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The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens found themselves in a dogfight in Week 5. The AFC North rivals fought to a tie through regulation and needed overtime to settle things. From there, things went sour for Pittsburgh. Baltimore quickly punted, but the Steelers coughed the ball up. On the second play of the drive, JuJu Smith-Schuster caught a pass for what would've been a first down. Instead, he fumbled and the Ravens recovered.
Not only did the Ravens recover, but they recovered at the 34 yard line. Already in field goal range, Baltimore ran the ball three straight times for six yards. Then the Ravens lined up and Justin Tucker nailed a 46-yard field goal for the win.
Smith-Schuster opened up about the fumble after the game.
JuJu just spoke to media. #Steelers pic.twitter.com/ij5900nwOP
— Josh Rowntree (@JRown32) October 6, 2019
It's easy for JuJu Smith-Schuster to blame himself. Any competitor would after fumbling the ball in such a crucial situation.
However, it's important to note that the wide receiver was a main reason the Steelers even made it to overtime. Smith-Schuster had seven receptions for 75 yards and a touchdown. All three of those were game-highs (for both teams).
Now Pittsburgh finds themselves in a miserable spot though. They fall to 1-4 and could now be down to their third string quarterback for a little while.
Winning this game against a divisional opponent would've definitely served them well. It would've put Pittsburgh on a two-game winning streak and found them just a loss behind the Cleveland Browns for the top spot in the division.
Now, Pittsburgh is going to have to move into desperation mode. If they want to salvage the season things need to be turned around quickly.
That being said, while it was a poorly timed turnover it's unfair to place all the blame on Smith-Schuster. On to the next game.
