Courtesy: Larry French/Getty Images
On Sunday, the Ravens will play the Steelers for the 34th time, and for the second time in 15 days.
It is the NFL’s closest and most physical rivalry. 10 of the last 12 games in this rivalry have been decided by seven points or less.
The Ravens are favored by eight points on Sunday, due in large part to Ben Roethlisberger and LaMarr Woodley being ruled out because of injury.
The Ravens are on quite a run when it comes to home/division games. Their winning streak includes:
- 16 straight home games
- 10 straight division games
- Six straight home, division games
- Five straight home wins in December
On the other hand, all of those streaks seem to have begun after a loss at home versus, you guessed it, the Steelers. On December 5, 2010, the Steelers beat the Ravens, 13-10. Pittsburgh outscored Baltimore 10-0 in the fourth quarter to get the victory.
This time around will probably be a different story, as the Ravens have managed to cope with their injuries better than the Steelers have coped with theirs. The Steelers’ offensive line is still unsettled, 12 weeks into the season.
Baltimore’s problem earlier in the year was defense. Through the end of October, they’d allowed an average of 400 yards and 23 points per game. In November, Baltimore allowed an average of 325.25 yards and a league-low 14.5 points per game.
All that said the bottom line is that whichever team wants the game more will win. That’s how it should be.
1. Pressure the quarterback
Courtesy:The Bleacher Report
Antonio Brown is back, but so is Charlie Batch. If the Ravens continue to rack up the sacks (13 since the bye week; 12 before the bye week), it will neutralize Pittsburgh’s speed at wide receiver and will likely force turnovers. The Steelers are -10 in turnover differential in their last two games alone.
2. Make Pittsburgh one-dimensional
With a banged up offensive line and a run game that gained just 49 yards and fumbled five times last week, the Steelers may be forced to just throw it deep and hope their speedy wide receivers can make a play.
Hello, Ed Reed.
3. Maintain high marks in special teams
The Ravens rank first in the NFL in kick returns, with an average return of 29.0 yards. Besides Buffalo, Baltimore is the only team to score three touchdowns on returns this season.
Justin Tucker has missed only two kicks all season, while going 4-for-4 from 50 yards or further (all on the road). While Sam Koch has the 10th-best net punting average (43.1), only five teams have allowed less yards per punt return (on average) than the Ravens.
In a physical, field-position game like this, special teams usually make the difference.
Advantage: Ravens.
