NFL Old School Game of the Week: Holmes TD Catch Gives Steelers AFC North Title over Ravens

Santonio Holmes comes down with what would be the game-winning touchdown in the Steelers' Week 15 win over the Ravens.

 The rivalry between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers is famous for its hard-hitting low scoring affairs as was the case in Week 15 when the Ravens hosted the Steelers in a game with major ramifications on the AFC playoffs.

The Steelers came into the game with a 10-3 record and a chance to wrap up the AFC North division with a win over the Ravens.

Pittsburgh was led by head coach Mike Tomlin, who was in his second season as the Steelers' head coach after taking over for Bill Cowher who retired following 15 seasons in the Steel City.

The Steelers had a dynamic offense featuring quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and wide receivers Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes, but the team was led by its defense who had held all opponents to under 300 yards in every game of the season to this point.

The defense was led by linebacker James Harrison and safety Troy Polamulu who helped the Steelers come back from a 10-point deficit the week before to defeat the Dallas Cowboys 20-13(To read about that game, click on the link which is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-steelers.html).

Meanwhile, the Ravens entered the game with a 9-4 record needing a win to keep the Steelers from clinching the division title since Pittsburgh defeated Baltimore earlier in the season with a 23-20 comeback win in week 4.

Baltimore was had a pair of rookies in rookie head coach John Harbaugh, older brother of former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh, and quarterback Joe Flacco who had been selected in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft.

Despite this relative lack of experience at head coach and quarterback, the Ravens were in the hunt for a playoff spot primarily because of their defense which featured linebacker Ray Lewis and free safety Ed Reed which had allowed only 20 points over the team's previous three games which Baltimore won.

So a low-scoring hard hitting game was expected as the two teams meet in Baltimore with a possible division title on the line.

The game started out as expected with both defenses controlling the action as both teams traded punts until a little over three minutes left in the first quarter when Steelers free safety Ryan Clark intercepted a Flacco pass intended for Marcus Smith to give Pittsburgh the ball at its 33-yard-line.

The Steelers would drive to the Baltimore 41-yard-line until Roethlisberger was sacked by Lewis on a 3rd & 4 forcing Pittsburgh to punt the ball back to the Ravens, who would be given great field position to start the second quarter as Jim Leonhard returned the ensuing punt 46 yards to the Steelers' 43-yard-line.

A 24-yard pass from Flacco to tight end Todd Heap would help set up the first score of the game, a 28-yard field goal by Matt Stover to put the Ravens on top 3-0 with 12:34 left in the second quarter.

The Steelers would start its next possession at their 20-yard-line as Roethlisberger completed a seven-yard pass to fullback Sean McHugh which was followed by four straight running plays that put Pittsburgh at its 41-yard-line when Roethlisberger connected with Ward for 21 yards to give the Steelers a 1st down at the Baltimore 38-yard-line.

A holding penalty pushed the Steelers back four yards to the Ravens' 42-yard-line as Roethlisberger would compete passes of nine yards to Nate Washington and 18 yards to tight end Heath Miller to give Pittsburgh another 1st down at the Baltimore 16-yard-line.

The drive would stall as Roethlisberger would hit only one of his next three passes for four yards to force the Steelers to settle for a 31-yard field goal by Jeff Reed that tied the game 3-3 with 5:48 left in the second quarter as Pittsburgh had held the ball for nearly seven minutes on a 14-play, 68-yard drive.

Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis had seven tackles and one quarterback sack.

The Ravens would get the ball back at its 23-yard-line as Flacco handed the ball off to Le'Ron McClain three straight times as McClain ran for 20 yards on the three carries before Flacco completed a three-yard pass to Derrick Mason for a Baltimore 1st down at its 46-yard-line.

A three-yard run by McClain and an incomplete pass set up 3rd & 7 when Flacco found Mark Clayton for 17 yards and a 1st down at the Steelers' 34-yard-line which was followed by a 12-yard pass to fullback Lorenzo Neal to put Baltimore at the Pittsburgh 22 as the two-minute warning hit.

The Ravens would eventually drive to the Steelers' eight-yard-line until they had to settle for a 26-yard field goal by Stover to put Baltimore back on top 6-3 with 52 seconds left before halftime.

The Steelers ran out the clock to the end first half trailing 6-3 but set to get the ball to start the second half only to go three & out on their opening possession as the game moved back into a stalemate as neither team could mount a scoring threat for the first half of the third quarter until the Ravens got the ball at the Pittsburgh 16-yard-line following a turnover when cornerback Samari Rolle knocked the ball loose from Holmes leading to a recovery by Ed Reed.

McClain would run for six yards on two carries before Flacco threw an incomplete pass on 3rd & 4 to force the Ravens to settle for another Stover field goal, this time from 28 yards out to increase the Baltimore lead to 9-3 with 6:03 left in the third quarter.

The Steelers would almost turn it over again late in the third quarter when Holmes muffed a punt only to have it recovered by teammate Keyaron Fox who picked up the football and ran 18 yards to the Ravens' 33-yard-line setting the Pittsburgh offense in great shape.

Back-to-back running plays picked up nine yards to set up 3rd & 1 when Roethlisberger was sacked by linebacker Terrell Suggs and lost the football which was recovered by Ravens defensive tackle Brandon McKinney giving Baltimore the ball at its 22-yard-line just nine seconds into the fourth quarter.

The Ravens would go three-and-out to punt the ball back to the Steelers who took over at their 34-yard-line as Parker ran for 10 yards to start the drive which was followed by a 30-yard pass from Roethlisberger to Ward to put Pittsburgh at the Baltimore 26-yard-line.

A three-yard run by Parker and an eight-yard pass to Ward would give the Steelers another 1st down at the Ravens' 15-yard-line when Roethlisberger would throw the ball three straight times, only completing one of them to Miller for three yards to force a 30-yard field goal by Jeff Reed to make it 9-6 with 9:29 left in the fourth quarter.

The Ravens would get the ball back at their 25-yard-line as a three-yard run by McClain followed by a 19-yard pass from Flacco to Clayton put the Ravens at their 47-yard-line when McClain ran for 10 yards to give Baltimore a 1st down at the Pittsburgh 43-yard-line.

Then on 3rd & 7, Flacco found Mason for 11 yards and another Baltimore 1st down at the Steelers' 29-yard-line when McClain ran the ball twice, picking up only two yards to force a 3rd & 8 from the Pittsburgh 27-yard-line.

That is when disaster nearly struck for the Ravens as Flacco was sacked by linebacker Lawrence Timmons, causing him to fumble the football which was recovered by running back Willis McGahee at the Steelers' 41-yard-line forcing a 4th & 22 as the Ravens looked to pin the Steelers back with a punt.

Sam Koch's punt would go 33 yards to the Steelers' eight-yard-line as Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh offense came back onto the field with 3:36 left in regulation.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed 22 of 40 passes for 246 yards and threw one TD.

The drive got off to a good start as Roethlisberger complete a 13-yard pass to Ward, followed by another 13-yard completion to Ward to put the Steelers at their 34-yard-line with three minutes left.

Two straight incomplete passes lead to a 3rd & 10 when Roethlisberger connected with Washington for 16 yards to give the Steelers a 1st down at the 50-yard-line where Roethlisberger found Washington again for nine yards to set up 2nd & 1 at the Ravens' 41-yard-line the two-minute warning hit.

Roethlisberger would then hand the ball off to Moore who picked up just three yards but good enough for a 1st down at the Ravens' 38-yard-line when Roethlisberger hit Washington again, this time for 24 yards and a 1st down at the Baltimore 14-yard-line as Pittsburgh called timeout with 1:12 left in regulation.

Roethlisberger would then hit Ward for 10 yards to set up 1st & goal at the Ravens' four-yard-line when Roethlisberger spiked the football to stop the clock with 52 seconds left.

An incomplete pass intended for tight end Matt Speath forced a 3rd & goal which would likely be the Steelers' last chance to take the lead as if Pittsburgh did not get into the end zone they would probably kick the field goal to tie the game.

That is when Roethlisberger took the snap scrambled to his left and fired a pass for Holmes who made the catch but at first glance looked to have the ball outside of the end zone at the one-yard-line.

The game was then stopped to review whether or not the ball had crossed the plane as Holmes had made the catch.

After the review, officials ruled that the ball had crossed the plane as Holmes made the catch making it a touchdown that with the extra point gave the Steelers a 13-9 lead with 43 seconds to go following a 12-play, 92-yard drive in which Roethlisberger completed seven of 11 passes for 89 yards.

However, the Ravens would be given great field position to start their last chance effort to win the game as the Steelers would forced to kick the ensuing kickoff from their 15-yard-line following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty following the extra point.

The Ravens would get the ball at their 47-yard-line needing a touchdown as Flacco's first pass fell incomplete which was followed by a 14-yard pass to McGahee to put the Ravens at the Steelers' 39-yard-line as Baltimore called timeout with 25 seconds left.

McGahee would gain only one yard on the next pass before going out of bounds with 17 seconds left when Flacco threw a pass toward the end zone that was intercepted by Steelers cornerback William Gay who returned the pick to the Pittsburgh 11-yard-line, allowing Roethlisberger to take a knee to run out the clock as the Steelers had claimed the AFC North Division title with a hard-fought 13-9 win.

The Ravens would rebound to win their final two games of the regular season to finish with a 11-5 record good enough to earn them a Wild Card spot while the Steelers finished with a 12-4 record to earn the #2 seed in the AFC Playoffs.

In the playoffs, the Ravens would knock off the Miami Dolphins 27-9 in the Wild Card round which was followed by a 13-10 upset win over the #1 seed Tennessee Titans to send Baltimore to the AFC Championship Game where they would meet the Steelers who defeated the San Diego Chargers 35-24 to host the Ravens in the third meeting of the 2008 season between the two teams.

Much like the previous two meetings, the game was a defensive battle that wasn't decided until late in the game when Polamulu picked off a Flacco pass and returned 40 yards for a touchdown to seal the 23-14 win and send Pittsburgh to the Super Bowl where they faced the Arizona Cardinals.

In one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time, Holmes would make another shoestring touchdown catch as his six-yard touchdown reception with 35 seconds left gave the Steelers a 27-23 win and their sixth Super Bowl championship.