Despite off-the-field distractions being at the forefront of the Baltimore Ravens’ preparations this week, there is still a big football game they must play as they face off with the archrival Pittsburgh Steelers tonight.
With the Ray Rice saga seemingly neverending, the Ravens have a tougher task than any other franchise in the NFL this week — they had to prepare for a tough football game, on a short week and all while performing damage control to try and restore the organization’s reputation and eliminate distractions.
It doesn’t help that Baltimore didn’t play that well until late in their 23-16 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week One. The offense struggled to string together drives and the defense allowed long drives, surrendered points, stood tall enough to hold Cincinnati to five field goals, yet unfortunately the deciding touchdown and two-point try ended up being the difference in the game.
The Ravens have a lot to put behind them this week and these three players must perform well/better if Baltimore hopes to come out victorious.
1. RT -Rick Wagner
Courtesy: Yahoo! Sports1. RT – Rick Wagner
While the Ravens’ offensive line didn’t perform awfully in their first game as a unit, it wasn’t pretty either. Rick Wagner in particular had noticeable struggles at times in pass protection and explosiveness off the football. That must change going forward if the Ravens hope to improve offensively in 2014.
Wagner is in just his second year in the league and sparingly saw game action in 2013. 2014 is his first year as a starter and the Ravens are asking him to replace former right tackle Michael Oher — he is now playing for the Tennessee Titans.
One of the most glaring weaknesses in Wagner’s game in Week One was his jump of the ball. He looked slow in battling a good defensive line for the Bengals and appeared to be turning around toward Joe Flacco as opposed to keeping a blanket around him.
The Steelers defense is not the same defense of old, but if Flacco is seeing pressure come in front of him — given that he is right-handed — his throwing motion and decision-making process will be affected that much more.
Courtesy: Fansided.com
2. RB – Justin Forsett
One of the few surprises and positives Baltimore had in their first regular season contest was backup running back Justin Forsett stepping in and stepping up as Bernard Pierce was ineffective.
Forsett is known for his pass-blocking abilities and also for being a disciple of offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak’s system — he played for the Houston Texans in 2012 when Kubiak was their head coach.
Even though the Ravens went 4-0 during the preseason and appeared in sync offensively, it wasn’t until late in the second half that Baltimore started to string together successful plays. The mediocre offensive performance could be due to the offense still trying to pick up Kubiak’s offense.
And that’s why Forsett’s positive impact in Week One is important for this team.
With Ray Rice no longer a member of the Ravens, this may be Forsett’s job to lose long-term. Bernard Pierce is not on John Harbaugh’s good side after being given the chance to be the top back and performing in an underwhelming fashion.Pierce’s line from Week One before being taken out in the second quarter — 6 carries, 14 yards and a lost fumble.
Harbaugh reiterated that fumbles can’t happen if the third-year back wants to stay in the league, so the head coach could look to the 28-year-old veteran in Forsett who is playing for his sixth team since his rookie season in 2008.
Forsett showed an ability to gain yards on the ground — 11 carries for 70 yards and a rushing touchdown — and also help keep Flacco upright. If Harbaugh sticks with Forsett as opposed to Pierce and if he becomes the hot hand, look for the offensive output to be greater in Week Two for Baltimore.
Courtesy: ESPN.com
3. LB – Terrell Suggs
While Baltimore’s defense performed okay, their lack of a pass rush and inability to get after Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton was noticed by many, especially against a sub-par front five on the offensive line.Whenever a unit like the Ravens’ is blanked on the sack total, people tend to look to players like Haloti Ngata and Terrell Suggs and try to figure out why these players didn’t have success.
That must change this week with Ben Roethlisberger in town.
Suggs tends to show up in big games, especially against Pittsburgh. He notoriously wears shirts leading up to the rivalry games that poke fun at the Steelers in not so subtle ways. That’s because he knows the stage is larger.
But No. 55 needs to step up and this is the perfect stage to do it. He needs to emerge as the leader on this defense to prevent people from talking about some guys who wore No. 52 and No. 20. He needs to have a big game because there are still questions in the secondary with cornerback Lardarius Webb listed as questionable. Depth was a concern regardless, but it is clear that the pass rush will have to support the defensive backs, especially against a top speedy threat like Antonio Brown.
Suggs will need help from his counterparts on the front seven, but he will need more than one tackle for a loss — his major statistic from his first game — if he hopes to make an impact and get in the mind of Roethlisberger.
Prediction:
Ravens – 16
Steelers – 13
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