Ravens’ loss to Steelers swings on Isaiah Likely’s catch controversy

AI-assisted summary
• The Baltimore Ravens lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-22, dropping them a game out of first place in the AFC North.
• A controversial replay review overturned a potential go-ahead touchdown catch by Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely.
• Baltimore had several missed opportunities, including a dropped pass by Mark Andrews and inefficient clock management.

The Baltimore Ravens had their dreams of leading the AFC North title race ripped away like Isaiah Likely had his go-ahead touchdown taken off the board in a 27-22 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 7. 

Likely, the Ravens’ tight end appeared to catch a pass from quarterback Lamar Jackson in the end zone that would have put Baltimore up 28-27 with 2:47 remaining. But officials ruled after a replay review that Likely did not possess the ball long enough before Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. wrapped him. As Likely tried to extend the ball away from his own body and away from Porter, the ball jarred loose. 

The result left the Steelers alone at the top of the division with four games remaining. The Ravens still have a chance to even the season series in two weeks at Pittsburgh, but they are currently outside of the AFC playoff picture. 

NFL vice president of instant replay Mark Butterworth said ‘we quickly looked at the play,’ according to the postgame pool report.

‘The receiver controlled the ball in the air, had his right foot down, then his left foot down. The control is the first aspect of the catch. The second aspect is two feet or a body part in bounds, which he did have,’ he said. ‘Then the third step is an act common to the game and before he could get the third foot down, the ball was ripped out. Therefore, it was an incomplete pass.’

Asked to elaborate on ‘an act common to the game,’ Butterworth replied: ‘For this play, it would be him completing the third step.’

That tracked with what Ravens head coach John Harbaugh told reporters.

‘The explanation was that the third foot didn’t get down before the ball came out,’ Harbaugh said. ‘That’s what they said.’

Earlier in the game, in which Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers appeared to throw an interception and was ruled as such on the field. But replay ruled that Rodgers had possessed the ball with his knee on the ground amid the commotion following his pass that was batted at the line of scrimmage.

Harbaugh disagreed with the notion Rodgers had a knee down and possession of the football amid the mangle of limbs all trying to corral the pigskin.

‘It’s not an officiating issue. It comes from New York. But when you’re making a catch, you have to survive the ground. He didn’t survive the ground. He’s not down by contact. He was catching the ball on the way down with another person, so you gotta make a catch there and survive the ground,’ Harbaugh said. ‘I don’t know why it was ruled the way it was on that one. All of those things I’m sure they’ll explain it to us, but they had plenty of time to look at it and they’re the ones that are the experts on the rules.’

The Ravens could blame the officials, who turned a Steelers’ field-goal drive into a possession that ended in a touchdown, for saying Travis Jones rushed the long-snapper, which is against the rules, on Chris Boswell’s attempt.

Referee Alex Moore said the snapper is a defenseless player, and contacting him triggers an unnecessary roughness flag. Although Jones contacted a different member of the offensive line first, it appeared, he can still be flagged.

‘You cannot make any forcible contact to that player.,’ Moore said. ‘The calling official felt like the contact rose to the level of being unnecessary against a defenseless player.’

But blaming the stripes wouldn’t be a proper accounting of accountability. 

‘You can’t blame it one way or the other. we know even with those calls, we still should have made enough of a difference to win this game,’ left tackle Ronnie Stanley said.

Three plays after Likely’s non-catch, on a 4th-and-5 from the Pittsburgh 8-yard line, Jackson stepped up and had tight end Mark Andrews open with a step on the defender. The throw was not ideal but catchable, and the freshly paid, favorite target of Jackson could only paw it chaotically with his left hand.

Jackson had another chance to lead a go-ahead touchdown drive with no timeouts and 1:56 left. He got the Ravens to the 30-yard line, but he took a sack on a play that began with nine seconds remaining. Instead of having two shots at the end zone, Jackson lay on the ground as the clock hit zero. 

‘We have to finish and find a way to put some points on the board,’ Jackson told reporters in the locker room. ‘They beat us by five points. We have to find a way to get a touchdown on that last drive.’

Jackson was largely inefficient through the air, going 19-for-35 with 219 passing yards, a touchdown and an interception. 

The Ravens’ defense, for all of its improvement since the beginning of the season, had two free runners for walk-in touchdowns on what ended up being Jaylen Warren’s 38-yard touchdown dash. 

Pittsburgh’s offense is a known commodity by this point in the season. Rodgers, who looked every bit the 42-year-old he turned last week over the past month or so of the season, put up a gaudy stat line – 23-for-34, 287 passing yards with a rushing touchdown and passing score. 

Even with Jackson appearing to be a more willing runner (seven carries, 43 yards), Baltimore could not muster much against a Pittsburgh defense that was embarrassed by the Buffalo Bills in the rushing category a week ago. Derrick Henry (25 rushes, 94 yards) averaged 3.8 yards per carry. 

Rookie kicker Tyler Loop missed a kick. Harbaugh opted for field goals down the stretch at times a fourth-down conversion presented itself as the more analytically sound option. 

The list of reasons why the Ravens lost Sunday is plentiful. They are a game back in the division race because of it and remain alive to make the playoffs if they can retake the division lead and host a playoff game. They can pretend all of this was a blip on the radar. But the reasons why they trail in the division have plagued them all year. 

And that should encourage them to look beyond blaming the refs for their current stock.