The Steelers likely went to bed - or at least couldn't watch the train wreck any longer – behind the Ravens and woke up in first place, a half-game ahead of Baltimore.
The Ravens' showed some of the same problems on offense they've had in previous years in Monday night's 12-7 loss at Jacksonville.
They don't play well on the road - at least not offensively. Joe Flacco still isn't very accurate. And if you take Ray Rice away from him, he's toast.
The Steelers host the Ravens in two weeks at Heinz Field.
Yes, there's an important game this weekend against New England. But the one the following week against Baltimore will be far more important in the grand scheme of things.
8 comments:
gee, i had no idea Ray Rice and Ray Lewis shared a special bond. glad ESPN ran that story... AGAIN !!!
hopefully, Ray Ray will start calling out the offense and divide the team like in years past.
Until the Steelers beat the Ravens I'm not convinced they're anything more than a paper (AFC) Champion. The last time around the Ravens punched the Steelers in the mouth and they folded like a house of cards.
I don't mean to sound like a pessimist but so far the teams that the Steelers have beaten have a combined 7 wins.
Dale is right, the New England game is important but the Ravens game is the big one. I believe it could be the pivot game for the season.
Love to see the Ravens go down!! What is Hines Ward's status Dale??
Balt got a good hand to start the season - 8 months to stew and get ready for the Steelers at home. Then the slow-starting NYJ, also at home. Then Houston, who got their "signature" win the week before against Pgh, also at home. They've played two bad teams on the road (TN and Jax) and lost.
On NFL.com, Steelers lead the AFC North on the standings, but when you click on the individual teams, it still lists them as 2nd.
Steve-O, if we are playing the "pick the random stat" game, then the Steelers' two losses were to playoff contenders, and the Ravens' losses were to teams without winning records... Guess we'll find out in two weeks.
Firstly, I feel I have to mention that Joe Flacco is tuuurrrrrible. Guy just looks lost every time I watch him play.
The talking heads talk so much about "he leads the league in road playoff wins the past X years, blah, blah, blah." Yeah, he does....because he does what he did last night(lays an egg vs. teams they should tear apart) far too often. When you do that, you're absolutely going to be playing on the road in the playoffs because other guys in the AFC like Brady/Manning/even Ben don't completely implode vs. turd teams. Then he gets to the playoffs and lets his defense carry him to wins as many teams go "conservative." When called upon to win games on his own, he hasn't(and probably can't).
If I were a Ravens' fan I would be looking forward to whomever comes after him. Ravens are never going to win a championship with Flacco.
As to the game in a couple weeks...Steelers will almost certainly win. Ravens stink on the road and stink to the third power in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is also likely to be coming off a home loss to the Pats(who they just can't seem to beat, although at Heinz they have a better shot) and should be uber-motivated.
It may not be a pretty game, nor will it be a blowout, but they'll probably win since it's at home and it will likely come down to Flacco vs. Ben making plays. Advantage Steelers.
How many years have these two teams been trading off wins at home? It happens with regularity. I expect it to happen again this year.
@Greg...
Ray Ray hasn't done it yet, but Suggs was running his yap about playcalling on O after the game, so there's that.
Post a Comment