What is our final record.
Ravens
At Min
TEN
At KC
Clev
At Ravens
This is not going to be pretty. 5-10-2.
Tomlin somehow bungles his way to a tie in the last game of the season as the Ravens have secured the #2 seed and rest the entire team, including Harbaugh, who watches the game from his home. The Steelers take an 18-3 lead into halftime following six field goals, including 3 from the Ravens 1/2 yard line, and are set to put the game away with their first drive of the 2nd half and a 1st and goal from the Ravens 3.
Inexplicably, the Steelers run three straight empty backfield all-fly pattern pass plays that wind up with a completion to the WR in the stands. Tomlin decides that now is the time for a fake field goal, and as Boswell drifts to his right looking for a receiver in a crowded endzone, he is hit on the chin and concussed. The referees of course miss the illegal hit and after the incompletion, Ravens take over on their own 3.
Backup QB Tyler Huntley suffered a strained hamstring in warmups so the Ravens had no choice but to play Dwayne Haskins, claimed off the Steelers waiver wire earlier in the week. The notoriously inaccurate Haskins struggled through a horrible first half, missing wide open receivers and explained later that he was confused at having guys that open and thought, "They're trying to deke me." He rebounds in the 2nd half and goes 19-21, with the two incompletions being spikes, for 371 yards and 2 TD's. With a 2-point conversion, the game winds up tied 18-18.
The Steelers only scoring chance in the 2nd half fizzled when Pressley Harvin, pressed into kicking duties after the Boswell concussion, tried to kick a field goal left-footed, though he is actually right-footed. Explained Harvin, "Chris had the only right-footed kicking shoe and that went with him to the hospital, so I thought, what the hell? Let's go lefty."
The Steelers win the toss in overtime and Mike Tomlin inexplicably defers to the 2nd half. The referees try to explain there is no second half, but Tomlin is adamant. Ravens get the ball and are set to win the game on another completion to the TE over the middle of the field when Mike Tomlin flies off the bench and tackles the guy. The referee crew huddles up for almost fifteen minutes before declaring a 5-yard penalty on the Steelers for having 12 men on the field.
The Ravens drive stalls out and Ben takes over. He runs the goalline offense, with an extra OT and 3 TE's, Harris up the middle three straight times for 2 yards. After the game, Tomlin notes, "I thought you idiots wanted me to run the ball!" Reporters try to explain that people wanted him to run that offense first-and-goal from the 3, not at their own 30-yard line.
After another Harvin 33-yard punt, the Ravens take over but manage nothing, due in large part to a series of highly complex formation penalties that the referees are unable to explain. The white hat tries to tell the hostile fans, "You wouldn't understand. You know what you said. I shouldn't have to tell you." The NFL also proudly notes that this is the first game where the referee is a female!
The game ends 18-18. After the game an emotional Tomlin tells the team he has "never been prouder of a group of players" and tries to bell Big Ben how much he looks forward to the 2022 season. However, Ben left midway through the speech because his private jet could not wait and Tomlin had not noticed.
That's how I get to 5-10-2.
