Week 9:Baltimore Ravens(4-4)

[Born2Steel]

Hey look PB!!!! We're playing against your favorite coach this week.

[Dissolv]

This one worries me. The Ravens clearly came fully ready for us last time, and the Steelers just felt....pedestrian. The obvious game plan is to get ahead of the slow starting Steelers early, take Conner out of the game, and then bring the pain while retaining all the options on offense.

If there is one game to go against the trend and start scoring early, I think this one is it.

[Mojouw]

I don't expect this to go well. This is the Ravens entire season. Win and they still can influence their playoff lives. Lose and they are totally on the outside. A desperate division foe at home? Not a good recipe.

[pczach]

I don't expect this to go well. This is the Ravens entire season. Win and they still can influence their playoff lives. Lose and they are totally on the outside. A desperate division foe at home? Not a good recipe.

In the first game, the Ravens game planned well for that game. They ran a lot of stuff they hadn't put on tape before. It was obvious that it was an important game to them. I expect them to add a lot of different looks and to make adjustments to run different stuff out of the sets the Steelers have seen on tape. They will probably go for some big plays while staying away from some of their tendencies.

I expect this to be a very difficult game for the Steelers. The Ravens are desperate and they are going to empty the playbook in this one. Let's hope the Steelers are doing some of the same to get some favorable situations that they can take advantage of.

The Ravens' defense gave them fits in the first game. We'll see if Fichtner has learned from what some other teams have been doing to have success against them and will be able to take advantage of that.

They are healthier and are playing much better on the defensive side of the ball. Here's hoping they have more success in this game and find a way to win. It would be sweet to put the Ravens in a very bad spot by pinning a loss on them. They will be in trouble if they lose this game.

[DesertSteel]

I expect this game to go very favorably for the Steelers. I think the Ravens are being exposed for the team we all thought they'd be before the season (7-9 or 8-8). Sometimes desperation is not enough. Steelers are healthy for the most part and clicking.

29-19 Steelers

[EzraTank]

I was listening to the NFL network on XM yesterday. The guy put up Ben's stats at Baltimore and it's atrocious. He has a ridiculous number of turnovers and his record (3-10) there is bad.

I just don't see us beating this team in Baltimore especially after what they did to us at home. It will be close but they pull away at the end and win 20-9.

[86WARD]

They are due for a clunker...

[polamalubeast]

I was listening to the NFL network on XM yesterday. The guy put up Ben's stats at Baltimore and it's atrocious. He has a ridiculous number of turnovers and his record there is bad.

I just don't see us beating this team in Baltimore especially after what they did to us at home. It will be close but they pull away at the end and win 20-9.

Yes, but as a team, the steelers have been much better on the road than at home since last year.

[steel striker]

Huge game and, it would big if the Steelers won this game. We know it will be a tough game bit, like mentioned above the Steelers & Ben have played pretty well on the road this year. Hopefully they will get off to a good start an, not trail by 2 scored early so maybe Conner can have some touches. Then maybe the pass rush can force Flacco into some bad throws.

[86WARD]

All just depends on what team shows up...if they show, they win.

[st33lersguy]

Baltimore will be desperate, and this is a difficult place for Pittsburgh to play.

[AtlantaDan]

Another hater drinking the haterade

[polamalubeast]

Another hater drinking the haterade

He is right!

[polamalubeast]

[polamalubeast]

[polamalubeast]

[GoSlash27]

Good news: Coty Sensabaugh was a limited participant in today's practice. That's a step in the right direction (pardon the pun).

[Fire Goodell]

Honestly I didn't think the Ravens defense played spectacular in our first meeting. Ben was missing wide open receivers by 5+ yards, some of those misses, actually a lot of them, being drive killers.

I expect him to play better on Sunday, but statistically Ben hasn't played well at Baltimore. James Conner is going to be the guy to have to carry the offense, and I think with how he's been running lately, there's a chance of that happening.

[polamalubeast]

Honestly I didn't think the Ravens defense played spectacular in our first meeting. Ben was missing wide open receivers by 5+ yards, some of those misses, actually a lot of them, being drive killers.

I expect him to play better on Sunday, but statistically Ben hasn't played well at Baltimore. James Conner is going to be the guy to have to carry the offense, and I think with how he's been running lately, there's a chance of that happening.

It will take a team effort like last year in our game in Baltimore.

If our defense is a disaster like in the first matchup (450 yards offense for ravens) we have no chance ... If Conner has only 9 runs, no matter the reasons, it's unlikely we win too.

[polamalubeast]

[polamalubeast]

[Fire Goodell]

would be a good time for watt to have another 3 sack game

[GoSlash27]

Coty Sensabaugh was a full participant in practice today. He's listed as questionable for the game. Artie Burns turned an ankle, also listed as questionable. Marcus Gilbert is out with the flu. Matt Feiler will be taking over for him. That's the entire injury report. Everyone else is in.

Feiler handled that assignment very well last week against Carlos Dunlap, so I'm pretty sure Suggs will be contained. I'm worried about Sensabaugh, but optimistic.

[bendsteel]

And a few other big names dinged up! Be nice to see CJ a little gimpy. Conner run right over him a time or two.

[teegre]

Ravens fans are saying that if the Ravens lose this game, the countdown to the firing of Harbaugh begins...

[Lady Steel]

Ravens fans are saying that if the Ravens lose this game, the countdown to the firing of Harbaugh begins...

Oooooh, juicy! Keep us up-to-date. I love juicy scoop.

[pczach]

Ravens fans are saying that if the Ravens lose this game, the countdown to the firing of Harbaugh begins...

The amazing thing about all of that is that Cleveland Browns coaches literally get fired for not beating the Steelers.....almost ever.

Jim Harbaugh may lose his job if he loses to the Steelers......but he has won more against the Steelers than anyone.

His problem and the Ravens' problem is that they put so much into every Pit-Bal matchup that they struggle in most of the other games. IMO, Harbaugh game plans for these matchups much more than their other games. It's ironic to think that Harbaugh's greatest success may ultimately be what get's him fired. They built a team to beat the Steelers, but they're having problems beating everybody else.

They treat these matchups like playoff games, and seem to have a hard time duplicating that every week.

Tomlin has been losing the battle to Harbaugh, but winning the war because his team is more prepared to win every week. Because of this, they have also ended up with the superior record and have beaten them in big spots late in the year to seal the division far too often in recent years for the Ravens' organization.

This is just my opinion, but I have felt this way for a while now.

[teegre]

The amazing thing about all of that is that Cleveland Browns coaches literally get fired for not beating the Steelers.....almost ever.

Jim Harbaugh may lose his job if he loses to the Steelers......but he has won more against the Steelers than anyone.

His problem and the Ravens' problem is that they put so much into every Pit-Bal matchup that they struggle in most of the other games. IMO, Harbaugh game plans for these matchups much more than their other games. It's ironic to think that Harbaugh's greatest success may ultimately be what get's him fired. They built a team to beat the Steelers, but they're having problems beating everybody else.

They treat these matchups like playoff games, and seem to have a hard time duplicating that every week.

Tomlin has been losing the battle to Harbaugh, but winning the war because his team is more prepared to win every week. Because of this, they have also ended up with the superior record and have beaten them in big spots late in the year to seal the division far too often in recent years for the Ravens' organization.

This is just my opinion, but I have felt this way for a while now.

This is an amazing post.

[AtlantaDan]

I was listening to the NFL network on XM yesterday. The guy put up Ben's stats at Baltimore and it's atrocious. He has a ridiculous number of turnovers and his record (3-10) there is bad.

Thanks for posting that stat

I did not recall how bad Ben's record has been in Baltimore - last season was the Steelers first win in Baltimore with Ben at QB since 2010 (with some clunker losses including the 2015 week 16 loss to the Ravens backup QB Ryan Mallet that should have knocked the Steelers out of a wild card spot)

https://www.pro-football-reference.c...og/?opp_id=rav

The amazing thing about all of that is that Cleveland Browns coaches literally get fired for not beating the Steelers.....almost ever.

Jim Harbaugh may lose his job if he loses to the Steelers......but he has won more against the Steelers than anyone.

His problem and the Ravens' problem is that they put so much into every Pit-Bal matchup that they struggle in most of the other games. IMO, Harbaugh game plans for these matchups much more than their other games. It's ironic to think that Harbaugh's greatest success may ultimately be what get's him fired. They built a team to beat the Steelers, but they're having problems beating everybody else.

They treat these matchups like playoff games, and seem to have a hard time duplicating that every week.

Tomlin has been losing the battle to Harbaugh, but winning the war because his team is more prepared to win every week. Because of this, they have also ended up with the superior record and have beaten them in big spots late in the year to seal the division far too often in recent years for the Ravens' organization.

This is just my opinion, but I have felt this way for a while now.

Good post on Harbaugh's fixation on the Steelers

But respectfully disagree about Tomlin's teams being more prepared to win every week given the recurring clusters against bad teams where the Steelers play down to the level of the opposition

Tomlin's greater success in recent years probably is mostly to do with Ben and skill players such as Bell & Brown pulling out games late against the rest of the league where non-elite Joe Flacco and his journeymen skill players cannot. Until the Ravens possibly rebounded this season neither team has worked with a top 5 defense for some time but the Steelers retooled with having drafted a very good offense that Haley achieved some success with (although given the personnel not as much as might be expected).

https://www.pro-football-reference.c.../rav/index.htm
https://www.pro-football-reference.c.../pit/index.htm

[polamalubeast]

I was listening to the NFL network on XM yesterday. The guy put up Ben's stats at Baltimore and it's atrocious. He has a ridiculous number of turnovers and his record (3-10) there is bad.

I just don't see us beating this team in Baltimore especially after what they did to us at home. It will be close but they pull away at the end and win 20-9.

In fact, his record is 3-6, not 3-10 .... 4 of his loss, Ben had not played in Baltimore....Still not good and he must be better of course.

But if the steelers win tomorrow the road woes of the steelers will be thing of the past.

I mean, in the regular season, the steelers are 13-1-1 since the middle of the season in 2016 on the road ..... This is the first time since 2005 that I am confident like that when the steelers are on the road