PITTSBURGH -- The Baltimore Ravens ended the 39-38 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers with some of their offensive players holding their arms in the air.

It was a strange ending as the final eight seconds ticked off the clock while the Ravens stood in a huddle. Baltimore needed 18 more yards to get in range for a 60-yard field goal attempt for Justin Tucker, who was hitting from that distance in pregame warm-ups.

The Ravens never got another chance for a long completion to the sideline to set up Tucker because of an obscure rule. Joe Flacco and basically everyone else on the field thought the clock had stopped after the quarterback was stripped by T.J. Watt and the fumble went out of bounds.

But the officials re-started the clock and the last seconds ran off with the Ravens offense not lined up.

"We didn't have any awareness that was happening," Flacco said. "It's our fault."

The rule, in part, reads:

ARTICLE 2. SCRIMMAGE DOWN. Following any timeout (3-37), the game clock shall be started on a scrimmage down when the ball is next snapped, except in the following situations: ...

(f) If a fumble or backward pass by any player goes out of bounds, the game clock starts when an official places the ball at the inbounds line, and the Referee signals that the ball is ready for play.

It was a disastrous final drive for the Ravens, who totaled a season-high 413 yards and scored more than 30 points for the third time this season.

Baltimore was forced to use its last timeout on the first play of the last possession because wide receiver Jeremy Maclin laid on the ground hurt and the Ravens didn't want a 10-second runoff. After a 14-yard pass to Mike Wallace that moved the ball to the Baltimore 39, Flacco spiked the ball to stop the clock with 21 seconds left.

On second down, Flacco threw an incomplete pass to Maclin, who stepped out of bounds before catching the pass. Flacco then coughed up the ball on the next play after getting chased down by Watt.

Asked if there was any confusion at the end with the clock, coach John Harbaugh said, "I don't even remember. At that point in time, were there eight seconds left? Did the game turn on that? I don't think so."