History has shown us that
whenever the Baltimore Ravens play the Pittsburgh Steelers this matchup is
always classified as a brutal, battering, defensive beatdown for both teams. Over the years a lot may’ve changed in terms
of player personnel, coordinators, some staff members, even maybe the name of
the stadium (Acrisure Stadium, formerly Heinz Field) at least that’s the case
for the Steelers. At the same time, a
lot has remained unchanged. Mike Tomlin,
Pittsburgh’s head coach is still going strong in this his 18th season
and still holds a top NFL defense with regularity. Baltimore still employs John Harbaugh as the
man in charge of the Ravens who is now in his 17th year, possess one
of the best teams in the league and often has throughout his tenure with the
club. One of the main differences would
be that the Steelers indubitably have a much better offensive unit behind very
good quarterback play for the first time since “Big” Ben Roethlisberger decided
to hang up his cleats in 2022. Russell
Wilson will be competing against last year’s NFL MVP Lamar Jackson as divisional
nemeses for the first time in his career.
After Wilsons copious tenancy in
Seattle enduring playoff success over his decade long run there, we all
remember the apparent downfall during his two seasons in Denver. That reason alone people have gone on a
constant rant saying that Wilsons career was cooked with nothing left in said 35-year-olds
arm. When you claim to be an NFL fan,
but don’t watch game footage, solely listen to the media, these are the results
you conclude with. Reality shows you
that his first season in Denver, Russell was playing in a brand-new system for
his fourth consecutive season (3 different OC’s last 3 years in Seattle) which
would be hard for even the Peyton Mannings or Tom Brady’s of the world. On top of that he was also getting acquainted
with an entire new team, offensive line and skilled positions. That is tough on any quarterback, especially a
33-year-old who was also coming off an injury.
Denver’s O-line play certainly didn’t make it any easier on him as he
was sacked more than any other QB in the league during his tenure in Mile
High. Year two things started to improve
and by seasons end Wilson found himself with near identical passer statistics as
the forementioned 2023 MVP, Lamar Jackson.
I have been on record speaking
highly of the Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson ever since he was drafted 32nd
overall of the 2018 NFL Draft. Jackson showed
the nation how extremely gifted he was early on, winning the Heisman Trophy
during his Sophomore season at Louisville where he had 51 total touchdowns
while recording over 5,000 all-purpose yards.
That notched him into the college history books and he hasn’t looked
back since. Lamar already owns two
regular season NFL MVPs and looks to be a clear-cut top three favorite to earn
his third this season. Baltimore’s QB is
on pace to surpass 5,200 total yards this season as he has already thrown for
more than 2,600 yards (2,669yds-2nd) plus an additional 500+ yards
on the ground (538 yds), presently 21st of all players in rushing,
while obviously leading all quarterbacks.
The Ravens as a whole, currently pace the league as the top rushing attack
with a combined 1,826 yards registered by the likes of Jackson, Derrick Henry
(1,120 yards-2nd) plus a sprinkle of Justice Hill. They are closely followed by an exceptional
Philadelphia Eagles team (1,813 rush yds) that boasts their very own QB, running
back one-two punch on the ground with Barkley (1,137 yds-1st) and
Hurts. It is expected that Baltimore
will probably start with the ground game against a very stingy Steelers
defense. Though it may be harder for
them to continue their success here against a Teryl Austin led defense (Steelers
DC) having the fourth best run defense all season while only allowing 87.1 rushing
yards on average (ranks 4th).
With that said, the best way to attack Pittsburgh is to throw the ball
early and often knowing that they are 19th against the pass (215.6
yds pg).
Ravens also have a defensive weakness that the Steelers will look to exploit. Ironically enough it is the same weakness the Steelers have shown, though for Baltimore it has been far worse. The Ravens are ranked 1st in the NFL in rush defense only ceding 73 yards per game, however, possess the absolute worst pass defense which has already allowed 2,949 yards this season with an average just shy of 300 a week (294.9 ypg). Russell Wilson has honestly been working with middling talent on the outside with receivers such as Van Jefferson, Calvin Austin III, tight end Pat Freiermuth, and their number one wideout George Pickens. Nothing against any of those men but they aren’t exactly a top tier arsenal leaguewide. Pittsburgh did slightly upgrade their receiver room upon the addition of ex-Chargers and most recently New York Jets wideout Mike Williams after his stay there that didn’t exactly work out for Rodgers and company. Williams could quickly gain a strong rapport with Wilson, which will also help Pickens’ growth over the rest of the season, and we could possibly see something special happen in the playoffs if my projections prove to be right. This AFC rivalry game could wind up as one of the best games of the week, if not the season. I’m surprised that the NFL hasn’t chosen to flex this matchup into the Sunday Night game slot, rather than having us sit through a less attractive Bengals and Chargers game.
Much like the last article I wrote,
this game also has a ton of meaning in terms of playoff implications. Baltimore presently ranks as the top Wild
Card team (5th in AFC) in the playoff picture with a 7-3 record and
sits a half game behind (Bal has week 14 bye) the Steelers in the AFC
North. Baltimore hopes they can find a
way to climb to second place in the conference with a win, plus a Bills loss to
the Chiefs which would automatically propel them there due to the week 4
blowout win Ravens had over Buffalo (35-10).
They only have one blemish in divisional contests (2-1) thus far with
their loss to Cleveland (24-29). That loss
says more about the Ravens not being able to seal the deal late in games than
it does about a bad Browns team. (Ravens have lost 8 games with two minutes or
less since 2022.) Steelers oddly enough have yet to play any of their
adversaries. Pittsburgh has quite an
abnormal schedule, playing all six divisional games over the final 8 game
stretch of the season (4 straight beginning this Sunday). One would assume that the Steelers aren’t
exactly viewing this game in the same light as the Ravens, not being as much of
a meaningful game with them atop the North and having to play 5 more AFC North contests
over the final 7 weeks. The current spread
for this Pittsburgh home game favors Baltimore (-3) in what is generally a very
close game.
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