Steelers face Ravens in huge rivalry game
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens have been going in opposite directions since they met Sept. 30 at Heinz Field. The Ravens beat the Steelers, 26-14, and asserted themselves as early favorites to win the AFC North. However, since that victory, the Ravens have lost two of their past three while the Steelers have won three consecutive games to take over first place in the division.
The rematch at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore Sunday afternoon could go a long way toward determining which team will win the division.
The Steelers are coming off an impressive 33-18 victory against Cleveland. They held the Browns to just 237 yards, a season-low for Steelers opponents. They also scored 30 points or more for the fourth time in their first seven games.
The Steelers will be looking for a similar showing this week against the Ravens. They played well below average on both sides of the ball in the first meeting against the Ravens. The Steelers had just 19 yards rushing and could only manage 265 through the air.
The defense, meanwhile, gave up 451yards, including 355 passing.
“I don’t know if they controlled the line of scrimmage as much as they controlled possession downs,” head coach Mike Tomlin said. “Usually when you are losing possession downs it’s because they are unfavorable for you offensively or they are very manageable for your opposing offense. We didn’t do well enough on possession downs, and some of them were very manageable for our offense and some of them were long for their offense. As I look back at it, particularly in the second half of play, where the game really unfolded, we didn’t do enough on possession downs. We didn’t get off the field on defense and we didn’t sustain drives on offense. I thought that was probably the singularly most deciding factor in terms of how the game unfolded.”
The Steelers certainly will look to get running back James Conner more involved in the rematch in an effort to control the ball a little bit more. Conner was held to a season-low 19 yards in the game at Heinz Field. He had just nine carries as Ben Roethlisberger dropped back to pass 47 times.
“We have to start faster,” Conner said. “They have a great defense. They’re one of the best defenses in football right now. We’re going to have to protect the football, stay disciplined and move the ball.”
Since the first game against the Ravens, Conner has rushed for 100 yards or more in each game. He also has two touchdowns in each of the past three games.
“We have to be better early on,” Conner said. “We didn’t have very many good runs the first time around because we got behind. Hopefully, we start faster and get the run game going early.”
SERIES HISTORY: 46th regular-season meeting. Steelers lead series, 24-21. The Ravens beat the Steelers, 26-14, at Heinz Field on Oct. 1, but the Steelers had won the three previous meetings, including a 26-9 win in Baltimore last year. That was the Steelers’ first win in Baltimore since 2012. These two teams have met in the playoffs four times, with the Steelers winning three of those matchups.