It’s Steelers Week!

By: Corey Johns

Forget about the record. The Ravens are 0-3 and this week, it means nothing because it’s Steelers week. It is going to be a tough, hard-fought game and it is bound to come down to the finals seconds of the game.

And it is fitting that the Ravens play the Steelers this week while they are desperate for a win to spark a turnaround to save their season. Last year the Ravens could fallen into a disaster after all the Ray Rice stuff, but a dominating victory over the Steelers clearly helped them move past their early-season struggles. Maybe that can be what saves the team from disaster this year. They need a win right now or their season is over.

Only one team under the current playoff format has made the playoffs after an 0-4 start. That was the 1992 San Diego Chargers a long, long time ago.

This game will have a little different feel to it. Terrell Suggs, the biggest Steelers’ hater in football, is out. Ben Roethlisberger, the biggest Ravens killer, is also out.

Michael Vick will start under center for Pittsburgh. Even at 35-years-old he is still an elite athlete and dangerous playmaker with a huge arm, but he is very mistake prone. Even at his very best Vick would try to force that one bad pass he had no business throwing and would put his team in a bad spot. Because of that the Steelers will likely take a more conservative approach.

Now, that might mean giving the ball to the best running back in the game, Le’Veon Bell, but the Ravens are much better at stopping the run than the pass right now and it should limit the number of really big plays the Steelers make.

But the Ravens have to get their running game going too. Without Crocket Gillmore the Ravens really lack a secondary option in the passing game after Steve Smith. Justin Forsett has struggled horribly early this season but the Ravens have not truly committed to feeding him either. A more consistent running game will also keep the Ravens defense off the field and fresh at the end of the game so they are not getting gashed in the final minutes of the game.

Or maybe, the defense just plays the smash-mouth style of football we all know and love and expect in a game against the Steelers.

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