this game and put it in the bag. But not before Watt ended the day by getting flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Of course.

The softening of the sport so necessary for the health of the players, has not affected Ravens-Steelers. Neither have empty backfields, bunch formations and other versions of finesse. The last seven games, and nine of the last 10, have been decided by seven or fewer points. The Steelers have won five of the past six by the following scores: 17-10, 16-13, 16–13, 20-19 and 19-14. The one Baltimore win in that span was 16-14. That’s a lot of field goals and punts, a lot of moments in which the offenses settled for a continuance.

Baltimore and Pittsburgh are 3-2. Their next game is Jan. 7, the 17th and final game of their regular season schedules. They’ll likely be playoff-adjacent, at least. Not that either team needs a perk to make it interesting. If you don’t think that at least some sporting events should be taken personally, don’t circle that date.

Otherwise, some confetti from an NFL weekend (with Green Bay-Las Vegas coming up Monday night):

San Francisco 42, Dallas 10

– The bad news for the rest of the NFC is that Dallas (3-2) might still be the No. 3 team even though they got devoured whole by San Francisco. The Cowboys committed a face mask penalty on the first play, gave up George Kittle’s first touchdown catch on the eighth play, fumbled on its own 5-yard-line in the final minute of the first quarter, and didn’t get their initial first down until 11:46 remained in the half.

– Kittle caught three touchdowns, Christian McCaffrey scored a TD for the 14th consecutive game, and San Francisco (5-0) had ten plays of 15 or more yards. Brock Purdy, still undefeated in regular-season play, averaged 9.3 yards per pass.

– The Cowboys’ headline players disappeared in the wave. Dak Prescott threw three interceptions. CeeDee Lamb could never get separation and settled for four catches, 49 yards. Micah Parsons was no longer the scrimmage cop, never getting close to Purdy and participating in just four tackles. Dallas looked slow and slight compared to the 49ers’ machine, and timid as well. But the Niners, who have scored at least 30 points in each game, can do that to anyone.

Philadelphia 23, L.A. Rams 14

– The Rams had stared down Philadelphia for most of the first half and led 14-10 on a TD pass from Matthew Stafford to Puka Nacua. The Eagles got the ball with :32 left, but they weren’t ready to trot into the clubhouse. Jalen Hurts hit A.J. Brown for 38 yards, and Derion Kendrick of the Rams helped out with a horse collar tackle and a pass interference. That allowed Hurts to get the last yard and steal a 17-14 lead. The Rams didn’t reach Philly’s red zone again.

– Haason Reddick sacked Stafford on the Rams’ last two meaningful snaps of the game. Brown and Dallas Goedert had 100-yard receiving games, and Hurts ran for 72 yards. Cashing 13 of 18 third downs allowed Philly (5-0) to control most of this one.

– Cooper Kupp returned for the Rams (2-3) and caught eight passes for 118 yards. He and Nacua were the intended recipients of 23 of Stafford’s 34 passes, but L.A. only had the ball for 22:05.

Kansas City 27, Minnesota 20

– The Vikings are 1-4 but they hope their only losses were on the scoreboard. Justin Jefferson was out at the end with a hamstring problem, after he caught only three passes for 28 yards. Minnesota’s comeback hopes were dulled because coach Kevin O’Connell called his final time out with nine minutes left. 

– Kansas City (4-1) basically won it in its first two second-half drives. Patrick Mahomes took them 75 yards and 74 yards to lead 27-13. On the second drive, he found Travis Kelce five times, including the touchdown. Kelce appeared to hurt a knee in a non-contact injury but came back in apparent health. The Chiefs scored TDs on all three visits to the red zone.

– Marcus Davenport was big for the Vikings, with three hits on Mahomes and a sack, but Kirk Cousins sprayed the football around the park, going 29 for 47.

Miami 31, N.Y. Giants 16

— Healthier and humbled, the Dolphins (4-1) looked as scary as ever in dismantling the Giants (1-4), especially when rookie De’Von Achane was unleashed again. This time he streaked 76 yards from a touchdown and wound up with 151 yards in 11 carries. Achane has 460 yards for the season and averages 12.1 yards a pop. As a sprinter he was the top 200 meter man in the country as a junior at his Fort Bend, Tex. high school, and at Texas A&M he ran 10.12 in the 100 meters. “I have a unique skill set,” said the man who Miami got with the 84th pick in the draft.

– The Miami defense kept the Giants’ offense out of the end zone and chased Daniel Jones out of the game with its seven-sack pressure. Jones suffered a knee injury after he was sacked by Andrew Van Ginkel. Zach Sieler, a seventh-round pick of the Ravens out of Ferris State in 2018, had three of those sacks. New York’s only TD was a pick-six by Jason Pinnock.

– The Dolphins have rolled up 2,568 yards, most for any team in NFL history after the first five games. They averaged an impossible 9.7 yards per snap on Sunday. 

Jacksonville 25, Buffalo 20 

– The Jaguars are dangerous with passports in their hands. As coach Doug Pederson noted, they came to London with a 1-2 record and are now 3-2 after wins over Atlanta and the Bills. They held the Bills (3-2) to six punts in their first eight possessions and had an 18-7 lead with 7:44 left, then got a 35-yard touchdown from Travis Etienne with 2:56 left.

– Jacksonville ground out 10 third downs in 18 situations and snapped the ball 82 times to Buffalo’s 54. Etienne wound up with 136 yards on 26 carries, and Trevor Lawrence, although he was sacked five times, threw no picks and hit 25 of 37.

– Calvin Ridley continued to thrive for the Jaguars, averaging 17.4 yards on seven catches. Buffalo’s defense wasn’t helped when it lost linebacker Matt Milano. It was already missing pass rusher Greg Rousseau.

New Orleans 34, New England 0

– There is a sense of ruin about the Patriots these days. They have scored three points the past two weeks. Quarterback Mac Jones threw a pick-six to Tyrann Mathieu and was benched for the second consecutive week.. New England (1-4) was 1 for 14 on third down and held the ball for only 20:26. This was the Pats’ first home shutout loss since Buffalo beat them 16-0 seven years ago.

– Bill Belichick vaguely talked of starting over, thanks to 10 turnovers in the first five games, but this could be the worst Pats’ team since 1992, when they went 2-14 with Hugh Millen and Scott Zolak at quarterback and earned the right to pick Drew Bledsoe first in the draft, choosing him over Rick Mirer. That was their first good move in a while.

– For the Saints (3-2), Alvin Kamara scored his 73rd touchdown to set a club record, and Carl Granderson had a sack and three tackles for loss.

Detroit 42, Carolina 24

– Bryce Young threw a TD pass to Tom Tremble to cut Detroit’s lead to 14-7 in the second quarter. When Jared Goff missed a fourth-and-four pass, the Panthers set up shop on their 37. And then, in a 30-second span, it was over. Myles Sanders fumbled, Goff hit Josh Reynolds to make ti 21-7, and Jerry Jacobs intercepted Young’s deep ball. Goff found rookie Sam LaPorta on the very next play to put the Lions up 28-7.

— The Lions are living large at 4-1, and won this one without Amon-Ra St. Brown, Goff’s most reliable target, or rookie RB Jahmir Gibbs. Aidan Hutchinson got an interception to become the first defensive lineman with four picks in his first two seasons, and Goff had a sizzling 132.3 quarterback rating with three passing TDs.

– Young was 25-for-41 for Carolina but was intercepted twice, although he did find Adam Thielen 11 times in 13 tries for 107 yards and a score. The Panthers are 0-5. That equals the number of games Young lost as a quarterback at Alabama and at Mater Dei High in Santa Ana, Ca.

Atlanta 21, Houston 19

– At Ohio State, C.J. Stroud lost an excruciating CFP semifinal in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium to Georgia last year. This loss in the same building wasn’t as damaging, but after Stroud got Houston the lead with a TD pass to Dalton Schultz, he had to watch the Falcons’ Desmond Ridder drive his team to a game-winning field goal.

– Stroud extended his streak of passes without an interception to 177, most ever in a player’s first five games. He also wasn’t sacked. But he only got the ball to favorite target Nico Collins three times for 39 yards, and Houston (2-3) came up short 13 of 17 times on third down.

– Ridder had one of his best games for Atlanta (3-2), going 28 for 37 with no picks, and completed 13 passes to tall targets Kyle Pitts and Drake London. Mainly he held onto the ball. The Falcons led the Texans in offensive snaps, 74-58.

NY Jets 31, Denver 21

– The Jets (2-3) got 31 points on exactly one offensive touchdown, relying on a defense that teed off on Russell Wilson. They were leading 24-21 when Quincy Williams sacked Wilson and forced a fumble that Bryce Hall took 39 yards for the wrap-up. Overall they sacked Wilson four times, hit him seven times and held Denver (1-4) to four three-and-outs and a lost fumble to start the second half.

– Breece Hall had the offensive score on a 72-yard run. He also had 21 other carries, which eased the pressure on Zach Wilson, although Wilson was sacked four times.

– Denver also lost three fumbles and didn’t exactly provide cover for their verbose coach, Sean Payton, who took the job and said Nathaniel Hackett, last year’s Denver coach, “might have done the worst coaching job in the history of the NFL.” Hackett is the Jets’ offensive coordinator now. He was brought in to be with close friend Aaron Rodgers, who tore his Achilles tendon in the opener, but then the leftover Jets closed ranks behind him. Afterward, head coach Robert Salah gave Hackett the game ball.

Chicago 40, Washington 20 

– The Bears’ last win was 33-14, at New England on Oct. 24 of last year. In between came 14 consecutive losses, including four this season. On Thursday, Justin Fields became the first Bears’ quarterback since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger to put up back to back 300 yard games, and the same defense that had only two sacks this season got to Sam Howell six times. Again, who knows about this game?

– Washington (2-3) has lost three consecutive games, and here they gave up five plays of 30 yards or more. Down 17-0, the Commanders gave up on the running game, and Howell had to put up 61 passes. Wideouts Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson seven seven balls for only 79 yards.

– When the Bears found themselves with the first-overall pick, they pledged their allegiance to Fields and traded the choice to Carolina instead of taking a quarterback. The Panthers swapped picks with Chicago, and gave them receiver D.J. Moore and a first-rounder in 2024. On Thursday Moore pillaged Washington with  230 yards and three TDs on eight catches. And the Panthers are 0-4, which means Chicago could actually collect the top two picks in 2024. But if Fields and Moore keep this up, the Bears might win their way out of that situation.

Indianapolis 23, Tennessee 16

– The Colts (3-2) managed to stay above water until they and Jonathan Taylor could agree on a contract extension, which happened last week. Taylor got 18 yards on six carries but saw that he won’t be the Lone Ranger in the backfield. Zack Moss sprinted for a 56-yard touchdown and gained 165 in 23 pops.

– Anthony Richardson left with a shoulder injury. He’s having trouble finishing games, which makes the Colts look even smarter for signing Gardner Minshew, who went 11 for 14 in relief Sunday.

– Tennessee got shoved around by the Colts’ offensive line. The Titans (2–3) had no tackles for loss, one sack and two QB hits.

Cincinnati 34, Arizona 20

– The Bengals (2-3) are known for rallying in the cold weather months, so this win in Arizona wasn’t a good sign for the AFC North. For one thing, Joe Burrow looked and felt healthy again, notching a 100-plus QB rating for the first time this year.

– They force-fed Ja’Marr Chase, giving him 19 passes, and he caught 15, a franchise record, with three touchdowns. The defense chimed in with an 11-yard pick-six from Cam Taylor-Britt, and Trey Hendrickson had two and a half sacks.

– Joshua Dobbs had been more than a placeholder for the injured Kyler Murray, but he had a rough day, throwing his first interception of the year. The Cardinals (1-4) only had the ball for 21:50.