NFL Division Round: Ravens at Steelers

[jmt57]

The weekend is almost here and I can't take much more discussion about what some Jet just said. The real NFL news over the next 45 hours will be the first three games of this weekend, so I'm going to go ahead and start threads on each of those games now.

#5 Baltimore Ravens (13-4) at #2 Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4)
Saturday January 15 at 4:30 p.m. EST on CBS
Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf will announce the game on TV
Dave Sims and James Lofton and James Tasker will do the radio broadcast

Pittsburgh is currently favored by 3 to 3½ points
Over under is 37 points
The Money Line has Baltimore from +145 to +155; Pittsburgh -165 to -175

 

[jmt57]

For Ravens, this year may represent last, best shot of winning another Super Bowl during the Ray Lewis era - baltimoresun.com

Lewis is one of many veterans on the Ravens who don't know how many more shots they'll have to reach the Super Bowl. The Ravens have 17 players who are 30 or older, which represents almost one-third of their roster.

"The only way teams that have a mix of veterans and younger guys advance is the younger guys understand what's on a veteran's mind and what he is playing for," wide receiver Derrick Mason said.

"That's the only thing that has eluded me over my 14-year career is a Super Bowl ring," he said. "Some guys might think that I have all of these catches and yards and I can just leave. But for me, I came into this game to win. As I started getting a little older, my mindset changed — I have to win a Super Bowl now. Anything less than that is a failure."

Once the season is over, the Ravens' next challenge is keeping the team together.

Nearly half of the Ravens' current 53-man roster are potential free agents, including eight starters (cornerback Chris Carr, guard Chris Chester, safety Dawan Landry, linebacker Jameel McClain, fullback Le'Ron McClain, defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, cornerback Josh Wilson, offensive tackle Marshal Yanda) and two specialists (kicker Billy Cundiff and punter Sam Koch).

It's unknown how many players the Ravens will be able to bring back, which adds more pressure on the team to win now.

"I know it's in the back of people's head what the locker room will look like next year," Le'Ron McClain said. "It probably will be totally different."

 

[jmt57]

Steelers' title window may be closing - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Eight starters — six on defense, two on offense — are age 30 or older. The window of opportunity for the core of this Steelers team to win its third Super Bowl since the 2005 season is starting to close.

Couple that with a looming lockout next season, and AFC divisional playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday at Heinz Field takes on heightened importance.

Many of the parts from this generation of Super Steelers remains intact: Smith, Hines Ward, Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu, James Farrior and Ike Taylor, to name a few. Of that group, only Roethlisberger (28) and Polamalu (29) are younger than 30. Polamalu turns 30 in April.

And they're still more than productive.

Farrior, the defensive captain and at 36 one of the team's oldest players, finished second in tackles and completed his fifth consecutive season without missing a game. Led by Farrior, the defense was the NFL's top-ranked unit against the run and finished second in total defense.

But some players' roles are changing.

• Smith has been plagued by injuries the past two seasons and spent more time on the sideline — 11 games last season and 10 this season — than on the field.

• Ward is relinquishing his role as the team's top receiver to second-year wideout Mike Wallace.

• Receiver Antwaan Randle El, who signed with the Steelers in the offseason to be the team's No. 3 receiver and make another Super Bowl run, has been supplanted by rookie Emmanuel Sanders.

 

[RobertWeathers]

For Ravens, this year may represent last, best shot of winning another Super Bowl during the Ray Lewis era - baltimoresun.com

BB and Pioli pressed hard for Mason during the 2005 off-season but his wife needed to stay in BAL.

He had his chance.

 

[jmt57]

Divisional Round Matchup: Steelers vs. Ravens | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

When the Ravens have the ball: Joe Flacco already is tied for most road playoff wins by a quarterback in a career (4), but one of his two road playoff losses was in the 2008 AFC Championship game in Heinz Field when he was sacked three times and threw three interceptions. But Flacco beat the Steelers in the regular-season meeting this season at Heinz Field when he completed all four pass attempts on the winning touchdown drive. He has become adept at reading coverage and using the whole field to run crossing routes. Flacco relies on three veteran receivers -- Anquan Boldin, Derrick Mason and T.J. Houshmandzadeh -- in addition to RB Ray Rice, who was second on the team with 63 catches. Boldin led the team with 64 catches and seven TDs in the regular season. Rice is the only running back in the past 50 games to rush for more than 100 yards against the Steelers.

When the Steelers have the ball: The Ravens' biggest problem is QB Ben Roethlisberger, who is playoff-tested and finished the regular season with 158 consecutive passes without an interception. Roethlisberger has won his past six games against the Ravens and is 8-2 against them in his career. His nose was broken in the first quarter of the last meeting, but he made the winning plays when he had to in the final minutes. Despite the presence of S Ed Reed, Roethlisberger won't be afraid to attack deep with WR Mike Wallace, who has become the most dangerous big-play receiver in the NFL. Teams have been trying to take advantage of MLB Ray Lewis in third-down situations by isolating him in coverage with a running back or tight end. RB Rashard Mendenhall had 124 yards on 44 carries in two games against the Ravens this season, but he didn't have a run longer than 11 yards.

TE Todd Heap ... The Ravens wanted to use him more in the game in Baltimore, but he injured his hamstring running a deep route on the first play and did not return. Heap had 10 catches for 108 yards in the wild-card victory Sunday against Kansas City, and the Ravens are hoping to get him isolated in mismatches against linebackers. The Steelers have allowed four TD passes to a tight end in 2010 -- three by New England's Rob Gronkowski.

To win, the Ravens must ...
1. Have Flacco on the attack. He must spread the field and throw at least 35 times if the Ravens want to advance to the AFC Championship game.

2. Break Ben. The Ravens don't fear any player as much as they do Roethlisberger, who beats them even when he has a broken nose.

3. Be Bold with Anquan. Boldin had five catches for 118 yards and one touchdown against the Steelers in the previous meeting.

To win, the Steelers must ...
1. Fry Rice. He has nine games with 100 or more yards from scrimmage in 2010, including a career-best 233 against New Orleans in Week 15.

2. Mug Suggs. Not only is Terrell Suggs difficult to block, he is difficult to locate because he moves around so much.

3. Put Todd in a heap of trouble. The Steelers might have to use Polamalu to match against the Ravens' tight end.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

The Ravens look hungrier to me and are a better team and have proven they can win in Pittsburgh.

IMO this game is for the Ravens to only lose by their own mistakes...I think this game is decided in favor of Baltimore by mid 4th quarter at the latest.

 

[RobertWeathers]

The Ravens look hungrier to me and are a better team and have proven they can win in Pittsburgh.

IMO this game is for the Ravens to only lose by their own mistakes...I think this game is decided in favor of Baltimore by mid 4th quarter at the latest.

Baltimore hasn't won in Pitt since 06 I think.

With that said, I do agree. They seemed to be playing better down the stretch

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Baltimore hasn't won in Pitt since 06 I think.

With that said, I do agree. They seemed to be playing better down the stretch

They won this year Rob in Pitt by 3

They lost at home to Pitt in the split

 

[RobertWeathers]

They won this year Rob in Pitt by 3

They lost at home to Pitt in the split

Yep. Your right.....

I can't sleep. Maybe I should go back to bed.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Yep. Your right.....

I can't sleep. Maybe I should go back to bed.

Believe me,there will be a lot of Pats fans who won't be able to sleep Saturday night with all this hoopla going on.

I seriously wonder if the Super Bowl can gain as much hype as this game between the Foot Mongrel and the Professor of the NFL

 

[naF staP]

I thought the Ravens looked pretty good last weekend but that was last weekend. Joe Flacco wont look good 2 weeks in a row. I think the Steelers will push the pace and the Ravens D will be pretty tired in the 4th qtr.

 

[ortiz34]

A rested Steelers team at home
Steelers by 5

 

[VJCPatriot]

I want to see the Steelers win. But realistically this Ravens team can take this game as well. It's going to be a tough matchup. These two teams are so similar.

 

[jmt57]

NFL divisional playoff breakdown, Ravens-Steelers - Don Banks - SI.com

This Ravens road playoff stuff is getting to be historic. Baltimore's 30-7 wild-card round conquest of the Chiefs last Sunday in Kansas City made the Ravens 7-3 all-time on the road in the playoffs, and Joe Flacco's four postseason road wins in his first three NFL seasons ties him with Len Dawson, Roger Staubach and Jake Delhomme for the most ever by a quarterback. That one bears repeating: A win at Pittsburgh on Saturday and Flacco will be the winningest road playoff quarterback in NFL history, with a career mark of 5-2.

The Ravens are just a resilient and tough-minded team that has learned to take its act on the road and deal with whatever hostile environment and disadvantages await. Interestingly, while Harbaugh has never coached a playoff game at home, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is 3-1 in the playoffs since coming to Pittsburgh in 2007, but all of those were played at Heinz Field or a neutral site (Super Bowl XLIII in Tampa two years ago).

Naturally, the Ravens and Steelers split their AFC North season series this year, with Baltimore winning on the road 17-14 in Week 4, and Pittsburgh returning the favor 13-10 in Week 13. The teams are so familiar with one another they could probably play this one with their eyes closed. This will be their eighth meeting since the start of the 2008 season, and the second time in three years that they've met in the playoffs, with the Steelers beating Baltimore 23-14 in the 2008 AFC title game in Pittsburgh.

Roethlisberger doesn't usually light up the Ravens defense, or anything close to it. His 10-game totals against Baltimore shows he averages 210.2 yards per game, with 16 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and a ho-hum 57.5 completion percentage. But the percentage that really counts is .800, based on his 8-2 record when he starts against the Ravens.

"I've lost to Ben Roethlisberger seven times,'' Ravens outside linebacker Terrell Suggs said this week. "He's definitely my biggest problem I'm facing.''

One of the more over-looked but significant developments in the Steelers-Ravens game in Week 13 came on Baltimore's first offensive snap, when veteran tight end Todd Heap pulled a hamstring running a sideline route. He never returned to the game, and it hampered Baltimore's offensive efforts the rest of the night.

Flacco relies heavily on both Heap and running back Ray Rice in the passing game, and they're vital on third downs as underneath targets who usually create matchup problems for the defense. When one of them is out of the game, it's far easier for an opponent to cover the other one, and that gives Flacco one fewer outlet guy to look for when things start to break down in the pocket.

We saw how effective Heap can be last week at Kansas City. Flacco hit his sure-handed tight end 10 times for a game-best 108 yards, and both were season-highs for the underrated 10th year veteran. Heap's presence helped make Rice a more effective weapon as well, and the third-year back caught five passes for 42 yards and a touchdown, with 17 carries for another 57 yards.

Rice is adept at making the first tackler miss and getting quality yardage when Baltimore swings it to him out of the backfield, and Heap usually can't be covered by a linebacker in the middle of the field, giving Flacco and the Ravens a matchup they can exploit between the numbers. As much as the Steelers love to blitz, Baltimore's answer will be to slow down the Pittsburgh rush with a series of quick-hitting screens to their tight end and running back.

 

[jmt57]

Jamison Hensley's Ravens beat: Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs comes up big vs. Steelers - baltimoresun.com

When the Ravens face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Saturday's divisional playoff game, Suggs is as much of a focus — and concern — for the Steelers as James Harrison is for the Ravens.

It was six weeks ago when Suggs delivered one of the best performances of his eight-year career and almost single-handedly beat Pittsburgh. In a 13-10 loss, Suggs recorded one sack, three tackles for losses and five quarterback hits in his domination of left tackle Jonathan Scott.

In a fourth-quarter goal-line stand, he made consecutive tackles behind the line of scrimmage and forced the Steelers to kick a field goal. Later that quarter, two plays before Pittsburgh scored the game-winning touchdown, Suggs nearly stripped the ball from Roethlisberger, who somehow escaped and heaved the ball out of bounds.

Why does it always seem like Suggs saves his best for the Steelers? Suggs, the resident locker-room movie buff, thrives on drama. And Suggs makes sure there is always a storyline when it comes to playing the Steelers, like wearing a t-shirt that read "Hey Pittsburgh" and showed a purple raven giving the one-finger salute.

His treatment of the Steelers has been just as hardcore. In 17 career games against Pittsburgh (including playoffs), he has 78 tackles, 12 ½ sacks, five passes defensed and one forced fumble. He's been even more disruptive recently with 10 sacks in the past 10 meetings.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

STeelers by 10

 

[Keegs]

Did anyone see the stupid player intros before commercial?

Lamar Woodley did this crap where he drinks water and spits it out as hes coming out of the blown up thing. Then he spits more out. It's almost that he doesn't think spitting water out once is cool enough. So don't worry if you missed it, b/c he does it twice.

It might be the dorkiest and lamest player intro ive ever seen. It makes Ray Lewis ants in his pants dance look cool

 

[blackglass3]

I can't believe I am cheering for the Steelers. But I just want to see Terrell Suggs lose.

That being said, I think the Ravens win a close one.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Go Ravens, the Pats need a shot to shut Suggs up and the rematch.

 

[SVN]

good challenge? i dont think u waste challenges so early even if you win it. you have to win 1 more for the rest of the game to get the 3rd challenge.