When you are the team with the weaker offense, it’s generally a good policy to try to shorten the game, in the sense of limiting the number of drives at your opponents’ disposal. The Baltimore Ravens entered Sunday’s game with a tattered offensive unit going up against one that had put up 30 points in six straight games.
No doubt it was at least in part the Ravens’ strategy to limit the number of possessions that the Pittsburgh Steelers would be able to run, and indeed they managed to do so, as the offense carried out just 11 drives in the game, below their season average, and that is a number that includes the one-play lateral at the end of the game with four seconds remaining.