The Steelers won’t look ahead to its showdown with New England, but they are facing a different Baltimore team from the one it faced in October.
WHAT: Week 14, Game 13 at Pittsburgh Steelers
WHEN: 8:30 p.m. (ET); Sunday, December 10
WHERE: Heinz Field; Pittsburgh (68,400)
RECORDS: Ravens, 7-5; Steelers, 10-2
LIFETIME SERIES (regular season): Steelers lead, 23-20; Steelers lead in Pittsburgh, 13-8, and have won three of last four home games against Baltimore
TV: WBAL-TV, Channel 11 (Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, booth; Michele Tafoya, sidelines)
RADIO: WIYY-FM, 97.9 (Gerry Sandusky, Stan White, Jarret Johnson)
REFEREE: Walt Coleman
About the Steelers
—Historically, the Steelers franchise has had a contrasting dual identity. From 1933-1971 Pittsburgh had only eight winning seasons out of its first 39–and with only one playoff appearance. Since then, the Steelers have had 29 playoff appearances (the total of 30 is the league’s second-highest), with 22 division crowns, which is tied with Chicago for third-most. Since the AFC North was established in 2002, the Steelers have the most division titles (seven). They will clinch a playoff berth on Sunday with a win over the Ravens or a Buffalo home loss to Indianapolis.
—Pittsburgh’s eight Super Bowl appearances are tied for the second-most all-time with Dallas and Denver, and one behind record-holder New England (nine). The Steelers’ six Super Bowl championships are the most (one more than Dallas, San Francisco, and New England)–the most since the Super Bowl began after the 1966 season. Pittsburgh has made 16 appearances in the conference title game (an AFC record) and tied with Dallas for third-most all-time behind the Giants (19) and Green Bay (17).
—The upcoming Ravens-Steelers game marks the third time in four years that the return intradivisional match will have been played at Heinz Field. Fourteen of the team’s 42 regular-season meetings have been shown in prime time. The Ravens have registered three sweeps of Pittsburgh (’06, ’11, ’15), while the Steelers have had four sweeps (’97, ’98, ’02, ’08). There have been 14 splits. Pittsburgh has won three of four postseason meetings.
—The Ravens and Steelers have played to one-score margins in 16 of their last 22 meetings, including playoffs. Since 2008, 12 of the last 19 regular-season meetings between these two teams have been decided by three or fewer points–the most by any pair of teams–outdistancing Dallas-Washington and San Francisco-St.Louis/Los Angeles (eight each).
—Eleventh-year head coach Mike Tomlin is the 16th head coach in Steelers’ history, but only the third since 1969. He has an overall record of 121-65 (.650) and his regular-season rate (.657) is the second-best percentage among active coaches. Under Tomlin, Pittsburgh is 63-22 at home (third-best in the league) and the franchise has 113 regular-season wins, second only to New England. Tomlin reached the playoffs four times in his first five seasons, and he became the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl (36) when his team beat Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII. He is known for attempting two-point conversions. The Steelers converted a league-record eight of them in 2015. They are 2-for-3 this year.
—The Steelers got off to a 3-2 start this year before reeling off a seven-game winning streak. The Ravens have won three straight. Pittsburgh has won all four games against AFC North Division opposition, having completed a sweep against the Cincinnati Bengals last week. Pittsburgh will be at home for three of its last four games this season, and it will play on Christmas night for a second straight season when the team will travel to Houston. The Steelers beat the Ravens on the holiday last year.
—Earlier this year, the Ravens played their first-ever game overseas (London). Meanwhile, the Steelers are slated to fly the least amount of miles in the league during the entire 2017 schedule (6694 miles). AFC North rival Cincinnati is scheduled to fly the second-fewest miles (7662).
—When they play the Ravens, the Steelers will be playing their fourth straight primetime game and fifth under-the-lights contest this year. They are 4-0 in their earlier night games.
—Through 12 weeks, Pittsburgh is ranked seventh in total offense (20th rushing, fourth passing, 12th scoring) and fourth in total defense (eighth vs. rush, second vs. pass, and fifth in scoring). The Steelers have allowed only 17.8 points per game this season (only a half-point more than the Ravens), and have outscored their opposition in the fourth quarter, 77-38.
–The Steelers have a minus-1 turnover ratio through 12 games thanks, in part, to recovering four of 13 opponents’ fumbles. However, Pittsburgh has lost only four of nine fumbles on its end. Pittsburgh has committed 82 penalties–13 more than Baltimore–which is the league’s 13th-most. Pittsburgh’s 15 offensive holding calls are tied for the third-most in the league. The team’s ten unnecessary roughness calls are the league high.
—Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (133-62 as a starter, third-best among active quarterbacks) will face the Ravens for the 20th time in his career. He has missed seven possible starts due to injuries or suspensions and is 11-8 against Baltimore with a 59.9% completion rate, 32 TD, 22 INTs, and an 84 passer rating. The touchdown total and his 35 pass plays of 25 or more yards are the most any quarterback has had against the Ravens, but Terrell Suggs’ 16.5 sacks against him are the most by any opponent. Roethlisberger’s Week 1 win at Cleveland was his 50th career victory against an AFC North team. Roethlisberger is 10-3 against the Ravens at home, including the playoffs.
—Running back Le’Veon Bell (league-high 1057 rushing yards and 1559 scrimmage yards) has had 20 or more touches in six of eight career games against the Ravens, including a career-high 39 (35 rushes, four catches) in the Steelers’ win at Baltimore on October 1. He has caught at least four passes in six of eight regular-season games against Baltimore but has rushed for over 100 yards only three times–including a 144-yard effort earlier this year. He has averaged 117.9 yards from scrimmage against the Ravens, second-most by any Baltimore opponent.
—Wideout Antonio Brown (88 catches, 1296 yards, both league highs) has a touchdown in two of his last three games against the Ravens–after scoring only once in his first 11 games against them. He had a 62-yard catch in the pivotal Christmas Night game last year, including a goal-line stretch through three defenders that gave the Steelers the win and eliminated the Ravens from the playoffs. He has 78 career catches against the Ravens–an average of 11.2 yards per reception—the most among active NFL receivers against Baltimore.
—Behind Brown, Bell is second on the team in receptions with 66, but next is rookie Juju Smith-Schuster (37 catches, 15.8 per reception, five TDs), who is suspended for this game. Seven different players have caught 22 touchdown passes from Roethlisberger. Martavis Bryant has 31 receptions with two scores. Jesse James has 29 catches and three touchdowns.
—The Steelers’ offensive line has allowed only 16 sacks in 437 dropbacks. Part of the reason why is that it has stayed mostly healthy. Right tackle Marcus Gilbert (hamstring) is the only regular who has missed time. Fourth-year player Chris Hubbard has started the last two weeks. Right guard David DeCastro has started 68 straight games, the third-longest active streak among NFL guards. Center Maurkice Pouncey, brother of Miami Dolphins center Mike, is in his eighth year and will start his 90th career game. Left tackle Alejandro Villanueva is a third-year player who has started 44 straight games.
—The Steelers continue to play a 3-4 defensive that features both veteran and youthful talent. Over the last few weeks, the team has started games without nose tackle Javon Hargrave on the field. But Hargrave anchors a line that includes stalwart ends Cameron Heyward (two sacks, fumble recovery vs. Ravens) and Stephon Tuitt, who has knocked down five passes. Hargrave has two sacks and Heyward leads the line with 38 total tackles. A fifth defensive back, rookie Mike Hilton, has a sack and interception in his only game against the Ravens.
—Pittsburgh’s linebacking corps will surely miss standout inside linebacker Ryan Shazier (team-high 89 tackles, three INT, 11 pass breakups), who suffered a spinal-cord concussion in last week’s win at Cincinnati. Third-year player LJ Fort is listed behind him on the depth chart. Vince Williams, the other inside backer, is second on the team with 66 tackles, seven sacks, and 11 pocket pressures. Rookie TJ Watt and veteran Bud Dupree man the outside linebacker spots. Each player has five sacks, but Watt has six pass breakups. The pair has combined for 13 pressures.
—Pittsburgh’s secondary has gotten nine pass breakups from safety tandem of Mike Mitchell and Sean Davis (Maryland). Mitchell also has five pressures and Davis has 61 tackles, third-most on the team. The second-year player, and former first-round pick, Artie Burns has broken up nine passes. His former cornerback partner, veteran Joe Haden, has picked off Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco five times, but he has been inactive the last three weeks with Cody Sensabaugh starting in his place. Nickel corner Hilton blitzes a lot and has a team-high nine sacks and 18 pressures. William Gay, who has played 172 consecutive games–the most among all active NFL defensive players–is a backup cover man.
—The Steelers could have a problem with kick returns because Smith-Schuster has handled that role. Burns, who has no returns this year, is listed behind him on the depth chart. Bryant has returned four kicks. Pittsburgh’s kick-return unit has managed only 18.9 per return, but has covered well, allowing only 20 yards per runback. On punts, Brown and Eli Rogers have combined to average only 5.4 yards per return, while the team has yielded over eight yards per runback. Sensabaugh has a team-high 11 special teams tackles and one of the team’s two blocked kicks. Watt has the other.
—Pittsburgh has a pair of third-year kicking specialists. Kicker Chris Boswell has missed two extra points this year, but he is 28-for-31 field goals and has scored a total of 107 points. He has kicked game-winning field goals the past two weeks (Green Bay then Cincinnati). Punter Jordan Berry has had only two touchbacks in 50 punts this year, and he has placed 22 punts inside the coffin corner. He is grossing 43 yards per punt and netting just over 39.
Prediction
It wasn’t enough for the Ravens’ offense to break out the way it did against Detroit. It needs to be consistent enough to complement the franchise’s stellar defense and special teams play. It can do that in a place like Pittsburgh, which is a place where Baltimore succeeds more often than most visitors.
The Steelers won’t look ahead to its showdown with New England, but they are facing a different Baltimore team from the one it faced in October.
The Ravens are more confident and healthy than they were then.
Ravens 26, Steelers 23
