Ravens Pack Their Bags for a Road Trip to Pittsburgh
Ravens face Steelers on Monday Night Football
So far so good. If you love the Ravens you can't be happier. The defense has recaptured some of it's swagger of the Super Bowl days and the young QB is not Kyle Boller. Rookie Head Coach John Harbaugh is using the leadership he possessed as an NFL QB and implementing some diversity into the Baltimore philosophy. Days are coming when the QB won't be told "just don't screw up and we'll have a chance".
In the meantime they need to go to Pittsburgh and continue to grow. And why I realistically expect this trip to have more growing pains then success I do see a chance at victory. Here is why.
Exhibit A: The Philadelphia defense exposed the Steelers offensive line as impersonators. They did absolutely nothing to help Willie Parker or Ben Roethlisberger get anything positive going. Frankly the Ravens defense has the potential to pressure a pathetic offensive line. Exhibit B: Did you see what they did to Cleveland? I am not sure at this point the Pittsburgh O-line has distinguished themselves as any better than the Browns O-line. So that is a possible plus for Baltimore. Then add the fact that Willie Parker is out for the game and that could give Baltimore the edge they need.
Add the flair for the dramatic turnover that Baltimore possesses. 8 straight games with an interception. Turnovers could be a factor in a Ravens win but if they cough up the ball also it could be a wash in that department.
Offensively you never expect to roll into Pittsburgh and score much. And while Willis McGahee is recovering nicely and LeRon McClain has developed into a nice back, realistically don't expect a large number of rushing yards on Monday Night. However if the Ravens can steal a page from their Cleveland win and control time of possession in a low scoring affair, the rushing stats may not be as big of a factor as keeping Pittsburgh guessing could be.
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Joe Flacco has really done well thus far as a rookie QB. Of course this is exactly Aaron Rodgers replacing Brett Favre so the bar wasn't exactly raised very high in the first place. Now Joe hasn't wowed the football world with statistics but it is his quality of presence is obvious. And the interceptions, while painful to watch, demonstrates he is not gun shy. Of course if he still does that by years end or into next year I will begin calling his fearlessness, recklessness instead. But hey give the kid some room to grow. A great QB is not afraid to fail and learns from his failures. So an error free night in Heinz Field will be more important then throwing for boo - koo yardage.
So if the Ravens can manufacture a boxing match kind of low to moderate scoring game they have a shot at stealing a victory. I don't see a win here though. The Steelers have higher aspirations and got abused last week on offense after opening up with 2 wins. They want this division game at home to stay on pace. And if the Steelers are the playoff team I expect them to be, beating them at home in this spot is unlikely. Plus Pittsburgh although being toyed with by the Eagles defense still had their chances to win last week. That was no coincidence. That was a result of holding an Eagles offense who put up 38 points in week 1 and 37 points in week 2 against the Dallas Cowboys. Holding the Eagles to 15 points is harder at this point in time than holding the Ravens offense.
In the end I see Pittsburgh Steelers 16, Baltimore Ravens 10. And I think quietly the Ravens will take that at this juncture of the young season.
> Also check out our Ravens @ Steelers preview from the Pro Football Fans Pittsburgh Steelers Correspondent!
By Andy Natalie
ProFootball-fans.com Baltimore Ravens Correspondent