Every week I write how each game is more bizarre than the last, and this one was no different. What stood out more than the Ravens bursting out of the 0-4 coffin just as the hammer was about to strike the final nail was Todd Haley and Mike Tomlin's Tom Coughlin-esque end-game management. Good coaches call plays in combination like a skilled billiards player who not only knocks the ball in the pocket, but leaves the cue ball in good position for his next shot.

When you have 3rd and 2 from long field-goal range, Le'Veon Bell in the backfield against a tired defense and Josh Scobee as your kicker, you have to think four-down territory from the outset. As such, your third-down play isn't an isolated attempt to convert the first down, but is called with the foreknowledge you're using two plays to get two yards. In that case, two runs give you by far the best chance, especially when your quarterback is a 35-year old journeyman, and your running back is arguably the best in the league.

It would be bad enough if the Steelers made this mistake once, but they actually made varieties of it four times:

(1) With 2:32 to go in the game, up three, they had 3rd-and-5 at the Ravens 31-yard line. Bell had just gashed the Ravens for gains of 21 and six yards on his previous two carries. Instead of thinking four-down territory, Tomlin/Haley try to throw for the first down, saving valuable time for the Ravens and picking up no yards when the pass fell incomplete. Tomlin then tries for the ill-advised long field goal in a tough stadium with a a shaky kicker who barely made his first-two attempts from closer in;

(2) After stuffing the Ravens on a 4-and-out, the Steelers run it twice with Le'Veon Bell to get to 3rd-and-5 again, this time from the Ravens 24-yard line. They correctly handed off to Bell to run clock (by the way, it's game over at this point had the Steelers done this on their last third down), but on 4th-and-4, they kick it again! This is a smaller mistake because with only a minute left and no timeouts, it is harder to get the TD than the FG, but converting a four-yard gain wins you the game entirely and doesn't risk the seven-yard loss of the missed FG. Moreover, the Ravens would also play for the tie rather than the win should you fail to convert the first down;

(3) In overtime the Steelers had the ball, 3rd-and-2 from the Ravens 39. Instead of realizing it was four-down territory and running twice with Bell, who on the last three plays had rushed for 22, five and three yards, respectively, they attempted a pass which fell incomplete and then called a quarterback sweep for Michael Vick, four yards in the backfield, on fourth; and

(4) On third-and-2 from the Baltimore 34, they called a pass play to Bell, and he was tackled a yard short of the first down. But on 4th-and-1, they called another pass play which fell incomplete, intended for Antonio Brown.

While Coughlin's gaffes in Week 1's loss to the Cowboys were perhaps more terrible than any one of these, Tomlin's dogged persistence in repeating varieties of the same error makes this game its rival in both idiocy and charity.

• John Harbaugh, a far better coach than Tomlin, made a gaffe of his own, faking a field goal down six on 4th-and-2 from from the Steelers 20 and not picking up the first down. While I have no problem with the occasional fake punt or field goal, why bother on 4th-and-2, when you can just run a play from scrimmage and get the first down? I could see it on 4th-and-7, but you don't need the element of surprise (and the concomitant downgrade in skill of the people handling the ball) with only two yards to go.

• Le'Veon Bell looks as good as any back I've ever watched. While I'm not old enough to have seen Jim Brown or peak O.J. Simpson live, I've watched Earl Campbell, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith, peak Terrell Davis, Marshall Faulk and Adrian Peterson. Bell is unusually quick for a big back, and he runs with power, but it's his patience and vision that are so unique. It's almost as if he pauses the action and optimally re-positions himself in relation to his blockers and the defense before surging ahead. And he's arguably the best receiving back in the league, too.

• Michael Vick moved well and threw a nice enough ball, but he also took too many sacks while wandering around the pocket and understandably lacked the rapport and timing with his receivers during crunch time.

• The Ravens are desperately thin at receiver and tight end. Not only did they lose starters Torrey Smith and Owen Daniels over the offseason, but starting tight end Crockett Gilmore missed the game, Steve Smith got hurt in the first quarter and wasn't a factor, Michael Campanaro, who scored the first touchdown, went down in the second half, and first-round pick Breshard Perriman recently had knee surgery and is out indefinitely. Kamar Aiken, Darren Waller, and Maxx Williams were Joe Flacco's late-game targets. Aiken had a decent game and is probably the only Ravens target besides Smith that's rosterable at this point.

• Justin Forsett went 27-for-150 against a weak Pittsburgh run defense, but despite the carnage in the receiving corps saw only one target and had no catches. I'd sell him high off this game if I could.

• Antonio Brown's remarkable 5-for-50 streak ended predictably with his quarterback out. He'll still be useful with Vick, especially with more practice time, but he takes a sizable hit the next few games. Consider him a late-second round pick instead of an early first until Ben Roethlisberger comes back.

• We mock kickers in fantasy football, but Justin Tucker is money.