It's difficult to know what to expect from the Ravens and Steelers week. Neither team has won in quite some time, and both teams are coming off of sorely needed bye weeks. The Steelers looked unquestionably more dominant in each of their four wins than the Ravens did in any of their 3, but schematic familiarity and sheer rivalry-fueled animosity has meant that the better overall team doesn't always win. The Ravens have been unquestionably the worse team overall for a season and a half now; there's no way around that. Baltimore, nevertheless, swept the Steelers last season despite having their worst regular season record in nearly a decade.
It's always tempting to rave about the talent at the Steelers' disposal. Le'Veon Bell is a fantastic, versatile running back, and Antonio Brown is one of the most talented receivers in the league. Ben Roethlisberger has appeared to be the best quarterback in the league for stretches of games, and analysts always speak about the trio of Bell, Brown, and Ben being the most talented RB/WR/QB combo in the league. There are, however, a few major factors that tend to derail that idea when it comes to Ravens-Steelers games. The first is the fact that Antonio Brown has almost been a total non-factor in his career against the Ravens. In thirteen career games against Baltimore, Brown has accumulated a total of one touchdown. You read that correctly...one touchdown. Brown has also not been a major factor from a yardage standpoint as he has only caught for 100+ yards in two of his 13 games against the Ravens. Le'Veon Bell has been injured or suspended far too often to be thought of as a durable, dependable all-purpose back, and Ben Roethlisberger seldom stays healthy over the course of an NFL season. The Ravens have, furthermore, won 8 of the last 11 contests against the Steelers since the departure of Bruce Arians as the Steelers' offensive coordinator after the 2010 season.
Much like the lowly Rams always seem to give the Seahawks fits, so too do the Ravens seem to have the Steelers' number over the past 5 seasons. Does that guarantee a win today? Of course not, but it should absolutely give Baltimore fans hope that their team can pull off a win over a team that has unquestionably looked better than they have over the first half of this season--especially with the questionable status of Ben Roethlisberger.
Big Ben will likely play against the Ravens, but one can't help but wonder if he'll be a little ginger on that recently-scoped knee or whether his not yet fully healed knee will slow him down a step. He could proceed to have a sensational game and not be too terrifically bothered by it because of painkillers, but something tells me that a week of limited practice means he couldn't possibly feel 100%.
Ben's health isn't the only thing that could bode well for the Ravens. The return to health of Baltimore's offensive line should help dramatically as they look to exploit a Steelers run defense that has struggled over the last couple of games. Possibly the biggest factor that the Ravens could benefit from tremendously is a comparative lack of a pass rush from Pittsburgh. The Steelers as a team only have two more sacks than Terrell Suggs this season--and Sizzle has missed the last two games. Joe Flacco's biggest obstacle thus far has been finding the time and confidence to step into his throws and find open receivers downfield. If the Steelers can't manage to dial up pressure and force Joe to make errant throws, he actually has enough weapons to make this a long day for Pittsburgh.
I'd like to think that the Ravens offense at close to full strength has a chance to have decent production against the Steelers defense, but schematic familiarity could nullify some of that to a degree that statistics from early games this season can't predict. History would suggest that this will be a 20-17 or 23-20 win for one of these teams, but there has been the occasional statistical outlier game like that of Week 1 in 2011 where the Ravens won 35-7 or Week 2 of 2014 where the Ravens won 26-6, or like Week 9 of 2014 where Big Ben threw 6 touchdowns and absolutely blasted the Ravens after Jimmy Smith went down the week prior. Come to think of it, no game in 2014 WASN'T a big win as the Ravens proceeded to beat up on the Steelers in the playoffs 31-17. In 2015, however, the Ravens-Steelers rivalry reverted to its usual impossibly close margin of victory for both contests.
The Ravens, on paper, don't appear as good as the Steelers, but the Steelers simply aren't the Super Bowl favorites that many people assumed they'd be early in the season. Big Ben has had a total of 3 complete seasons over 13 years in the league, and it is largely that reason that the Steelers will typically have the potential to be a truly great team but struggle to dominate consistently. Let's hope that this is one day where he struggles mightily against a healthy Ravens team.
THE PICKS
I apologize that time this week has limited my ability to post more through explanations of each matchup. I will briefly post a list of the winners of each game:
RAVENS 24-20
COWBOYS 34-13
CHIEFS 31-17
MIAMI 23-21
EAGLES 30-21
PANTHERS 20-17
CHARGERS 27-20
PACKERS 31-28
RAIDERS 33-24
SEAHAWKS 31-27
THIS IS IT, RAVENS FANS. THIS IS THE MATCHUP WE WAIT FOR ALL SEASON, EVERY SEASON. THE NFL HASN'T BEEN ENTERTAINING THIS SEASON, BUT LET'S HOPE TODAY CHANGES THAT IF ONLY FOR A FEW HOURS.
NOW AND FOREVER
GO RAVENS!!!
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