Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens. Preview and Prediciton

The Steelers are 3-0 without Ben Roethlisberger, which is already a success for this team. Even if the Steelers loose to their next opponent, the Baltimore Ravens, 3-1 will be a bid time success, because after this game the Steelers get a bye week, and their best player on offense back.

As for the game itself, I'm not really sure how I feel about it. The Ravens are without Ed Reed, and Ray Rice is questionable for the game. However, I'm not a big believer in Charlie Batch, like the rest of the morons in Pittsburgh. He threw 2 touchdown passes that should have been picked, and this is a good, and opportunistic defense that he will be facing.

The Ravens D still looks solid. Through three games, Baltimore leads the league in total defense, allowing just 244.3 yards per game. The Ravens have also given up the least amount of first downs in the NFL so far this season. Ray Lewis is still playing at a high level, as is Haloti Ngata, who the Steelers usually have trouble with.

However, despite the good numbers for the defense, its run defense is a major concern. The Ravens are giving up 127.7 rushing yards per game (No. 22 in the NFL) on 4.7 yards per carry. The Ravens have only allowed four 100-yard rushers in their last 54 games, but Browns backup running back Peyton Hillis surprisingly joined the list last week when he rushing for 144 yards. The Ravens pass defense is looking better then expected without Ed Reed, who is out for the first six games.

Offensively, their run game is good, but Ray Rice is banged up and right now his status for Sunday is unknown for Sunday. If Rice can't go then it will certainly be a major blow offensively for the Ravens. Rice is a complete back who can do a lot of things in the running and passing game. He's also had success against the Steelers in the past. Willis McGahee will get the start if Rice doesn't play. For those of you who don't remember, McGahee was the running back who got destroyed in the 2008 AFC Championship game by Ryan Clark.


The Ravens have the Steeler-killer TJ Houshmanzadeh at receiver, along with Todd Heap, and Derrick Mason. All three usually catch a few key passes against the Steelers. The Ravens key receiver is Anquan Boldin, who is a very talented receiver. Boldin is a guy who can break tackles and has good hands. 

Joe Flacco usually struggles against the Steelers. He's only managed to lead the Ravens to a victory over the Steelers once, and that was last year when Roethlisberger was held out of the game due to a concussion. Dennis Dixon had to fill in and threw a crucial interception in overtime. Flacco is 1-4 in his short career against the Steelers. Out of those 5 games, Flacco has 4 td passes and 6 interceptions. He's also only completed over 60% of his passes once, and that was in the win last year, and Troy Polamalu didn't play.


As for the Steleers, the keys to the game are the same as always. No turnovers, no special teams mistakes, and control the clock.Think about this, Roethlisberger has only lost to the Ravens twice in his career, both in 2006, the year of his motorcycle accident, his worst year as a pro. The Steelers have had to play the Ravens four times since 2004, without Ben. They lost all four of those games. Not a very good sign.

Also, the Steelers usually have trouble running the ball against the Ravens, and have had to rely on Ben's arm to beat them in the past. So far in 3 games this year,the Steelers have averaged 139 yards passing, 1TD/game, 1INT/game. With Roethlisberger last year they averaged 286 yards passing with 1.7 TD/game and .7 Int/game. The Ravens chances of winning next week are significantly better without him in the game.

Charlie Batch will get the start again this Sunday, after throwing 3 touchdowns against Tampa Bay last week. However, Batch also threw 2 interceptions, and should have been picked on two of his touchdowns. That can't happen against this Ravens team.

Batch is going to have to look to Heath Miller and Hines Ward most of the game. Both of them have had success against the Ravens. 

The one good thing about this years match-up is the Steelers offensive line is improved in all aspects. Rookie center Maurkice Pouncey is a huge upgrade over Justin Hartwig. The Ravens have three giants on their defensive line, so the Steelers had to get bigger and stronger up front, and they are.

Rashard Mendenhall cannot tip toe around this defense, he needs to hit holes fast and hard. I just hope he's not a little nervous because Ray Lewis almost ruined his career before.


Defensively I think the Steelers will be fine, especially if Ray Rice can't play. Flacco tends to hold on to the ball so I expect the Steelers to get some hits on him. The key is going to be to force some turnovers. Field position is going to huge in this game.

Bottom Line: This game is going to be nasty just like it always is. This is the best rivalry in the NFL. Both of these teams look forward to this game and everyone usually brings their A game. The Steelers cannot afford turnovers in this game. The Steelers cannot and will not come from behind to beat this team with Batch at qb.

That being said, I just don't trust Joe Flacco. I think he's drastically overrated and plays horrible against the Steelers. So I'm going Steelers in this game.

Steelers 16 Ravens 13