BALTIMORE — The Pittsburgh Steelers had wandered down many a Baltimore back alley in recent years and emerged unscathed every time.

Trouble finally found them Saturday in the form of a 34-17 loss to Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry and any number of other Ravens who made huge plays at M&T Bank Field. That’s their first win at home against the Steelers since 2019 and the first time Jackson has beaten them in his home building.

Like last week in Philadelphia, the Steelers weren’t able to overcome key injuries on the road, as George Pickens was sorely missed for a disjointed offense, DeShon Elliott watched from the sideline while his replacement struggled and the outside cornerback crew was whittled down to Cory Trice Jr., James Pierre and Cam Sutton by the end of the game.

But Russell Wilson’s errors marred an otherwise savvy performance and ultimately accounted for 14 lost points, more than likely. Wilson had 217 yards on 22-of-33 passing with two touchdowns, but also fumbled just before the goal line at the end of a 19-yard run and served up a pick-6 to Marlon Humphrey just when the momentum had shifted back to the Steelers after Jackson threw an interception of his own.

Jackson was otherwise phenomenal — for once against the Steelers — completing 15 of 23 passes for 207 yards and three scores while adding 25 yards on the ground. Henry was maybe an even bigger problem, physically and figuratively, rumbling for 162 yards on 24 bruising carries as the Steelers struggled to get off blocks and missed tackles on the biggest back around.

Mike Tomlin also made a controversial decision to go for it on fourth-and-6 at the Ravens 45 to start the fourth quarter, trailing by a touchdown. It was more of a traditional punt situation than when he opted to play field position Sunday against the Eagles, but he put his foot on the gas, and Wilson’s deep ball was broken up. Chris Boswell hit a 51-yarder, which has become routine for him, though even he had a significant miscue when he booted a kickoff out of bounds to give the Ravens the ball at their 40, which they promptly took 60 yards in six plays for what stood up as the winning score to make it 24-17.

Just when they had a chance to lock up the AFC North with a victory, this puts the division in doubt for the Steelers (10-5). They can still win it by beating the Chiefs and Bengals, but easier said than done, as the Ravens (10-5) clinched a playoff spot and finish with the banged-up Texans and Browns.

It was over when: Justin Tucker booted a chip-shot field goal to make it a three-possession game with 3:10 left, capping yet another dominant Ravens drive that went 86 yards over 11 plays for 6:09 of clock-killing efficiency.

Player of the game: Calvin Austin III. The smallest Steeler on the field put forth some of the best efforts for a Steelers offense struggling to stay afloat minus George Pickens. Austin had just four catches for 65 yards, but his 44-yarder along the right sideline was a beauty. He also had a chance on a fourth-and-6 heave by Wilson to start the fourth quarter and just couldn’t win a jump ball against 6-foot-4 safety Kyle Hamilton at the goal line. Perhaps it should’ve been pass interference on Hamilton, but either way, Austin is showing his ability to be a regular contributor and not just a gadget player in an NFL offense. Another little guy, Jaylen Warren, also sparked things at times, finishing with 92 yards on 17 touches. This would be a good time for him to heat up as the road gets narrow.

Trending up: MyCole Pruitt. Speaking of the pass catchers, the journeyman veteran tight end had a Jerome Bettis-esque stat line — 1 catch, 1 yard, 1 touchdown — but what a grab it was in the back of the end zone. While Pruitt isn’t going to remind anyone of prime Tony Gonzalez, tough catches like that could be a nice supplement to his reliable blocking down the stretch if the Steelers lean on their heavy personnel more in these high-stakes, cold-weather games. Minkah Fitzpatrick finally picked off a pass for the first time since the 2022 season but wasn’t exactly lights-out before that. Fitzpatrick got lost on Isaiah Likely’s touchdown to kick off the scoring and had a bad facemask penalty to gift 15 yards at the end of a Zay Flowers reception. The interception was big, though.

Trending down: Damontae Kazee. The free safety starting in place of injured strong safety DeShon Elliott had some crucial stops in run support, but his coverage woes were costly for much of the day. Kazee couldn’t keep up with wideout Rashod Bateman on Jackson’s second touchdown pass of the day and appeared to lose Mark Andrews in coverage on the third. Honorable mention goes to FOX color analyst Tom Brady for mistakenly referring to Najee Harris as Davenport — as in Najeh Davenport, former Steelers running back who’s been out of the league since 2008. As another famous broadcaster once said: Heck, I’m not even mad; that’s amazing.

Up next: Christmas Day against the Chiefs, who can clinch the AFC’s No. 1 seed and a first-round bye with a win.

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