The
regular season is almost over, meaning the holidays are just about here. Christmas is less than a week away. This is the time of year when the NFL starts preparing
us for the playoffs, scheduling a few games on Saturdays to coincide with College
Football which also begins a brand new 12-team College Football Playoff format. This week we will have both College and NFL
games on Saturday. Pittsburgh Steelers will
face off against division-rival Baltimore Ravens in the 4:30 PM slot. This is the second meeting between these two
teams this season. In week 11 this exact
matchup pretty much played out as we had anticipated. It was a low-scoring, defensive stalemate
between two teams who’ve long had a history with these types of battles. When competitors consistently compete twice
or more a year for many years, after some time they will pick up on a lot of each
other's chemical and physical makeup through their style of play. This is why when two divisional teams spar it
isn’t irregular to see close-knit games.
Whether it is a high-scoring or low-scoring game, it’ll frequently wind
up coming down to the last minute of regulation, often ending with a one-score
margin of victory.
Pittsburgh
Steelers are coming off a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles after winning 7 of
their previous 9 games. The Steelers went
into Philly coming off a two-game win streak. They had been averaging 35.5 points on offense
in that span, accounting for about 29 points during their last 9 games. What Pittsburgh’s offense did last Sunday was
a far cry from that! Though I probably
shouldn’t be too harsh on the Steelers, after all, they were playing the Eagles'
number one-ranked scoring defense. Russell
Wilson could only muster 128 passing yards, and their run game only produced a
total of 56 yards. Credit the Philadelphia
Eagles for limiting this Arthur Smith-coached offense. Don’t forget about Vic Fangio either! I can’t say enough great things about Philly’s
defensive coordinator with what he has been able to do this season turning them
around. However, this is about the Steelers'
inefficiencies and a lack of help surrounding Pittsburgh’s quarterback. I understand their number one weapon couldn’t
suit up, but they also need more outside of George Pickens. Where were Van Jefferson and Pat Freiermuth? Why didn’t Arthur Smith attempt to get Jaylen
Warren more involved in the passing game?
Whatever happened to Mike Williams?
I at least saw him on the field during his time with the Jets. Since being traded to the Steelers I barely
even see him out there. Wasn’t he
supposed to be a reliable set of hands for Russ in the intermediate game even
if he can’t stretch the field anymore? I’m
just a little bit perplexed at exactly what his role is for the black and
gold. According to the box score, he was
only targeted twice in this game while only one player had more than three
catches for Pittsburgh (Calvin Austin III).
Freiermuth was one of only two men that was targeted more than twice.
This
week the Steelers will be on the road for the second consecutive week, this
time playing the Ravens and their terrible pass defense (31st). They will be without top wideout George Pickens
again! I think now is the time to try
and unleash Mike Williams for Arthur Smith.
Baltimore is the best team at stopping the run, allowing under 81 yards
a game. Pittsburgh is tenth in the
league at running the ball but look how that worked out for them last
week. Russell Wilson will need to have a
great game through the air, or the Steelers will ultimately have no shot. Yes, they beat Baltimore already this season,
the circumstances were also a little bit different. If Baltimore wins this time around, then they
will probably walk into the playoffs as the AFC North Champs. Neither team has an easy two wins coming to
them after Saturday's game, but I do think we can agree that the Ravens' final
games (@ Hou, vs. Cle) are easier than Pittsburgh's (vs. KC, vs. Cin).
STEELERS OFFENSE:
POINTS P/G- 24.0 (10TH)
TOT YARDS P/G- 325.6 (18TH)
RUSH YARDS P/G- 126.6 (10TH)
PASS YARDS P/G- 198.9 (24TH)
SACKS ALLOWED- 37 (20TH)
STEELERS DEFENSE:
POINTS P/G- 18.9 (6TH)
TOT YARDS P/G- 316.6 (9TH)
RUSH YARDS P/G- 94.4 (4TH)
PASS YARDS P/G- 222.3 (22ND)
TOTAL SACKS- 35 (14TH)
Baltimore
must feel pretty good about their chances on Saturday afternoon. Lamar has been playing the best ball of his
career this season. He has only thrown 3 interceptions, passed for
34 touchdowns (2nd), and compiled over 3500 passing yards (5th),
plus has a QBR of 76.0 (2nd).
He also hasn’t thrown a pick since he played the Steelers in their first
matchup. Jackson has been on a heater
since that game throwing 9 TDs, scoring 10 total, and has only turned the ball
over once, by way of a fumble last week.
I believe the most important matchup for the Ravens offense to be successful
this week is their 2nd ranked ground game against Teryl Austin’s 4th
ranked run defense. Sure, the Ravens can
and will pass on them and should be fine in doing so with a slightly banged-up
T.J. Watt. Steelers’ veteran edge rusher
Larry Ogunjobi, and cornerback Donte Jackson are also battling injuries plus starting
strong safety DeShon Elliott will not be available.
Here’s the thing, when
we think back to maybe six weeks ago who was the only player outside of the top
four or five quarterbacks who was in everyone's MVP discussion? It was Derrick Henry! What happened to the league's most dominant
runner? We are now kicking off week 16 and
have not heard a peep from Henry in about a month now. He hasn’t had 100 or more rushing yards since
week 12, which says a lot given the fact that Baltimore played the New York
Giants last week. Now, as much as I feel
they need to get Henry back involved to account for a large portion of their
yardage, they also can’t become one-dimensional. When these two teams met the first time the
Ravens only ran the ball 19 times while electing to pass 33 times. I think they must run the ball between 25-30
times, allowing the King more attempts to do some damage. Henry only had 13 carries in week 11 for 65
yards. Philly exposed the Steelers last
week while laying out the blueprint for them, rushing 42 times for 131 yards. I understand it's easier said than done. However, what I cannot understand is that the
Baltimore Ravens don’t just have one of the most dominant running backs of the
past decade-plus, but they also possess the most talented running quarterback
the lead has ever seen. We have all witnessed
how dangerous Lamar can be when he pulls the ball down takes off downfield,
juking, spinning dodging defenders by any means possible. Yet, they are not utilizing Jackson as such. Why is Todd Monken not mapping out game plans
for them to have fake handoffs for QB runs? Why not use Lamar's talents as a
runner now that the opposition will be assuming Henry gets the ball more frequently? It is understood that you must feed one of
the NFL’s top runners, no debate there, though we are not seeing the Ravens
attempt to go back to doing what had worked best for them in the past. Quarterback runs for Jackson should be
implemented back into the offense, seemingly with ease.
RAVENS OFFENSE:
POINTS P/G- 29.9 (3RD)
TOT YARDS P/G- 424.1 (1ST)
RUSH YARDS P/G- 178.4 (2ND)
PASS YARDS P/G- 245.6 (3RD)
SACKS ALLOWED- 22 (4TH)
RAVENS DEFENSE:
POINTS P/G- 23.7 (22ND)
TOT YARDS P/G- 339.6 (17TH)
RUSH YARDS P/G- 80.7 (1ST)
PASS YARDS P/G- 258.9 (31ST)
TOTAL SACKS- 44 (3RD)
These
Ravens vs. Steelers games are truly one of a kind and are always special to
watch. No matter how good or bad these
teams are they always deliver while are always one of the closely contested football
games of any given week they are scheduled for.
I am excited about Saturday's NFL football games and will be meticulously
watching especially this AFC North duel.
This game, with only two weeks remaining in the regular season, seems to
be for all the marbles. The winner will more
than likely take the division and will either place third or fourth in the AFC playoff picture, hosting at least one post-season game, while the other will have to deliver
on the road to make the second round.
The Steelers may have a game up on the Ravens, yet they are big
underdogs (+7) for this game. I would be
inclined to bet the Ravens win this one, keeping in mind that Baltimore has
lost 8 of the last 9 games in this rivalry series.
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