Baltimore Ravens vs Pittsburgh Steelers: Game Preview
One of the top rivalries in the NFL will take place on Thursday night, when the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to Charm City to take on the Baltimore Ravens in a Week 2 matchup. Let me rephrase that: A Week 2 BATTLE! Don’t take the name of the city seriously, because there won’t be much charm in this game.
The two teams have been included in some of the most tightly contested and fierce matchups over the last seven years, starting from when Joe Flacco came into the league in 2008.
Flacco recorded his first career touchdown pass in week three against the Steelers, but the Ravens would lose 23-20 on a 49-yard field goal by kicker Jeff Reid in overtime. The Steelers would sweep the Ravens that year and knock them out of the playoffs in the AFC Championship game, but all three games came down to the last two minutes.
This was a theme that would continue from 2009 through 2013 and today it stays true. Whenever the Ravens and Steelers face off, it’s almost a sure thing that it will be a very close game that comes down to the last second.
When the teams begin their battle on Thursday night, the gates will be locked, and there’s no escaping.
When the teams begin their battle on Thursday night, the gates will be locked, and there’s no escaping
So with that being said, what can we expect in this particular game, and what’s at stake?
After throwing the ball 62 times in week one against the Cincinnati Bengals and rushing just 19, the Ravens must feature a more balanced offense. You need to run the ball to have success in this league.
Don’t get me wrong, Joe Flacco is the leader of this team and deserves to be. He should throw the ball a lot, but 62 is an absolutely ridiculous number. It should be more like 40 throws and 30 or 35 rushes.
As for the Steelers, they feature a beast of a running back in Le’Veon Bell. Our own Shawn Brubaker put out an article on how the Ravens must stop him to succeed, and I couldn’t agree more.
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The Ravens have to stop the Steelers’ run game, but containing Ben Roethlisberger should be a focus as well. Big Ben is almost impossible to take down in the backfield, and the Ravens failed to record one sack or even one quarterback hit against the Bengals, so the pass rush has to improve.
This game is even more vital for the Ravens, as they have started off the season 0-1. Starting 0-2 wouldn’t be a great thing. It wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it certainly wouldn’t be the start that you would have envisioned.
The Steelers, on the other hand, already snagged their first victory. Although it will still be a big game for them, it will hold less importance than it does for Baltimore. Both teams will still compete to their fullest extent no matter the circumstances, though.
These two teams have been known for having two of the top defenses in the league, and although they still possess very talented defenses, the two teams just aren’t the same anymore. Big Ben and Joe Flacco have changed these teams from defense-first to being offensive teams.
However, that doesn’t mean that this game won’t be low-scoring, because whenever these two teams meet, they always manage to keep the score low. Get ready for a battle guys, because you are almost sure to see one in Baltimore on Thursday.