NFL Old School Game of the Week: Steelers-Ravens Rivalry Heats Up

Plaxico Burress makes a one-handed touchdown catch in the Steelers' 26-21 win against the Ravens in 2001.

When it comes to rivalries in the National Football League, many fans consider the one between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers as the best.

NFL fans often expect a hard-hitting, trash-talking, low-scoring affair as both teams pride themselves on their toughness and defenses.

But when did the bad blood between these two teams begin?

You can point a Sunday night game in December 2001 when the 10-2 Steelers traveled to Baltimore to face the defending Super Bowl champion Ravens.

The two teams had met six weeks earlier in Pittsburgh with the Ravens defeating the Steelers 13-10 despite being outgained 348-183 and not having starting quarterback Elvis Grbac in the line up.

The Ravens were aided by four missed field goals by Steelers kicker Kris Brown.

In the days before their rematch, Steelers wide receiver Plaxico Burress told the Pittsburgh media that “We(the Steelers) beat those guys up physically. We know it. All we have to do is go down there and beat them up again and hopefully come out of there with a win.”

This prompted the loquacious Ravens tight end Shannon Sharpe to respond by calling Burress “Plexigas”, implying that Burress was soft.

The Ravens also took offense to a comment from Steelers running back Jerome Bettis who said that Bengals linebacker Takeo Spikes was just as good as Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, it was that Lewis had a better supporting cast.

Sharpe responded to that comment by saying “Comparing Takeo Spikes to Ray Lewis is like comparing a homeless man to Bill Gates.”

The Ravens downplayed their opponent as well, when Lewis said that was no one on the Ravens’ first or second defensive team unit he would trade for any of the starters on the Steelers’ defense, despite the fact that Pittsburgh entered the game with the league’s best defense as they were holding opponents to an average of 12 points a game.

The stakes were also high entering this game as Pittsburgh had a chance to clinch the AFC Central if they defeated the 8-4 Ravens.

Lewis barked that no matter what “the road for the Super Bowl runs through Baltimore.”

The Ravens got the ball to start the game from their own 35-yard-line to the Pittsburgh 42-yard-line until Grbac was sacked by linebacker Jason Gildeon, killing the drive and forcing a Baltimore punt, giving the Steelers the ball at their own 23.

Using their running game and a 24-yard-pass from Stewart to Troy Edwards, the Steelers drove 73 yards in 13 plays, taking over eight minutes off the clock, to set up a chip shot 22-yard field goal for Brown, which he made to give Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead.

Elvis Grbac is drilled by Steelers linebacker Jason Gildeon.

After Corey Harris returned the ensuing kickoff 33 yards, the Ravens drove 56 yards in 8 plays, culminating with a 2-yard touchdown run by Grbac on the second play of the second quarter that put Baltimore on top, 7-3.

The Steelers would take over at their own 30 and drive to the Ravens’ 15-yard-line, thanks to two 3rd down completions from Stewart to Burress; the first for 14 yards on 3rd-and-7 at the Pittsburgh 33, then again for 32 yards on a 3rd-and-8 at their own 49.

Pittsburgh was faced with its third 3rd down of the drive, 3rd-and-6 at the Baltimore 15, but Stewart’s pass for Hines Ward fell incomplete, and the Steelers had to settle for another Brown field goal, this one from 33 yards out, that cut the Ravens to 7-6 with 9:29 left in the first half.

The Ravens got another great return on the ensuing kickoff as Jermaine Lewis’ 38-yard return gave Baltimore possession at their own 48.

However, the Ravens could travel to the Steelers’ 30 where they were forced to attempt a 48-yard field goal by Matt Stover, which he missed, giving the ball back to Pittsburgh at their own 38 with exactly six minutes to play before halftime.

There, Stewart led the Steelers on a 8-play, 62-yard drive, which ended with a 25-yard touchdown catch by Burress,who out jumped cornerback Chris McAlister to deflect the ball with one hand and then used that same hand to make the catch, which put Pittsburgh back in the lead at 13-7 with 1:52 to go in the half.

After giving up two big kick returns, Brown kicked it short giving the Ravens the ball back at their own 31-yard-line.

Five plays later, Grbac was intercepted by safety Chad Scott on a pass intended for Qadry Ismail, giving the Steelers the ball at the Baltimore 44 and a great chance to put more points on the board.

But a sack by linebacker Shannon Taylor forced the Steelers into a hail mary solution, which was unsuccessful keeping it a 13-7 game as the first half came to a close.

Despite the missed opportunity at the end of the half, the Steelers got the ball to start the second half.

Starting at their 16, Pittsburgh used a combination of short passes and runs to drive 49 yards in 11 plays to the Ravens’ 35-yard-line.

But that is when disaster appeared to strike as Stewart was intercepted by cornerback Chris McAlister, only to have pick nullified by a Ravens penalty as defensive end Rob Burnett was called for illegal hands to the face, giving Pittsburgh a fresh set of downs.

Stewart had the Steelers at the 14-yard-line after a 13-yard run, but lost 10 yards when tight end Jerame Tuman was called for offensive pass interference, then lost four more after a sack by Peter Boulware.

Stewart would get the Steelers back to the 14-yard-line for a 32-yard field goal attempt, but Brown’s kick bounced off the right upright, giving Pittsburgh zero points on a drive that took over 11 minutes.

Both teams would exchange punts for the rest of the third quarter as the score remained 13-7 in favor of Pittsburgh.

It seemed that the score was going to change early in the 4th quarter when Jermaine Lewis returned a Steeler punt 62 yards to the Pittsburgh’ 26-yard-line, giving the Ravens an excellent opportunity to retake the lead.

But on 2nd-and-5, Grbac was sacked for a five-yard-loss and then was called for a 15-yard taunting penalty after the play, forcing the Ravens back to their own 41-yard-line.

After an incomplete pass, the Ravens were forced to punt, but were able to pin the Steelers as Kyle Richardson’s 34-yard punt put Pittsburgh at their own seven-yard-line.

Bobby Shaw outruns Rod Woodson and Duane Starks for a 90-yard touchdown pass in the 4th quarter.

Two runs gained three yards forcing a 3rd-and-7 at the 10-yard-line and it seemed that the Ravens had the Steelers right where they wanted them.

That is when Stewart dropped back and fired a deep pass down the middle, that was caught by Bobby Shaw at the Baltimore 38 and then outraced the Raven secondary for a shocking 90-yard touchdown.

Pittsburgh went for two but the conversion failed keeping the score 19-7 with 8:53 to go in the game.

Brown kicked another short kick on the ensuing kickoff in hopes of avoiding a big return, but it backfired as Harris’ 32-yard return put Baltimore at the Pittsburgh 42.

Six plays later, Grbac found Ismail for a 14-yard touchdown to make it a one-score game at 19-14 with 6:36 remaining.

The Steelers took over at their own 28 and were faced with a 3rd-and-7 when Stewart connected with Burress again, this time for 38 yards that gave Pittsburgh a 1st down at the Baltimore’ 31-yard-line.

A pair of runs by Amos Zereoue for a total of 25 yards gave Pittsburgh a 1st-and-goal at the Ravens’ four-yard-line.

On 3rd-and-goal, fullback Dan Kreider punched it in from four yards out had a 26-14 lead with over three minutes to play.

Another short kick and another good return by Harris, this one for 23 yards, gave Baltimore the ball at their own 42 with 2:53 on the clock.

Having used up all their timeouts and needed two touchdowns, the Ravens had to go the air, but the Steeler defense allowed for Grbac to complete only short passes as it took Baltimore 11 plays to get in the end zone, a 5-yard pass from Grbac to Stokley to make it a 26-21 game with just 1:14 to play.

The Ravens attempted an onside kick but it was recovered by Shaw and after Stewart took a knee twice, the Steelers had come away with a 26-21 win and had clinched the AFC Central title.

After the game, the humbled Ravens gave their respect to the Steelers as Sharpe said that Burress could have his name back after Burress caught eight passes for 156 yards and that the Ravens “did a lot of talking and we didn’t back it up. They did a lot of talking and they backed it up.”

Five weeks later, the two teams would meet again in the AFC Divisional Playoffs in Pittsburgh where the Steelers dispatched of the Ravens 27-10 to advance to the AFC Championship Game, where they lost 24-17 to the New England Patriots.

The rivalry would continue into the 2002 season as realignment put the Ravens and the Steelers in AFC North Division along with the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns, meaning they would meet twice a year.

Since 2002, the two teams have met 29 times, with 14 of those meetings being decided by a field goal or less, and meeting each other three times in the playoffs, with the Steelers winning two of those contests.