Well, that was disappointing.
The Steelers found themselves unable to stop the Ravens when it mattered and were incapable of generating any offense, as well. This team was just not quite ready for prime time, and the result was putting up 47 yards of second-half offense in a lackluster 26-14 loss that marked their third in a row at Heinz Field dating to last year's playoffs.
Nobody was more down than Ben Roethlisberger, who quickly took the blame for this one after putting together a second half to forget:
"I just didn't make enough plays, point blank," said Roethlisberger said, who fell to 21-4 in primetime games. "I'll take ownership of that game. It's squarely on me. I apologize to the fans, my teammates. I just wasn't good enough."
Roethlisberger typically says that in the aftermath of a loss. Thing is, this time, he was right.
After yet another slow start -- the Steelers (1-2-1) failed to score on their opening possession for the fourth-straight game -- that allowed the Ravens (3-1) to build a 14-0 lead, Roethlisberger heated up. He completed just two of his first five passes for six yards but connected on 13 of his next 24 for 218 yards, as the Steelers knotted the game at 14-14 just before the two-minute warning on this TD catch by Antonio Brown and a two-point conversion pass to James Conner:
Just like that, Heinz Field was rocking like it was 2008 again.
But it was short-lived.
The Ravens came out in the second half and dominated the time of possession, holding the ball for just over 21 of the 30 minutes in the half. The Steelers not only couldn't keep the ball when they had it, they couldn't get it away from the Ravens, who converted 8 of 17 third downs and one fourth-down play in the game.
The Steelers, meanwhile, went 2-for-12 in the game on third downs and 0-6 in the second half, when they were outgained 229-47.
"They made the plays when they had the ball to maintain possession and move it," said Mike Tomlin. "We didn't make enough plays quickly enough to get off the field; and on offense, we didn't make enough plays to possess the ball. So, they dominated the time of possession and were able to control the game in the second half. We've got to own that."
Joe Flacco was masterful picking apart the Steelers' defense, doing so early with a pair of touchdowns, first a 33-yard score to John Brown, then a 3-yarder to Alex Collins. He didn't lead any touchdown drives in the second half, but put together field goal drives of 12, 11 and 14 plays to suck the life out of the Steelers and the stadium.
Flacco finished 28 of 42 for 363 yards and the two scores despite Baltimore's running game producing only 96 yards on 30 carries, an average of 3.2 yards per attempt.
"Joe Flacco played phenomenally well," said Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. "We execute every single game with precision, but to see the guys come up and make big plays in the second half that had to be made on third down ... there were just some really phenomenal plays made out there by our guys."
There's nowhere for the Steelers to go but up. The 1-2-1 record one quarter of the way through the season isn't where they felt it would be, to be sure. But it is the reality of the situation.
"We don't like where we are, but we accept it," said Tomlin. "We understand that it is our doing. We've just got to keep working. We will do that. We won't make excuses."
There's no need. The standings now say the Steelers are 0-1-1 in AFC North games. That's a tough hole to dig out of, for sure.
"People are down right now and people should be down right now," said center Maurkice Pouncey. "We just lost a divisional game. If people are excited and running around to go see their families, that's when it's really not right. That's when we'll really have a problem."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE GAME BALLS
My top three performers:
1. Joe Flacco
Ravens quarterback
Flacco was very good in this one, hitting 11 of his first 12 passes. He finished 28 of 42 for 363 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, a passer rating of 109.5
1. John Brown
Ravens wide receiver
Brown, one of Baltimore's off-season acquisitions, was a difference-maker and occupied the Steelers' secondary. He finished with only three catches, but for 116 yards, including a 31-yard TD to open the scoring.
1. Anthony Levine
Ravens cornerback
Levine had five tackles, three pass breakups and a game-sealing interception for the Ravens.
THE INJURY UPDATE
• Vince Williams, linebacker, suffered a hamstring injury late in the game. He said afterward, "I don't know," when asked by our site of its severity, adding that he'd know more after testing Monday.
• Darrius Heyward-Bey, wide receiver, left in the first half with a right ankle injury and did not return.
• Nat Berhe, safety, who was already replacing injured Morgan Burnett as the quarters package linebacker, was forced out of the game with a pectoral injury in the second half.
THE GOOD
The Steelers did clean up their penalty problems in this game, drawing just five for 40 yards after averaging over twice that many penalties and yardage in their first three games.
The key to cleaning up the penalties was eliminating the pre- and post-snap infractions that plagued the Steelers in the first three games. They had just one in this game, that coming on a call for having 12 men on the field in the second half after Berhe's exit. That put Coty Sensabaugh in the slot and Cam Sutton as the linebacker in the quarters package, but regular inside linebacker Jon Bostic stayed on the field, drawing the penalty.
"We've got Coty, we've got Cam," said Joe Haden. "They didn't practice at some of those positions during the week, but we were able to figure it out. It was tough, but that's no excuse."
THE BAD
There's so many ways to go with this one, but when one team converts 8 of 17 third downs and the other is 2-12, not a lot more needs to be said or written about it. Chris Bradford has that covered here.
The lack of a running game for the Steelers also is troubling. Conner produced just 19 yards on nine carries and Ryan Switzer had one carry for one yard. Switzer also had a team-high seven catches for 32 yards. Stevan Ridley, who had 18 yards on three carries last week in a win at Tampa Bay, wasn't used on offense in this game.
Conner entered this game leading the AFC in rushing with 213 yards. But he clearly hasn't been good since a fourth-quarter fumble in the opener at Cleveland, gaining 97 yards on 32 carries in the three games since.
"I think we've got to do better in the run game," said Pouncey. "I can't sit here and lie about that. We'll look at the film, try to correct things and get things rolling."
THE PLAY
If you were looking for a play that kind of typified the game for the Steelers, it didn't take long for it to happen.
After allowing the Ravens to score on an eight-play, 75-yard drive to open the game, the Steelers came out and not only fizzled out on their first drive, they didn't even give punter Jordan Berry an opportunity to give the defense some field position with which to work.
On third-and-four from the 31, tight end Vance McDonald caught a short pass from Roethlisberger and was almost immediately tackled at the line of scrimmage by safety Tony Jefferson. Jefferson not only got the defensive stop, he took the ball away from the 267-pound McDonald, despite giving up more than 50 pounds in weight.
Jefferson was eventually ruled down by contact, but the Ravens scored a touchdown four plays later to take a 14-0 lead.
"We came out of the gate swinging and had some fortunate stuff happen with our defense," said Flacco. "Tony Jefferson made a hell of a play there in the flat to grab that ball from the guy."
McDonald exacted a bit of revenge later in the game, running Jefferson over on a 12-yard catch-and-run, but that play was as damaging as any for the Steelers as it gave Baltimore a short field with which to work.
THE CALL
One of the five penalties they did have was this inexplicable call on Conner for a crack back block on a 15-yard catch-and-run by Antonio Brown that negated a third-and-4 conversion.
Clearly, Conner was set up as a downfield blocker and if Ravens linebacker C.J. Mosley didn't see him, that's as much his fault as anything.
The Steelers did convert the ensuing third down following that call, but ended up settling for a field goal after stalling at the Baltimore 20.
THE OTHER SIDE
The Ravens hadn't beaten the Steelers in their past three meetings, beginning with a 31-27 loss at Heinz Field on a Christmas Day game in 2016 that decided the winner of the AFC North and left Baltimore out of the postseason. They also lost here, 39-38, last Dec. 10 and missed the playoffs by one game.
The Ravens were quite pleased to get a rare win at Heinz Field, where they hadn't emerged victorious since Oct. 1, 2015.
"We were here two years ago. We played our hearts out on Christmas Day and we played a very good football team and got beat by six inches in the end," said Harbaugh. "Came up here last year and played our hearts out again, put 38 points up, and left our hearts out there again on that field. ... It's at the beginning of where we are going from here, so yeah, it's a pretty special win."
THE SCHEDULE
The Steelers stay at home, which hasn't been kind to them of late, to face the Falcons, who are coming off a tough loss of their own, next Sunday. The Steelers will be trying to break a three-game home losing streak.
In the meantime, they'll hold an open locker room session from 1:15 to 2 p.m. Monday. I'll have the coverage from there.
THE COVERAGE
Visit our Steelers team page for everything from this game.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers vs. Ravens, Heinz Field, Sept. 30, 2018 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS