Steelers have another big game in Baltimore
Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh (left) and Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin shake hands after the game on Sept. 30 played in Pittsburgh. For the first time since 2014, the AFC North rivals will wrap up the season series before December when the Ravens host the Steelers this afternoon.聽
Associated Press
James Conner is stopped by Baltimore cornerback Marlon Humphrey during a game on Sept. 30. For the first time since 2014, the AFC North rivals will wrap up the season series before December when the Ravens host the Steelers this afternoon.
MEMORABLE SERIES MOMENT
Steelers 9, Ravens 6
Oct. 29, 2000 at PSINet Stadium
The Kent Graham-led Steelers were blanked by the Ravens in the season opener at Three Rivers Stadium, but Kordell Stewart was back at QB as the Steelers rode a four-game winning streak into the rematch. Matt Stover kicked 51- and 49-yard field goals for a 6-0 Ravens lead at halftime, but Stewart threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward to tie the game in the third quarter. Kris Brown missed the extra point, but Jason Simmons forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Scott Shields recovered at the Baltimore 27 to set up Brown鈥檚 24-yard field goal for the final points. The Ravens鈥� fourth-quarter drives were stopped by: Dewayne Washington鈥檚 interception of Trent Dilfer, Aaron Smith鈥檚 third-down sack of Dilfer; Ravens coach Brian Billick鈥檚 decision to punt instead of attempting a 50-yard field goal; and a fourth-down incompletion on the Baltimore side of the field. The Steelers lost their next three games to finish 9-7, but the Ravens won their next 11 to win the Super Bowl.
TALE OF THE TAPE
鈥淚 keep hearing analysts say that teams are taking the deep ball away from Joe Flacco. I鈥檓 not buying it. I think Flacco has finally gotten comfortable in Marty Mornhinweg鈥檚 West Coast system. I鈥檝e done a lot of work with that system, and I鈥檓 seeing in Flacco the required patience to make the short pass.鈥�
鈥滺e鈥檚 not forcing the deep pass as much as in the past. In that system, QBs have to do a ton of footwork drills, and one of the things you see in Joe is that his footwork is a lot better and he鈥檚 much more patient.鈥�
鈥漈he ball comes out quicker, and the wide receivers he鈥檚 throwing to are made for this offense. Willie Snead is an underneath guy with the crosses. John Brown is the deep guy, but what he鈥檚 doing well lately is he runs really good intermediate routes and gets open a lot.鈥� 鈥� Steelers Radio analyst Tunch Ilkin.
TOP QUESTION
Can the Steelers鈥� DBs run with John Brown?
Nicknamed 鈥淪moke,鈥� Brown came out of Pittsburg State in 2014 with a 4.34 40 time at the NFL Combine. Steelers cornerback Joe Haden, tasked this season with shutting down opposing WRs, came out four years earlier with a 4.62 Combine time. Haden and Cam Sutton were 鈥渟moked鈥� in the last game on a 33-yard touchdown pass to open the game, and later Brown caught a 71-yard touchdown pass after the Ravens picked up a free safety blitz. Haden did break up two deep passes to Brown later in the game, but Brown is a Pittsburgh (with an H) killer. In two games, he鈥檚 caught 13 passes for 312 yards (24 yards per catch). With Arizona in 2015, Brown had career highs of 10 catches for 196 yards in a Steelers win. On the bright side, Brown, averaging 18.9 yards per catch this season, has caught only 31 of his 61 targets, which just about matches his 52 percent career catch average.
THREE QUESTIONS:
With DC KEITH BUTLER
Q: Is it just business as usual with Artie Burns and does he have to figure it out?
KB: 鈥淲e are trying to help him out. We are not leaving him alone. Everyone is trying to help him out. We are just trying to get him back to playing. But like I said, Coach Tomlin will give you a better answer than I can.鈥�
Q: Aren鈥檛 you in charge of the defense?
KB: 鈥淵es, I am, and I am in charge of him, too. Artie is a good guy. We鈥檇 like to see him play better than he has, and his technique needs to improve a little bit and we are trying to get that done.鈥�
Q: Did you see a more confident Burns in training camp?
KB: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 see any difference in the guy right now. I think he knows he鈥檚 going to play. That鈥檚 the NFL. If you get beat a couple times you have to play. You have to ignore it and go on and have a short memory. The hardest thing for a corner in the league, I think, is you have to have a short memory and go on to the next play.鈥�
GAME BREAKDOWN
What to look for from the Steelers this afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium:
ON OFFENSE
The Steelers couldn鈥檛 take advantage of the suspension of cornerback Jimmy Smith in the last game because Marlon Humphrey stepped in and held Antonio Brown to five catches for 62 yards. Smith is back but he鈥檚 yet to regain his form since tearing an Achilles鈥� tendon late last season. Humphrey has missed the last two games with a thigh injury, and was limited in practice this week. Star linebacker C.J. Mosley was also limited this week after his thigh injury clearly slowed him last Sunday. Safety Tony Jefferson (hamstring) is also questionable, but told reporters he鈥檚 definitely playing. They鈥檒l all be tested by Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Washington and the Steelers鈥� tight ends, as long as Matt Feiler holds his ground as the likely replacement for a doubtful Marcus Gilbert (knee) at right tackle.
ON DEFENSE
The Ravens are using all four of their tight ends now that first-round pick Hayden Hurst is healthy and flashing his 4.67 Combine speed. He鈥檒l line up with Maxx Williams, Nick Boyle and another rookie, Mark Andrews, in four-TE sets, which the Steelers will counter with their safeties and linebackers. The Ravens have also furthered their use of first-round quarterback Lamar Jackson in what鈥檚 basically become a triple-option package. Jackson connected with Hurst for a 26-yard touchdown pass, Jackson鈥檚 first, last week. It could all collapse with a banged-up offensive line that, at the tackle spots, will start a rookie and a second-year player who was just promoted from the practice squad two weeks ago. The Steelers鈥� bugaboo, of course, is right cornerback, where Artie Burns (ankle) and Coty Sensabaugh (turf toe) are questionable.
PREDICTION
It only made sense all week for me to favor the Ravens, who鈥檝e lost three of their last four to fall to 4-4. It鈥檚 a MUST win for them against a team that routinely plays poorly in Baltimore. But the revenge-minded Steelers haven鈥檛 taken their collective foot off the pedal this week on the practice field. It was an edgy week for all involved because they too feel this is a MUST win. So when I take into account that the Steelers are much healthier and have been playing much better of late, I鈥檒l flip-flop from logic to gut instinct and look for my fifth consecutive winning pick after an 0-2-1 start. 鈥� Steelers, 23-20.
BY THE NUMBERS
3.4: Sacks per game by both the Ravens and Steelers leads the NFL. The Ravens have played one more game and lead the league with 27 total sacks. The Steelers are in a five-way tie for second with 24.
34: Years of age of 12th-year All-Pro Ravens right guard Marshal Yanda. Said Steelers broadcast analyst Tunch Ilkin: 鈥淗e鈥檚 not Marshal Yanda anymore. He鈥檚 still a tough guy. He鈥檚 still a brawler. But he鈥檚 not as athletic, not as quick.鈥�
72.5: QB passer rating for Ben Roethlisberger at Baltimore. He鈥檚 3-7 there as the Steelers鈥� starting quarterback.
82.3: Flacco鈥檚 passer rating against the rest of the league. Against the Steelers this season it鈥檚 109.5. In his career, Flacco is 10-10 against the Steelers with a passer rating of 85.0.
212: Career-high yards from scrimmage by James Conner last week against the Browns. Le鈥橵eon Bell has surpassed that total three times, the highest being 298 at Buffalo in 2017.
DOWNLOADS
n Steelers nickel back Mike Hilton and dime backer Morgan Burnett both missed the previous game against the Ravens. When the Steelers have both players this season, the defense allows 29 percent of third and fourth downs to be converted. The Ravens converted 50 percent. 鈥淚鈥檝e never seen a good coach without good players and it always helps to get some guys back,鈥� said Butler. 鈥淓very year you come out of training camp and you鈥檙e hoping for a defense that鈥檚 played together for a while, knowing what each other is going to do, what each other鈥檚 lingo is, and we all have our own lingo. We all want to do what we can with those guys, but they have to play together.鈥�
n The Steelers hope their pass-rushers can take advantage of the absence of Ravens starting offensive tackles Ronnie Stanley (ankle) and James Hurst (back). Both are ruled out. Hurst鈥檚 been replaced the last two weeks by rookie third-round pick Orlando Brown, Jr. Stanley was replaced for the final 19 snaps last week by second-year guard Jermaine Eluemunor, a 6-6, 335-pounder who was a fifth-round 2017 draft pick out of Texas A&M. He was waived Sept. 22, re-signed with the Ravens鈥� practice squad, and promoted on Oct. 23. Left guard Alex Lewis missed the last two games with a neck injury. He missed most of the practice week but told reporters Friday the pain was gone and he鈥檒l play. Perhaps Cameron Heyward can test that neck with a few head-butts this afternoon.
n Burns rolled an ankle Friday and joined Sensabaugh as questionable for this game. Next up would be Sutton, who鈥檚 played in 12 games since coming off IR late in his rookie season last year. 鈥淚 think he鈥檚 played pretty good for us at times,鈥� Butler said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 still learning. He鈥檚 in that situation where he鈥檚 learning, and we鈥檝e used him, and he鈥檚 played for us. He keeps coming. He鈥檚 grown and developed. We鈥檇 like to see him come on a little bit more.鈥� Another second-year cornerback, 6-foot-2 Brian Allen, is also available.
n Conner last week became the first player in Steelers history to rush for 100 yards and two touchdowns in three consecutive games, and the first in the NFL since Chris Johnson in 2009. Conner has nine rushing touchdowns to rank second in the league and it鈥檚 helped the Steelers improve their red-zone success rate to 75 percent, up from the 53 percent last season. Is the improvement due to Conner? Or is it the new playcaller? 鈥淲e鈥檝e dedicated time to it,鈥� said Randy Fichtner, the new playcaller. 鈥淚鈥檇 like to think (it鈥檚 due to) some offseason study things that we鈥檝e done, some thoughtfulness things we knew that we had to improve. It had been something of an eyesore at times and it boils down to execution and the guys have been executing. A.B. makes a play, (Conner) makes a play, Ben makes a play. It boils down to the playmaking, but I think they鈥檙e comfortable in the things we鈥檙e asking them to do.鈥�
n Fichtner came up with quite a list of offensive problems from the Steelers鈥� Sept. 30 loss to the Ravens: 鈥淲e were on edge a lot in protection,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 throw the ball extremely well. We didn鈥檛 catch and carry and control the ball very well. We didn鈥檛 probably hit holes well enough. I know that the wide receiver group probably got out-physicalled in our run game and in pass releases. That was just a small few, and if you鈥檙e going to just talk about general, I probably didn鈥檛 stick to giving James more opportunities and probably went a little bit too quickly to just throwing the ball.
PARTING SHOT
鈥淲e鈥檙e not as healthy as they are, but we鈥檙e healthy enough to win the game; I promise you that.鈥� 鈥� Ravens Coach John Harbaugh.