Baltimore Ravens fail to spoil Pittsburgh Steelers playoff hopes with 17-10 loss
BALTIMORE - The Ravens didn't need to win on Saturday afternoon.
However, they didn't spoil their long-time rival's playoff hopes.
The Ravens (13-4) lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 17-10, at a wet and cold M&T Bank Stadium.
Baltimore has already secured the No. 1 overall seed and a bye in the AFC playoffs. But the Steelers, with the win, need Jacksonville or Buffalo to lose to make the playoffs.
"We had a chance to send them home, now they have a chance to go to the playoffs," Baltimore linebacker Patrick Queen said. "It stings a little bit ... but we have a lot of pages in our book that set us up pretty good. Nobody's hanging their head or anything. If we see those guys again, we'll be ready."
Tied at 7-7, Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph tossed a 71-yard touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson on the first play of the fourth quarter. A field goal later in the quarter pushed their lead to 10 points.
Najee Harris added a touchdown run for Pittsburgh (10-7).
Baltimore scored its lone touchdown on a 27-yard pass to Isaiah Likely.
There was some bad news for the Steelers. T.J. Watt — who had two sacks to take sole possession of the NFL lead with 19 — left in the third quarter with a knee injury.
The Ravens held MVP favorite Lamar Jackson out of this game, along with a handful of other key players. Tyler Huntley started at quarterback, and both teams had a hard time moving the ball on a rainy, windy day.
Rudolph was 18 of 20 for 152 yards.
Each team lost two fumbles.
The Steelers have won seven of the last eight meetings with Baltimore, all of which were decided by seven points or fewer. Pittsburgh's four consecutive wins at M&T Bank Stadium are the most by a visiting team since the Steelers themselves won five straight from 1998-2002.
The Ravens will next play on either Jan. 20 or Jan. 21 in the AFC Divisional Playoff Round at M&T Bank Stadium.
SITTING OUT
In addition to Lamar Jackson, receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Zay Flowers, safety Kyle Hamilton, cornerback Marlon Humphrey and guard Kevin Zeitler were among the big names on the inactive list for the Ravens. Star linebacker Roquan Smith was active but did not play.
"We didn't really care about who was out there or how long they were going to play," Harris said. "We wanted to play so physical that if they did play their ones, their guys, we wanted (Baltimore coach John) Harbaugh to say, 'We've got to get them out of there,' because of how physical we were playing."
The Associated Press contributed to this story