“I came here for that Ben Roethlisberger, that guy that has trust in his players that are on the field.” — Eric Ebron.

From Mike Prisuta, Steelers.com:

The initial plan produced all of 64 total net yards, zero third-down conversions in three attempts and zero points scored on offense in the first half in Baltimore, so in the second half the Steelers went without one.

“I was telling the line the protection and moving guys around and playing backyard football, if you will,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger explained. “I don’t know that we called too many quote-unquote plays in the second half when we were in that mode.”

It worked.

The Steelers scored three touchdowns on five second-half possessions and turned a 10-point halftime deficit into a hard-fought, 28-24 victory over the Ravens on Sunday afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium.

It was the Roethlisberger tight end Eric Ebron had been longing to see.

“That’s kinda what I came here for,” Ebron said.

Roethlisberger completed 17 of 22 second-half attempts, for 158 of his 182 passing yards on the afternoon and both of his touchdown passes.

The Steelers emptied the backfield with regularity and repeatedly deployed a personnel group that included wide receivers Chase Claypool, Ray-Ray McCloud, Diontae Johnson and JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Ebron.

Smith-Schuster wasn’t targeted in the first half but finished with a team-leading seven catches for a team-leading 67 yards receiving.

Five of Smith-Schuster’s catches produced first downs, including a 2-yard gain on third-and-1 from the Baltimore 41-yard line on which Smith-Schuster caught the ball behind the line of scrimmage and ran through cornerback Marlon Humphrey to move the chains on the drive that produced the eventual game-winning touchdown.

“We threw a personnel group at ’em that we hadn’t done much before, no (running) backs, and emptied things out,” Roethlisberger said. “It just created things, defensive looks and opportunities for us.

“I know my whole career people say that I’ve always kind of had the playground, backyard football. Today it was in its truest form. There were plays when I would say, ‘Hey, JuJu you run this, Ray-Ray you run this,’ and they didn’t blink and eye. They were able to just do things on the fly and I think that’s what makes me most proud today.”

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