When the Steelers' stars were needed, they rose to the occasion in the team's 39-38 victory over the Ravens. Leading the way was Ben Roethlisberger, who became the only quarterback in NFL history to throw for three 500-yard passing games, as he completed 44 passes on 66 attempts for 506 yards and two touchdowns.
We go into how Roethlisberger led the Steelers' offense and picked apart a Ravens' defense that had no answer for the Steelers' passing attack
Roethlisberger distributed the ball efficiently throughout the game and threw both of his touchdowns to running backs instead of receivers. The first came on the opening drive of the game when he hit Le'Veon Bell on a slant route that beat Tony Jefferson over the middle of the field.
Roethlisberger recognized the man coverage immediately and knew that he needed to let Bell execute his stutter step to create space from Jefferson for the passing window to open. He hit him in stride and Bell did the rest:
Finding those single coverage matchups sounds so easy, but when a defense is disguising its packages, there are many details to account for when processing where they are actually trying to protect.
Often when finding the soft spot in the Ravens defense, Roethlisberger had to locate where safeties Eric Weddle and Jefferson were covering. The Ravens consistently moved their safeties to switch them from one-high and two-high looks to keep Roethlisberger guessing as to where they would emphasize their coverage packages, but the Steelers' franchise quarterback never flinched.
Watch how Roethlisberger waits to see that the Ravens go into a one-high safety look and takes advantage by targeting Antonio Brown, who is in single coverage against Brandon Carr. Weddle is playing the middle of the field and cannot get over to help Carr in time:
This is the danger that is always present when facing the Steelers, as Brown can get open at any time and make any catch. When Roethlisberger is on fire like he has been in the last five games, he's virtually unstoppable if your cornerback isn't playing the perfect coverage.
Brown runs his routes so well that he creates space simply with his footwork, which is why so many teams will shade safeties over to his side to help their cornerbacks.
But, not the Ravens.
Even without their star cornerback, Jimmy Smith, who is on injured reserve, the Ravens displayed confidence in their corners' ability to run with the Steelers' receivers. But, even when they switched up who would cover Brown, they couldn't find a way to stop him.
As the game progressed, the Ravens tried different players against Brown in order to not make it obvious to Roethlisberger who was guarding him.
Here, the Ravens have Weddle lined up a little farther away from Brown at the start of the play, figuring their best defensive back could find a way to stick with him. But the NFL's leading receiver runs the perfect route to break over the middle of the field and present an easy target for Roethlisberger:
Brown consistently worked his way open throughout the night -- he finished with 11 catches for 213 yards -- regardless of whether he was covered by Weddle, Carr or rookie Marlon Humphrey. In his press conference, Brown talked about how the Steelers expected the Ravens to rely on their secondary to come through on single coverage throughout the night and how they planned to exploit it.
"We know the Ravens love their cornerbacks and blitz us with one-high safety looks," Brown said after the game. "We were able to attack those guys in those situations. Carr and Humphrey are good guys, so we knew they were going to leave those guys in and try to get their blitz home, so we had to get to them."
It was a formula that the Ravens thought they could rely on, simply because they needed to in order to succeed. Knowing Roethlisberger would be targeting receivers all over the field, they didn't want to just use double coverage against Brown all game and open up other options.
When asked about that plan, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh explained his reasoning.
"Well, you can't just play the whole game in the same coverage," Harbaugh said after his team's sixth loss of the season. "You have to mix it up a bit. That's just the way the game gets played out."
But it was the Steelers who mixed it up with their offense, varying who Roethlisberger targeted throughout the game. While Brown did have 211 of Roethlisberger's 506 yards, Martavis Bryant and Eli Rogers each had 33 yards and Bell had another solid night catching the ball with 77 yards and a touchdown on nine receptions.
But the guys who really stepped up were tight ends Jesse James and Vance McDonald, who combined for 149 yards on 14 receptions. When the Ravens were doing their best to take away Brown and Bryant in their deeper routes while also trying to have players stick with Bell underneath in the short passing game, they could not find a way to stop the Steelers' tight ends.
Take a look at how the Ravens' linebackers were unable to keep up with James on a skinny post route through the middle of the defense, allowing him to convert a huge third-and-13 situation:
James runs his route freely and crosses up both C.J. Mosley and Matthew Judon to open up a solid passing window for Roethlisberger.
Mosley talked about their struggles covering the Steelers' tight ends after the game, illuminating the Ravens' frustrations.
"They were able to get those five, six yards because we were playing zone coverage," Mosley said of the Steelers' tight ends. "They've got good players and when they get guys in space, they can make plays, as you can see."
When I asked James about how he continued to find open spots in the Ravens' defense, as he finished the night with ten catches and 97 yards, he elaborated that on occasion he has to feel his routes out and rely on his chemistry with Roethlisberger.
"Sometimes I'll find a soft spot and slow down, find Ben's eyes and take it from there," James said after the win. "It's something we've done time and time again and you can see that on our tape for years. Ben has a great feel for what we're going to do, so we make eye contact, he gets the ball to me and we do what we do."
Roethlisberger broke it down with a more thorough explanation of the schematics behind why the Steelers knew they could use their tight ends to exploit the Ravens.
"We started the game in a two-tight end set and went to the no-huddle," Roethlisberger said after the game. "We were very successful with it. We felt like it created matchup problems. They were going to put linebackers on the field, and we like our tight ends against linebackers. Even late, they started substituting guys and putting in a small guy, but the middle of the field just felt like it was open and our guys made plays."
When you keep hurting a defense with throws to your receiving options who aren't the superstars, it forces a defense to take on the mindset that Harbaugh mentioned earlier. That prevents them from emphasizing extra help against Brown and Bell.
Then Roethlisberger was able to break open the Ravens' defense like he did with the 34-yard completion to Brown that ultimately set up Chris Boswell's game-winning field goal.
Brown essentially runs straight up the sideline, but his routes are never as simple as running in a straight line. While running against Carr in close coverage all the way down the field, Brown uses his footwork to set up Carr and force him to give up the sideline, where Roethlisberger targets his pass with perfect accuracy:
That's the reliance Brown has in Roethlisberger, just like how Ben relies on Brown to get open in those situations.
Roethlisberger has talked plenty throughout the season about how great it is to play with the NFL's best receiver, but after the game it was Brown expressing all the admiration for his quarterback.
"Ben is a hall-of-fame quarterback and so much fun to play with," Brown said of Roethlisberger in his postgame press conference. "There's nothing he can't see on the football field. He made some amazing throws today, but he makes them every day from the practice field. He's been doing that a long time; he's a general, he's a warrior and he's a leader. I'm glad I've got to play with him for a lot of years."
The Steelers have seen Roethlisberger now have five consecutive games with multiple touchdowns and are benefiting every week from his ability to decipher defenses. In a huge battle that locked them in as champions of the AFC North, Roethlisberger's surgeon-like skills at carving up the Ravens' defense proved to be on the money.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers vs. Ravens, Heinz Field, Dec. 10, 2017 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS