The Steelers defense gave up a pair of long touchdown catches to Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers in the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s game and that meant quarterback Aaron Rodgers had to come up with a pair of answers for the team to have a shot at winning the AFC North.
Rodgers went 4-of-4 for 43 yards to set up a Kenneth Gainwell touchdown run with just under four minutes to play and then completed four more passes, including a 26-yard touchdown to wide receiver Calvin Austin to put the Steelers back in front with 55 seconds left to play. The Ravens would give themselves a chance to win the game, but the Steelers escaped with a 26-24 win after kicker Tyler Loop missed a field goal at the final whistle.
After the game was over, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said that the final minutes illustrated why the Steelers opted to get into the Rodgers business in the first place.
“I’ve admired him from afar for a long time, good to do it with him,” Tomlin said in his press conference. “This was the vision in the spring when we pursued him. That’s why you do business with a 41, 42-year-old guy — a been-there, done-that guy with a resume like his. He’s not only capable; he thrives in it. I think he put that on display tonight.”
There was talk about Sunday night’s game being Rodgers’ final NFL contest if the Steelers lost. He’ll be playing at least one more at home against the Texans next weekend and there wasn’t much in the fourth quarter to suggest that the quarterback’s tank is empty.
