Steelers/Ravens (1 Viewer)

[Judge Smails]

Neither team will be able to run at all on the other, so I would expect a ton of passes. Can receivers from either side succeed vs. the other defense? If so, who is most likely to break out and have a monster game? Holmes? Ward? Mason? Clayton? Has to be 60+ passes in this game unless someone gets ahead with defensive TD's. Thoughts?

 

[Islanders rule]

Neither team will be able to run at all on the other, so I would expect a ton of passes. Can receivers from either side succeed vs. the other defense? If so, who is most likely to break out and have a monster game? Holmes? Ward? Mason? Clayton? Has to be 60+ passes in this game unless someone gets ahead with defensive TD's. Thoughts?

I think McClain is the key to this game. If he can average 3.5-4 yards per carry, that will open up the passing game for Flacco & Mason. Clayton & Heap will be non-factors in my opinion.I look for Holmes to have a good day for the Terrible towels.

 

[Raider Nation]

What if, say... someone had a decision between Holmes and Lance Moore which was driving him crazy.

Just hypothetically speaking, of course.

 

[DrJamesAndrews Fan]

What if, say... someone had a decision between Holmes and Lance Moore which was driving him crazy.Just hypothetically speaking, of course.

Hypothetically, I would go Lance, CHicago Pass D, not nearly as strong as Pitt Pass D. NO pass Offense greater than Steelers Pass O. (This coming from a Steeler fan).

 

[Godsbrother]

Neither team will be able to run at all on the other, so I would expect a ton of passes. Can receivers from either side succeed vs. the other defense? If so, who is most likely to break out and have a monster game? Holmes? Ward? Mason? Clayton? Has to be 60+ passes in this game unless someone gets ahead with defensive TD's. Thoughts?

I think if either team abandons the run too early they could be in trouble. Being one-dimensional against either defense is not a good idea. That said, the Steelers have been susceptable to screens so would imagine Baltimore is going to try to exploit that. If I were the offense I would go to the no-huddle right from the start to get the Baltimore's defense off-balance.

 

[fred_1_15301]

Live in Philly and the televised game is NE/Oakland............. . Who the hell wants to watch that garbage? Guess I'll be going to a sports bar...........

 

[belljr]

Live in Philly and the televised game is NE/Oakland............. . Who the hell wants to watch that garbage? Guess I'll be going to a sports bar...........

http://www.the506.com/nflmaps/2008-15-CBS2.html

 

[fred_1_15301]

Live in Philly and the televised game is NE/Oakland............. . Who the hell wants to watch that garbage? Guess I'll be going to a sports bar...........

http://www.the506.com/nflmaps/2008-15-CBS2.html

Ok I looked at tvguide.com a couple days ago and it had the Patriots/Raiders game listed in the Philly area. Thanks for the update.

 

[belljr]

Live in Philly and the televised game is NE/Oakland............. . Who the hell wants to watch that garbage? Guess I'll be going to a sports bar...........

http://www.the506.com/nflmaps/2008-15-CBS2.html

Ok I looked at tvguide.com a couple days ago and it had the Patriots/Raiders game listed in the Philly area. Thanks for the update.

He's not official but it's pretty solid. I think that was supposed to be the game until the NFL moved the Steelers/Ravens from 1:00pm to 4:15

 

[fred_1_15301]

Live in Philly and the televised game is NE/Oakland............. . Who the hell wants to watch that garbage? Guess I'll be going to a sports bar...........

http://www.the506.com/nflmaps/2008-15-CBS2.html

Ok I looked at tvguide.com a couple days ago and it had the Patriots/Raiders game listed in the Philly area. Thanks for the update.

He's not official but it's pretty solid. I think that was supposed to be the game until the NFL moved the Steelers/Ravens from 1:00pm to 4:15

Ok that makes sense. The Raiders/Pats game is still listed on tvguide.com but I'm sure you're right. I can't imagine they would play that game over the Steelers game especially in this area.

 

[redjake]

I took a quick look at Roethlisberger's history at Baltimore:

2004 WK2 - Came in in relief of Maddox and threw for 176, 2 short TDs and 2 picks

2005 - DNP (don't know if he was injured or what)

2006 WK12 - 214 and 2 picks

2007 WK15 or 16 - DNP (was rested for playoffs)

I didn't see any pre or post season matchups at Baltimore so has he really only played there twice? Averaging 195, a TD and 2 picks?

 

[roadkill1292]

I took a quick look at Roethlisberger's history at Baltimore:

2004 WK2 - Came in in relief of Maddox and threw for 176, 2 short TDs and 2 picks

2005 - DNP (don't know if he was injured or what)

2006 WK12 - 214 and 2 picks

2007 WK15 or 16 - DNP (was rested for playoffs)

I didn't see any pre or post season matchups at Baltimore so has he really only played there twice? Averaging 195, a TD and 2 picks?

I can't remember the story in '05 either. In '04 and '06, his offensive line was overwhelmed by the Ratbirds defense and he got rocked pretty badly. Few QBs put up good numbers against Baltimore but Ben has definitely been an important factor for the Stillers when they win this matchup. His ability to escape the first wave of pressure and buy a little time has been a knife in the guts of the D.

 

[belljr]

I took a quick look at Roethlisberger's history at Baltimore:

2004 WK2 - Came in in relief of Maddox and threw for 176, 2 short TDs and 2 picks

2005 - DNP (don't know if he was injured or what)

2006 WK12 - 214 and 2 picks

2007 WK15 or 16 - DNP (was rested for playoffs)

I didn't see any pre or post season matchups at Baltimore so has he really only played there twice? Averaging 195, a TD and 2 picks?

I can't remember the story in '05 either. In '04 and '06, his offensive line was overwhelmed by the Ratbirds defense and he got rocked pretty badly. Few QBs put up good numbers against Baltimore but Ben has definitely been an important factor for the Stillers when they win this matchup. His ability to escape the first wave of pressure and buy a little time has been a knife in the guts of the D.

he missed four games due to knee injury

 

[Godsbrother]

I took a quick look at Roethlisberger's history at Baltimore:

2004 WK2 - Came in in relief of Maddox and threw for 176, 2 short TDs and 2 picks

2005 - DNP (don't know if he was injured or what)

2006 WK12 - 214 and 2 picks

2007 WK15 or 16 - DNP (was rested for playoffs)

I didn't see any pre or post season matchups at Baltimore so has he really only played there twice? Averaging 195, a TD and 2 picks?

That is correct although I don't think 1.5 games is much of a sample.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

This game has more intrigue than any NFL game this year. Both teams are battling for the division title....you got bounty's on players heads....actual death threats...the Raven's played the Steelers nearly dead even in Pittsburgh earlier this year and so I'm sure they are furious to get revenge. I'm expecting a huge fight and 2 ejections before the game even begins. I can't wait, its going to be a brutal game.

 

[Drunken Cowboy]

Neither team will be able to run at all on the other, so I would expect a ton of passes. Can receivers from either side succeed vs. the other defense? If so, who is most likely to break out and have a monster game? Holmes? Ward? Mason? Clayton? Has to be 60+ passes in this game unless someone gets ahead with defensive TD's. Thoughts?

I think McClain is the key to this game. If he can average 3.5-4 yards per carry, that will open up the passing game for Flacco & Mason. Clayton & Heap will be non-factors in my opinion.I look for Holmes to have a good day for the Terrible towels.

Considering he only averages 3.7 and he is going against the best D in the league, I think you are asking too much.

 

[The_Man]

As a Ravens homer, I'm a big proponent of the idea that the Ravens' have the most overlooked homefield advantage in the NFL. Since 2000, the Pats have the best home record in the NFL. They're won 1 more home game than the Ravens -- and they've played 7 home games this year vs. the Ravens' 6.

The crowd noise in Baltimore makes the Ravens' outstanding D even tougher. After looking at the stats of the Ravens' D at home this year, I'm not so certain there's going to be a lot of offense this Sunday. Consider:

At home this season, the Ravens D has allowed 4 TDs in 6 games while scoring 3.

Of the 60 points the Ravens have given up at home, 14 of those points came from a fumble return for a TD (Cincy) and a kick return for a TD (Philly). Another 3 came from the Redskins' kicking a FG after a 1-yard drive. If you take those 17 points out of the equation, you get a defense that’s allowing 7.16 points per game at home.

Opposing QBs have completed 95 of 205 passes for 965 yards, 4 TDs and 13 INTs for a 40.4 passer rating. Jamarcus Russell (66.2 rating) and Jason Campbell (60.4) have the two highest ratings and are the only QBs to throw for more than 170 yards (228 and 218, respectively). Not coincidentally, the Raiders were losing 19-0 at halftime and the Redskins were losing 14-0 in the first quarter. I think the Ravens backed off and played softer coverages with the lead, leading to slighter better stats for the opposing QBs. Also, the trailing team had to throw the ball more to play catch-up.

Other visiting QB ratings:

C Palmer: 35.3

D. Anderson: 22.9

K. Collins: 52.0

D. McNabb: 13.2

K. Kolb: 15.3

In addition to the 13 INTs, the Ravens have 15 sacks and 4 forced fumbles in their 6 home games. They’re allowing 64.8 yards per game on the ground and haven’t given up a rushing TD. The four TDs they’ve allowed this year are:

a 19-yard screen pass to Cleveland RB Jerome Harrison

an 11-yard pass to Titans TE Alge Crumpler

a 2-yard pass to Oakland RB Justin Griffith

a 5-yard pass to Washington WR Randle-el.

I’m still not sure what happened at the end of the Titans game. All game long, the Titans had drives of 37, -4, 21, 6, 5, and 8 yards. And then on their last two possessions, they went 81 yards for a FG and 80 yards for a TD. That’s still a killer.

Other than that, they’ve given up only 3 drives of more than 60 yards all year. Oakland had scoring drives of 66 and 69 yards, and the Eagles had the 69-yard drive that ended in Ed Reed’s 107-yard INT return for a TD. All three of these came with big leads and can also be attributed to the prevent D. For that matter, the Titans’ long drives probably can be too. I hate the prevent D.

This should be a great game. But the Ravens' defense has been unbelievable at home this year, and I don't expect a lot of scoring on either side.

 

[KellysHeroes]

score is going to be 13 to 9

 

[The_Man]

Neither team will be able to run at all on the other, so I would expect a ton of passes. Can receivers from either side succeed vs. the other defense? If so, who is most likely to break out and have a monster game? Holmes? Ward? Mason? Clayton? Has to be 60+ passes in this game unless someone gets ahead with defensive TD's. Thoughts?

I think McClain is the key to this game. If he can average 3.5-4 yards per carry, that will open up the passing game for Flacco & Mason. Clayton & Heap will be non-factors in my opinion.I look for Holmes to have a good day for the Terrible towels.

Considering he only averages 3.7 and he is going against the best D in the league, I think you are asking too much.

He averaged 3.9 ypc on 16 carries for 63 yards and a TD in their first meeting.

 

[Godsbrother]

This should be a great game. But the Ravens' defense has been unbelievable at home this year, and I don't expect a lot of scoring on either side.

I am not trying to diminish the accomplishments of the Baltimore defense at home because it is VERY impressive. However they haven't been playing the best offenses at home either:Bengals, Browns, Titans, Raiders, Eagles, Redskinscompare that to the Steelers opponents at home:Texans, Ravens, Giants, Colts, Chargers, Bengals, CowboysBig difference. That said, unfortunately I think as of late the Steelers offense belongs in the former group more than the latter.

 

[Frenchy Fuqua]

I'm hoping that Flacco is ready to hit that "rookie wall". Roethlisberger hit it his rookie year about this time. Tough call on points in this game. Turnovers generally produce points but it's hard to see either offense putting up more than a TD and a few field goals.

 

[The_Man]

This should be a great game. But the Ravens' defense has been unbelievable at home this year, and I don't expect a lot of scoring on either side.

I am not trying to diminish the accomplishments of the Baltimore defense at home because it is VERY impressive. However they haven't been playing the best offenses at home either:Bengals, Browns, Titans, Raiders, Eagles, Redskinscompare that to the Steelers opponents at home:Texans, Ravens, Giants, Colts, Chargers, Bengals, CowboysBig difference. That said, unfortunately I think as of late the Steelers offense belongs in the former group more than the latter.

No question that the Ravens' home opponents haven't been that tough -- but I wasn't comparing the Ravens' D to the Steelers' D, I was just showing that the Ravens are very, very tough on defense at home. And I think that will continue this weekend, resulting in a low-scoring game on both sides.People don't seem to realize how tough it is to win at Baltimore. After the Ravens shut down Philly's offense, they melted down, but then suddenly bounced back with two strong performances. I wouldn't be surprised if the Redskins do the same this week. I just wish Washington hadn't scored that late TD -- it would be very cool if the defense had scored as many TDs as opposing offenses.

 

[jurrassic]

I think the Ravens are going to beat the hell out of Ben. I have both Holmes and Ward, and I don't know if I want to start either one. Ward is the possession guy but he also draws the most coverage, and he only caught 2 balls in their last meeting.

 

[iSnitch]

I'm benching Holmes in favor of Joshua Cribbs (return yardage league). So he's a lock to get 130 yards and 2 touchdowns.

 

[Godsbrother]

I think the Ravens are going to beat the hell out of Ben. I have both Holmes and Ward, and I don't know if I want to start either one. Ward is the possession guy but he also draws the most coverage, and he only caught 2 balls in their last meeting.

I agree that Ben is going to be under intense pressure. All the more reason for them to go into the no-huddle right from the getgo. Ben does extremely well in the hurry-up and is better able to get rid of the ball sooner.

 

[chris1969]

I have a feeling that at least 1 QB leaves this game on a cart.

 

[Steeler]

Surprisingly quite this week in this thread.