Joy in the moment

Matt Stover's wife, Debbie asked artist Patrick Reid O'Brien to paint a gift for her husband celebrating the intensity of the moment and the friendship between Matt and long snap specialist NFL Center Matt Katula .

[US CAPITOL][HAMPTON CLASSIC][RAVENS WIN][UVA LAX][ARTIST OF THE YEAR]

Stover Lifts Ravens over Steelers

By Jamison Hensley

Baltimore Sun Reporter

Originally published November 21, 2005

For a few unworldly moments, the Ravens weren't a last-place team with pent-up frustrations and unfulfilled expectations.

When Matt Stover's 44-yard field goal sailed through the uprights with 4:09 left in overtime, it sent the Ravens cartwheeling to a 16-13 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday before 70,601 people.

As soon as the Ravens' four-game losing streak had ended, players threw their arms up high and stormed the middle of the M&T Bank Stadium field. Stover, the venerable kicker turned giddy hero, was lifted into the air by long snapper Matt Katula.

And much-maligned quarterback Kyle Boller, who helped the Ravens break a 12-quarter touchdown drought, clenched his fist and quietly said, "Thank you," to himself.

"It felt like we just won the AFC North," defensive end Terrell Suggs said. "What a great finish, what a great game."

This was the biggest game of the year for the Ravens (3-7) because it resembled one they had lost so many times before this season.

The Ravens held a 13-6 lead for nearly the entire second half until the Steelers tied the game with 5:15 left on an 11-yard touchdown pass to Willie Parker. When the momentum had swung previously this season, the Ravens were never able to get it back.

But on the Ravens' second possession of overtime, Boller hit Randy Hymes on a 12-yard pass at the Pittsburgh 44, converting a third-and-10 and ending a string of five straight incompletions.

After a 4-yard gain by Jamal Lewis and a face-mask penalty, Boller essentially put the Ravens in field-goal range with a 6-yard toss to tight end Todd Heap.

Stover's kick capped the winning, 30-yard drive and the 3-hour, 42-minute marathon, sending thousands of Steelers fans home unhappy and causing a raucous on-field celebration that spilled into an electric locker room.

"When you see that [locker room], you see the hope that it creates and the resolve that a team needs to bounce back from a 2-7 start," Stover said. "If I am put in more situations during this year, bring it on and we will win it."