The Battle for the North - Steelers @ Ravens - Pregame Thoughts
Steelers. Ravens. Round 2, this time in Baltimore.
It really stings to have to go to Baltimore on a short week after getting absolutely WRECKED in Philadelphia. The good news is Rashod Bateman hasn’t been practicing this week, and I feel like I saw somewhere that he was in a walking boot throughout the week. He is expected to play barring any setbacks, but it doesn’t sound like he’s 100% right now. Also, Nelson Agholor will be out today with a concussion. The less targets for Lamar Jackson to throw to, the better. They could also be without one of their offensive linemen, Daniel Faalele, who is questionable for today’s game.
The Steelers are dealing with their fair share of injuries as well, with guys like DeShon Elliot and George Pickens already being ruled out for this one. T.J. Watt, who seemed to tweak his ankle toward the end of the Eagles game, ended the week with no injury designation, and will play, without a limit to the number of snaps he will play according to Gerry Dulac. Donte Jackson is questionable going into this game with the back injury he sustained in the second quarter of the Eagles game, and Larry Ogunjobi is questionable with his groin injury, although he logged a full participation in practice on Thursday, which makes me optimistic for him. With the loss of DeShon Elliot, and the potential loss of Jackson, one has to wonder if Cory Trice Jr. will be active today for the first time since week 3. He could be a big help in man coverage following a really rough game for our DBs last week.
Mike Tomlin has the blueprint for slowing down the Lamar Jackson-led Ravens offense, it’s just about having capable guys to execute that game plan. The loss of DeShon Elliot has me more concerned against the Ravens than it did against the Eagles, and yinz saw how that game went. I’m sure Minkah Fitzpatrick will be in the box a lot, yet again, in this game with Damontae Kazee roaming the field, which gives me hope for containing Derrick Henry, but Lamar Jackson is quietly having another MVP-type season throwing the ball, and the Eagles spoon fed the world a blueprint for dicing the Steelers up just 6 days ago. I don’t care who is lined up at WR for the Ravens this afternoon…James Pierre, Joey Porter Jr., and Beanie Bishop Jr. MUST be ready to play today. This is going to have to be a low scoring game if we expect to come out with a win.
The Steelers offense is straight up putrid without George Pickens available to them, and I don’t expect things to be any different today. The Ravens have the number one rushing defense, and the Steelers rushing offense has been wildly inefficient pretty much all season long. The good news is that the Ravens secondary has been the team's greatest weakness so far this year, although they’ve done some shuffling over the last couple of weeks, and it seems to be to their benefit thus far. It’s getting really old talking about how bad the WR room is every single week, so I’m not going to harp on that for too long, but somebody’s gotta step up. It’s been sad to watch, albeit against some really good defenses (Browns and Eagles). Mike Williams? Calvin Austin? Van Jefferson? Anybody there? Thank the good lord above for Pat Freiermuth.
Fundamentally, the Steelers were awful last week. I suspect that some extra tackling drills went down in practice this week, and I would hope that guys are wrapping up, in space, this week. Missed tackles were KILLING us against the Eagles, especially on third down. The BEST WAY to contain Lamar Jackson is to keep him off the field, so when we’re put and 3rd and whatevers, we need to know where the sticks are and make the necessary plays. Then offensively, I’m just begging for ANYONE to step up and be a contributor this afternoon. It would be nice to see the run game going, but I doubt it. Maybe, we get another classic Russell Wilson performance. That’s always a possibility with that guy on your team. It’s going to take a big play from all three phases, in my opinion, to get the dub here. If the dub happens, though, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be the AFC North Champs for the 2024 season.
I love AFC North football.
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