There were no high-fives or cheers after this one. There was no celebration. There was only sorrow.
And no, it wasn't because the Steelers had barely snuck past the Ravens' COVID-19-ravaged lineup, 19-14, here Wednesday afternoon at Heinz Field, though that certainly played a part in the team's somber attitude.
The Steelers won a game to improve to 11-0. But they also lost a key cog in what has been a dominant defense, especially over the past month, as linebacker Bud Dupree was lost to a knee injury with just over five minutes remaining in this game. Initial tests show it to be a torn ACL for Dupree, who was having another monster season while playing on the Franchise Tag in 2020.
"It was very quiet and very sad, very low," said wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who scored the Steelers' lone offensive touchdown on a 1-yard touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter, of the team's post-game locker room. "Just because having our fellow teammate going down, Bud, and not knowing what's going on over there."
Dupree, a pending free agent who has been a major part of the team's defensive resurgence the past two years, might not put on a Steelers uniform again. He'll likely finish this season with 31 tackles -- including five in this game -- eight sacks and eight tackles for a loss.
So, you'll excuse the Steelers if they weren't in the mood to celebrate finally getting to play a game that had been shifted three different times to nearly a week after it was initially scheduled to take place on Thanksgiving night because of a COVID outbreak on the Ravens' roster.
"When we're disappointed after winning a football game, that's a feeling that not many people have," said Ben Roethlisberger. "Obviously, not knowing what is going to happen with Bud, there's a lot of heaviness going on right now in this locker room. We have three football games in 12 days. Just a lot going on."
There was a lot going on before winning this game. The Ravens (6-5) had more than 20 players and front office staff go on the Reserve/COVID-19 List starting last Monday, just three days before the game was initially scheduled to be played on Thanksgiving night.
They got some of those players back, but had five players make their first NFL appearance in this game. They were missing six starters and a number of other key backups.
In the meantime, the brother of team chaplain Kent Chevalier passed away.
Oh, and the Steelers? They were missing people too. Running back James Conner and defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt both were placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list last weekend, along with reserve offensive tackle Jerald Hawkins. Then, prior to the start of this game, center Maurkice Pouncey went to the list, as well, meaning J.C. Hassenauer made his first career start.
But the Steelers weren't using any of that as an excuse.
"We make no excuses," said Mike Tomlin. "We seek no comfort. We didn't play well, coach well tonight."
With reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson one of the Ravens players not available for this game, Baltimore started Robert Griffin III at quarterback. Griffin, who had helped the Ravens beat the Steelers, 28-10, in last season's regular-season finale, was just as much a factor in them winning this one before being pulled late in the fourth quarter in favor of third-stringer Trace McSorley.
He mishandled a handoff to running back Gus Edwards in the first quarter, then threw an interception to Joe Haden that Haden returned 14 yards for a touchdown and the game's first score, but only a 6-0 lead after Chris Boswell missed the PAT.
It seemed that malaise affected everyone.
While the Ravens were turning the ball over twice in the first quarter, so were the Steelers. After the fumbled exchange, which was recovered by Vince Williams, gave the Steelers the ball at the Baltimore 22, Roethlisberger threw an interception on fourth-and-goal from the 1, tossing the ball up into the middle of the end zone where linebacker Tyus Bowser made an easy catch.
Then, after forcing a Ravens' punt following the interception return, return man Ray-Ray McCloud muffed a punt that was recovered by the Ravens at the Pittsburgh 16. Four plays later, Edwards got into the end zone from the 1 to give the Ravens a 7-6 lead.
"We played like the JV," said Smith-Schuster. "We played down to their level. They came out with a JV squad and we were playing JV, and we didn't come out and execute and play the way we wanted to play.
"It was a close game, which shouldn't have happened."
No, it shouldn't have. But it was because the Steelers continually failed in the red zone, scoring a touchdown on just one of four trips inside the Baltimore 20.
Two of those failed trips came on the Steelers' possessions after the Ravens gained their only lead.
Roethlisberger, who was 36 of 51 for 266 yards, one touchdown and one interception, maneuvered the Steelers to the Baltimore 5 early in the second quarter. But Benny Snell, who was starting in place of Conner, was dropped for a 2-yard loss on first down. Then, Chase Claypool and Diontae Johnson failed to come down with catches that would have been touchdowns on second and third down.
It was a recurring theme in the game, as the Steelers dropped at least nine passes.
Several of those came in the red zone, including a drop by Eric Ebron on third down on the Steelers' next possession. Those led to field goals of 25 and 27 yards from Boswell and a 12-7 lead that easily could have been more.
When asked about the team's red zone struggles, Tomlin attributed them to one thing.
"Us sucking," he said.
Fortunately for the Steelers, the Ravens had some struggles of their own.
With Griffin throwing for just 22 yards in the first half, the Ravens decided to have him start running the ball after getting the ball back following Boswell's second field goal.
Facing third-and-11 from his own 24, Griffin made what, to that point, was the biggest offensive play in the game, breaking off a 39-yard run.
That, however, only set the stage for some disappointment on the Baltimore side of things.
After catching the Steelers for a 19-yard run on third-and-9 by Justice Hill to the Pittsburgh 4 with 37 seconds remaining in the half, Baltimore used its third timeout following a three-yard run to the 1 by Hill with 27 seconds on the game clock.
Inexplicably, the Ravens, out of timeouts, ran Edwards up the middle where he was stopped by Chris Wormley and Williams on second down.
Instead of spiking the ball, Griffin attempted a pass to tight end Luke Willson in the end zone with three seconds remaining and the clock running. Minkah Fitzpatrick got there in time to break up the pass and turn the Ravens away without a score as time expired in the first half.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was upset, feeling that Williams laid on Edwards after running the play, but it doesn't explain the decision to go for the touchdown instead of a field goal.
"I just feel like if you're laying on the ground like that, you're either injured, or it's delay of game," Harbaugh said. "So it's a pretty clear-cut type of deal, and that's how we felt about it."
That play would prove critical as the Steelers continued to be plagued by dropped passes until they finally found a way into the end zone early in the fourth quarter.
Smith-Schuster, who had eight catches for 36 yards, working quick hitters the entire game, seemed to demand the ball with this eight-yard catch on the second play of the fourth quarter that put the ball at the Baltimore 4.
That set up Smith-Schuster's one-yard touchdown catch from Roethlisberger two plays later that seemingly put the game out of reach at 19-7, given that the Ravens had 118 yards of offense at that point.
But the Steelers defense, which had largely been outstanding throughout the game, made a crucial mistake. More to the point, strong safety Terrell Edmunds made a crucial mistake.
With McSorley, a former Penn State star, entering with just over seven minutes left to play, the Steelers allowed a first down, but then got off the field, getting the ball back with 5:13 remaining in the game. But Johnson dropped a third-down pass that could have sealed the victory, and the Steelers punted the ball back to the Ravens with 3:30 left.
That's when McSorley did this, hitting Marquise Brown for a 70-yard touchdown pass that realistically should have just been a 20-yard completion.
Just like that, the Ravens were back in it, though time wasn't necessarily on their side.
However, Harbaugh made the decision to kick the ball deep and after not catching a pass in the first 57 minutes of the game, James Washington made back-to-back receptions to help the Steelers seal it.
First, he snared a short pass with a defender draped on him that forced the Ravens to use their first timeout.
Then, on third-and-6, he made a game-sealing grab in traffic on a pass that Roethlisberger probably shouldn't have thrown.
That would largely do it, as the Steelers, who struggled to run the ball, gaining 68 yards on the ground, converted back-to-back first downs running the ball and forcing Baltimore to use its remaining timeouts.
It was hardly a great performance.
"We did not overlook them," said Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt, who had two of the Steelers' three sacks. "Everybody out there is paid to be a professional football player. There are no walk-ons here. We've just got to start fast and play better."
They won't have much time to ponder how to do that -- or move on without Dupree. The Steelers now face the Washington Football Team Monday afternoon at Heinz Field in a game that was pushed back a day after this game was rescheduled for the third time.
"I wouldn't say it hindered us," said Smith-Schuster of the uncertainty that surrounded this game. "But it was frustrating when the game kept getting pushed back for COVID reasons and safety protocols, which is fine, it was that way for both teams. As far as how we came out, we were sluggish. Our defense saved our ass again. This is something that has happened before. In the next 12 days, we've got three games. We've just got to go out there and play."