Steelers-Ravens: Buckle up the chinstrap
MEMORABLE SERIES MOMENT
Steelers 37, Ravens 0
Nov. 9, 1997, at Three Rivers Stadium
This Sunday night game in 1997 followed a Monday night road game for the Steelers, and preceded another important game, against Cincinnati, as the Steelers were on their way to an appearance in the AFC Championship Game. The Steelers intercepted Vinny Testaverde and replacement Eric Zeier a combined four times in the Ravens鈥� first four series. The Ravens did manage to punt on their fifth and sixth series before Greg Lloyd鈥檚 strip sack on the seventh series, and an Earl Holmes fumble recovery on the eighth series, staked the Steelers to a 20-0 lead at halftime. Jerome Bettis rushed for 114 yards and Yancey Thigpen had 130 receiving yards in the blowout.
TALE OF THE TAPE
鈥淭he first thing that comes to mind is buckle up your chinstrap. It is going to be a physical, physical football game. Last time the Steelers came out with two tight ends and a fullback and the Ravens came out with three tight ends. Both teams want to play smashmouth football and both teams are set up for it, especially the Ravens and their defensive line. They have Brandon Williams back and he鈥檚 a load and he鈥檚 physical. He and Michael Pierce are listed at 340, with Carl Davis at 321. These guys are space-eaters and they are hard to move off the ball. They鈥檙e not athletic or fast, but they are very, very big and strong. You see the same philosophy in their linebackers. Both C.J. Mosley and Patrick Onwuasor are downhill players. They love to attack the line of scrimmage. The outside guys do the same thing. The key for the Steelers is going to be winning on first down, whether that鈥檚 throwing the ball or running the ball. I wouldn鈥檛 be surprised to see more plays on the perimeter because of the three inside guys. If they stay ahead of the chains they should have no problem. If they get behind the chains, they鈥檙e going to see exotic looks and blitzes.鈥� 鈥� Steelers Radio analyst Tunch Ilkin.
TOP QUESTION
Which team will run the ball best?
Williams, the Ravens鈥� massive defensive tackle, returned six games ago and after a warm-up has helped the Ravens in their last five games hold opposing teams to 2.9 yards per carry with a high team total of 78 yards. The Steelers had been playing that well defensively until losing Ryan Shazier last week, and the Bengals proceeded to rush for 130 yards at 5.9 per carry. Figure that a week to prepare Shazier鈥檚 backup will help, but the Ravens have been running well since making Alex Collins their lead back five games ago. He鈥檚 averaged 4.1 per carry in those five games. The Steelers rushed for 173 yards (Le鈥橵eon Bell 35-144) in the last meeting and the only difference this time will be the loss of blocking flanker JuJu Smith-Schuster.
THREE QUESTIONS
With ILB VINCE WILLIAMS
Q: You look thinner and faster wearing 50 in practice instead of 98, but I can鈥檛 imagine this has been an easy week for you, has it?
VW: 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a tough week emotionally. Not so much on the football field. That鈥檚 kind of how life in the NFL works, stuff rolls off when you get out there. I think we have a great deal of continuity, guys that are ready to move on and step up their roles, but as far as personally, yeah, it鈥檚 been tough.鈥�
Q: Will there be more pressure falling on your shoulders since you鈥檙e calling the plays and adding nickel duties?
VW: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 going to directly fall on me specifically as much as people like to believe it is, because I called the signals before me and Ryan kind of shared that duty. To be honest with you, that鈥檚 how middle linebacker works, especially in a 3-4 because there are two of them. But just the playmaking abilities of Ryan have to be replaced by the entire defense. I feel like that鈥檚 going to provide a little pressure. As for the nickel, I鈥檝e always played in nickels, just not on third downs. I won鈥檛 play on third downs this week, either.鈥�
Q: You have to make sure everybody else is ready. Is that a worry?
VW: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not so much a worry. Arthur Moats is a great utility guy. He played a lot of inside when he played for the Bills. He鈥檚 always been a swing guy and I think he鈥檚 going to be fine. Sean Spence played in this defense for a number of years so nothing鈥檚 really new to him. And L.J. Fort鈥檚 been with us a long time, too, so we鈥檙e going to be OK.鈥�
GAME BREAKDOWN
What to look for from the Steelers tonight at Heinz Field:
ON OFFENSE:
Winning on first down will be paramount for the Steelers because the Ravens won鈥檛 be easy to pass against on second or third-and-long. Yes, their top cornerback, Jimmy Smith, is injured but he鈥檒l be replaced by quality reserves in Maurice Canady or first-round rookie Marlon Humphrey, with Brandon Carr on the other side and Lardarius Webb in the slot. The Ravens have exceptional safeties in Eric Weddle and Tony Jefferson, who are complementing each other very well in their pre-snap disguises. Throw in OLB Terrell Suggs, his bookend Matt Judon, and reserves Za鈥橠arius Smith, Tyus Bowser and Tim Williams, and the Ravens鈥� pass-rushers can come in waves. No, nothing about this defense will be easy for the Steelers.
ON DEFENSE:
Either Moats or Spence will start 鈥� and most likely rotate 鈥� for Shazier, with Fort taking his spot on third downs. Vince Williams takes over the playcalling duties, so obviously it鈥檚 taking a village to replace the injured Shazier. If the Ravens stick to multiple tight ends, the Steelers can keep nose tackle Javon Hargrave on the field and would be in better position to slug it out with the Ravens. If the Ravens attempt to exploit the loss of Shazier鈥檚 coverage skills, they would be out of their comfort zone, so either way the Steelers should be able to keep the Ravens in check without their defensive catalyst.
PREDICTION
For whatever reason, Joe Flacco plays well against the Steelers at Heinz Field, where the Steelers have won four consecutive prime-time games 鈥� since losing to the Ravens on a Monday night in 2015. The emotional outpouring over Shazier should be evident, even in the players, but they鈥檙e going to miss him. I鈥檓 guessing this game goes into overtime, when Chris Boswell can set an NFL post-merger record with a fourth walk-off field goal. But I鈥檓 going to predict it鈥檒l be Justin Tucker鈥檚 turn for the walk-off, and probably with a very long one. 鈥� Ravens, 23-20 (OT).
BY THE NUMBERS
4.6: Yards per carry by Bell in his eight regular-season games against the Ravens.
15: Times the Steelers and Ravens will have met in a prime-time game once the ball is kicked off tonight. Each team has won seven times.
29: Takeaways by the Ravens to lead the NFL. Their 20 interceptions lead the league, to go along with nine fumble recoveries. They also lead in turnover margin at +14.
30: Career strip-sacks by Suggs, who has six sacks in his last four games and 10陆 for the season 鈥� at the age of 35. He鈥檚 sacked Ben Roethlisberger more times (16陆) than anyone else in football.
75: Consecutive regular-season games played by Vince Williams, the fifth-longest consecutive-games streak among active NFL linebackers. With four games remaining, Williams has already recorded career highs in tackles (66) and sacks (7).
DOWNLOADS
n The Steelers will be without Smith-Schuster, out after an absurd suspension by the league for taunting. Offensive coordinator Todd Haley said, 鈥淗e鈥檚 given us a physical element. I think what happens when you get a guy playing at a high level like that in the run game at the receiver position is that you get other guys at that position kind of raising their standard and expectation.鈥� Antonio Brown鈥檚 injured toe is feeling much better, Martavis Bryant has been playing well in practice and is on the verge of recapturing his glory days of 2014-15, and tight end Vance McDonald returns after missing four of the last five games.
n The Steelers used a third-round draft pick on mack inside linebacker Spence, but he was out for two years with a gruesome knee injury. So the Steelers used a first-round pick on another mack ILB, Shazier, who was injured early and Spence played nine games in his place that first year, and then four games in his place the second year. Spence left but came back to ironically replace Shazier again. 鈥淭hey drafted Ryan and he鈥檚 been lights out ever since,鈥� said Spence. 鈥淚t was fun watching him play. I saw him grow from when I was here with him and then when I left how he elevated his game, not just sideline to sideline but making the calls, making all the checks. It was remarkable.鈥�
n Rookie third-round pick Cameron Sutton made his first NFL appearance to start the second half last Monday night in place of struggling Coty Sensabaugh. The Steelers held the Bengals out of the end zone in the second half, but Sensabaugh returned to the first team this week at practice. The Steelers might consider using Sensabaugh on run downs and the smaller Sutton on pass downs whenever possible.
n Boswell complained this week about the Bengals jumping offside and attempting to block a kick while running into (and possibly hurting) the kicker without penalty, as Tavon Young of the Ravens did last year on an extra point. But no one in Pittsburgh鈥檚 complaining about the cold-blooded Boswell, who hasn鈥檛 missed at Heinz Field this season and has three walk-off game-winners in the last four games. His secret? 鈥淚 find little things to keep my mind off of kicking because truly I don鈥檛 like to think about kicking,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 just like to let my body react and do what it鈥檚 been doing for years. Just find something, find a joke, try to find something funny that鈥檚 going on around the net or around the field goal, just kind of keep yourself relaxed and not really think about what you鈥檙e doing.鈥�
n The Steelers are the only NFL team with 40 or more sacks and fewer than 20 sacks allowed. Their 40 sacks (led by Cameron Heyward鈥檚 9) are second to Jacksonville (45) and their 16 sacks allowed are third to the L.A. Chargers (13). Roethlisberger has been sacked the 16 times. He was sacked a career-low 17 times in 14 games last season.
PARTING SHOT
鈥淚 played with a guy in Memphis when I was in college and he ran down on a kickoff and he ducked his head and hit somebody with the top of head and it broke his neck and he was paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of his life, so you see something like that you don鈥檛 want to wish that on anybody. That鈥檚 certainly not the case with Ryan, as I understand it.鈥� 鈥� Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler.