RAVENS HOUNDED HODGES INTO A HORRID PERFORMANCE
Intentional grounding penalties prove costly in season-ending loss
BALTIMORE — Duck Hodges just barely managed to throw away a feeble attempt at a pass, then rolled over painfully once he was free from the grasp of Matt Judon.
To add insult to injury, as Baltimore’s Pro Bowl edge-rusher pleaded for a flag, Hodges finally picked his head up to see that he was indeed penalized for intentional grounding on the play, turning what could’ve been a fourth-and-4 opportunity into fourth-and-15.
It might as well have been the final nail in the Steelers’ season, let alone their dud of a finale. And that was hardly the worst of it when it came to the offense dealing with relentless Ravens ransacking.
Statistically, the Steelers allowed just two sacks Sunday in their 28-10 defeat at M&T Bank Stadium, but the accumulation of that pressure felt like so much more, both for Hodges in what could be his final start and for the offense as a whole.
There also was the safety in the end zone on another intentional grounding call for the game’s final points, plus the fact that one of those two sacks was a strip by Judon that the Ravens recovered to set up a touchdown in the final minute of the second half.
“It’s just team protection,” said left guard Ramon Foster, who also might have played his final game as a Steeler. “It’s just sacks and blitzes. They ran a bunch of different stunts and schemes, and that’s simply what it was.”
And it was far too often for a Steelers offense that doesn’t need much penetration to be thrown off balance these days. Week 17 was the fourth game in a row with multiple sacks allowed for a line that allowed just five sacks the first six weeks of the season.
Through the first half of the season, Steelers quarterbacks had been sacked just eight times. In the second half, that number tripled to 24, in three starts for Mason Rudolph and five for Hodges. Sunday, their protection woes — which used to be the least of their problems — came back to bite them one last time.
“It’s all of us,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “We’ve got to protect better, we’ve got to get open, we’ve got to make quick decisions, we’ve got to put them in better schematic opportunities. We’re not looking to assign blame. We take responsibility for the play. When I say ‘we,’ I mean all of us, starting with myself.”
Sure enough, that statement covers any and all blockers, routerunners, the quarterback, the playcaller and the head coach. Naturally, that’s the company line, but just about any negative play is the result of a missed assignment, and Sunday, the Ravens — especially Judon and defensive back Brandon Carr — were feasting on Duck’s blind side.
On their first sack, Carr blitzed and brought down Hodges, two plays after Hodges spun away from another would-be hit by Carr in the backfield. The next Steelers possession ended when Judon was chipped by tight end Vance McDonald, who then released and waited for Hodges to find him, but before a connection could be made Judon slapped the ball away and nose tackle Michael Pierce fell on it at the Steelers 23.
“Just have to hold onto the ball,” Hodges said. “You have to have pocket awareness, two hands on the ball. The guy made a great play. I still have to be better taking care of the football.”
Judon made his presence felt again early in the fourth quarter when running back Jaylen Samuels ran a route into the left flat, McDonald released once more and Judon came flying in for a free shot at Hodges on third down. Facing a 19-10 deficit, the Steelers might have kept their offense on the field for fourth-and-4, but the intentional grounding flag essentially resulted in the same scenario as a sack.
“It was a free release for me. I had no protection rules, and they just made a great play,” said Samuels, who was in the back- field for Judon’s strip-sack and both intentional grounding penalties. “Duck, I guess he didn’t make the right read quick enough, he scrambled out to the right and Judon made a play.”
That was the second of three quarterback hits for Judon, who fittingly made the final tackle of the game on Benny Snell in a meaningless regular-season finale for the Ravens. They rested seven starters, including three on defense, but not Judon, who finished a career year with 9.5 sacks.
“That guy bet on himself,” Foster said. “He’s out here trying to play for a contract. I think he needed double-digit sacks today to push himself up that escalator. I don’t know if he got it — I think he might’ve gotten nine or something like that — but yeah, that’s part of it. That’s the business side.”
The Ravens took care of their business one last time with 4:27 left and the Steelers at their 6. After bending down to field a low snap from B.J. Finney — again, plenty of blame to go around — Hodges dropped back into the end zone as he was swarmed by a flock of Ravens.
They conspired by first blitzing hybrid linebacker Anthony Levine, who was picked up by Samuels, then Carr, who sped past as Foster could only lunge at him before he brought down Hodges from behind.
Again, Hodges managed to get off a throw, but not a legal one, and when you do that in the end zone, that’s two points for the defense.
“Those are just blitzes,” said a frustrated Foster. “Don’t designate a sack or pressure to one side . ... They’re historically a really good defense.”
The Steelers have been a historically good pass-blocking offensive line, too, but with 13 sacks allowed over the final four games, it’s no secret that contributed to the three-game skid that left them out of the postseason.