Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens: Complete Week 2 Preview for Pittsburgh
This is a big week for the Pittsburgh Steelers, just as it is every year.
It's Ravens Week.
The Steelers (1-0) face their most intense AFC North rival of the past decade Thursday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore (8:25 p.m., CBS, NFL Network).
Just like it was the last time these two teams played, Ravens Week is condensed into three days. For the second year in a row, the Steelers play at Baltimore on a Thursday.
The four AFC North teams paired off against one another in Week 1.
The Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns 30-27 on Shaun Suisham's last-second field goal after they had blown a 27-3 lead.
In a way, the Ravens (0-1) were in the same boat as the Browns. They came back from a 15-0 halftime deficit to take a 16-15 lead, only to lose 23-16 to the Cincinnati Bengals at home.
If the Steelers win Thursday, they would not only be 2-0 but be 2-0 in the AFC North after two weeks for the first time since the division was formed in 2002.
Steelers Week 1 Recap
1 of 5
The Sunday-Thursday turnaround is challenging for any NFL team under any circumstances.
The Steelers have three days to fix a defense that coughed up a 24-point lead in the second half against a career backup quarterback on Sunday.
Pittsburgh took a 27-3 halftime lead against the Browns. The Steelers made it look like maybe those two 8-8 seasons were a brief malaise and that they'd once again take their place among the NFL's elite teams.
Then in the second half, the Steelers showed why they've been stuck at .500 for two years and that they have a ton of work to do to be a playoff team again.
The Browns needed less than 19 minutes to tie the game in the second half without star tight end Jordan Cameron and No. 1 running back Ben Tate.
Brian Hoyer completed 15 of 20 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown in the second half, and the Browns ran for 121 of their 183 yards after halftime.
The Steelers accommodated the Browns' comeback by failing to force a turnover. It's a familiar refrain. In 10 games last year, the Steelers forced one or no turnovers. However, they stopped the Browns when they had to in the fourth quarter on Sunday, and Shaun Suisham kicked his fifth walk-off field goal as a Steeler.
Had the Steelers lost, they would have blown their biggest lead to lose a game in franchise history. The biggest halftime lead the team has squandered in a loss was 17 points on the road against the St. Louis Cardinals on Oct. 13, 1963, according to Pro Football Reference. Pittsburgh led 20-3 at halftime and lost 24-23.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau via the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Steelers are 119-0-1 all-time when leading by at least 20 points. They blew a 21-0 lead and settled for a 28-28 tie on the road against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1968, the year before Chuck Noll was hired as head coach.
Sunday's near disaster made it easy to forget that the Steelers showed in the first half that they have the offense to beat anyone.
Ben Roethlisberger threw for 278 yards in the first half, a career high according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Antonio Brown made all five of his catches for 116 yards and a touchdown in the first half. Le'Veon Bell averaged 5.2 yards per carry for 109 yards and a touchdown. He also caught six passes for 88 yards.
"Le'Veon Bell w/ 100+ rush (109) & 50+ receive (88) yds - the 7th #Steelers player to accomplish the feat & 1st since Amos Zereoue Nov 3 2003
— Ken Laird (@Ken_Laird) September 7, 2014"
The days of Ray Lewis and Ed Reed are long gone for the Ravens. The Steelers have to hope that they can put enough points on the scoreboard to bail out the defense. Then they'll have 10 days to try to fix that defense.
News and Notes
2 of 5
Ray Rice Released
The biggest news surrounding this game happened off the field.
The Ravens released Ray Rice Monday hours after a video surfaced that showed him knocking out Janay Palmer, his then-fiancee and now his wife, in a hotel elevator in Atlantic City, New Jersey, according to The Baltimore Sun.
Rice had been serving a two-game suspension for the incident, so he wasn't going to play Thursday anyway. However, this bombshell adds another layer of difficulty to a short week of preparation for the Ravens.
"The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming in here Thursday. From a professional standpoint, they could care less about what we're going through as a football team," Ravens defensive end Chris Canty told The Baltimore Sun.
Bernard Pierce replaced Rice as the Ravens' starting running back Sunday but fumbled the ball late in the first half and did not have another carry. Justin Forsett replaced him and ran for 70 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown in the second half.
John Harbaugh wouldn't reveal who he plans to start at running back on Tuesday, according to ESPN.com.
Defensive Line Unsettled
Much of the blame for the Steelers' defensive meltdown in the second half Sunday falls on the defensive line. The Browns averaged six yards per carry in the game.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said in his weekly press conference, via Steelers.com, that he'll try different combinations up front until he finds an acceptable rotation.
"Until people distinguish themselves...we're going to cast a big net and play all the guys in a helmet," Tomlin said.
Cameron Heyward, Steve McLendon, Cam Thomas, Brett Keisel and Stephon Tuitt were in a helmet Sunday. Rookie nose tackle Daniel McCullers was inactive.
No Word on Brown Fine
Antonio Brown was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness after jumping up and kicking Browns punter Spencer Lanning in the helmet on a punt return.
Brown could be fined for it, according to ESPN.com. As of Tuesday, a fine hadn't been handed down.
Last season, Brown became the first player in NFL history to catch at least five passes in every game since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule in 1978. He caught five passes Sunday to make it 17 straight games with at least five receptions. Laveranues Coles holds the record with 19 straight. His streak spanned 2002 with the Jets and 2003 with the Redskins.
Real Rivals
The term "rivalry" isn't used lightly when it comes to the Steelers and Ravens. These teams are virtually equals when they line up against each other.
Nine of the last 11 games between these teams, including the playoffs, have been decided by three points or less. The Steelers are 5-6 in those games, but one of those wins came in a 2010 AFC Divisional Round playoff game.
The Steelers are 7-7 against the Ravens in the regular season since Mike Tomlin became head coach in 2007, although they have beaten the Ravens twice in the playoffs.
See You in September
The Steelers' visit to Baltimore falls on Sept. 11, a solemn date in America. The Steelers also went to Baltimore the last time the NFL played games on that date, losing 35-7 in the 2011 season opener.
The Steelers haven't won at Baltimore in a non-December game since 2002. The later in the season they play at Baltimore, the closer they come to winning.
Here's a look at every Steelers game in Baltimore since 2004, arranged by calendar date.
| Date | Score |
| Sept. 11, 2011 | L, 35-7 |
| Sept. 19, 2004 | L, 30-13 |
| Nov. 20, 2005 | L, 16-13, OT |
| Nov. 26, 2006 | L, 27-0 |
| Nov. 28, 2013 | L, 22-20 |
| Nov. 29, 2009 | L, 20-17, OT |
| Dec. 2, 2012 | W, 23-20 |
| Dec. 5, 2010 | W, 13-10 |
| Dec. 14, 2008 | W, 13-9 |
| Dec. 30, 2007 | L, 27-21 |
The Steelers' only December losses at Baltimore since the turn of the century have come in meaningless regular-season finales.
Thursday Is Not the Steelers' Day
Not only will the Steelers try to buck the trend of pre-December losses at Baltimore, but they'll also try to win on a Thursday for the first time since 2011. Some of the most infamous losses in franchise history have come on Thursdays. There was the Phil Luckett Coin Flip Game on Thanksgiving in 1998 and a 13-6 loss to the one-win Browns in 2009.
Entering their game on Sept. 11, the Steelers' all-time record on Thursday is, well, 9-11.
Injury Report
3 of 5
| Player | Position | Injury Status |
| Dri Archer | RB | Out (ankle) |
| Lance Moore | WR | Out (groin) |
| Cody Wallace | C | Probable (finger, hamstring) |
| Shamarko Thomas | S | Probable (Achilles) |
| Martavis Bryant | WR | Probable (shoulder) |
| Brice McCain | CB | Probable (groin) |
Martavis Bryant is on track to make his debut Thursday. Bryant was inconsistent in the preseason. He caught six passes for 68 yards and a touchdown and also fumbled twice, losing one of them.
The 6'4" Bryant, who the Steelers chose in the fourth round of the 2014 draft, could be an asset in the red zone. But he'll have to earn his touches. Justin Brown caught three passes for 38 yards as the Steelers' No. 3 receiver Sunday.
Injury information is from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
X-Factors and Matchups to Watch
4 of 5
Steelers Defense vs. Ravens' No-Huddle Offense
Despite all the practice the Steelers had against it this summer, the defense is vulnerable to the no-huddle offense.
The Browns didn't use the no-huddle in the first half Sunday and fell behind 27-3. They ran no-huddle on 27 of their 34 plays in the second half Sunday, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and tied the game.
The Ravens were in a similar situation at home against the Bengals. They fell behind 15-0 in the first half and then went primarily no-huddle after the break, according to CSN Baltimore, and took a 16-15 lead.
Like many teams with a new offensive coordinator, the Ravens are struggling to adjust to Gary Kubiak's scheme. That's small consolation to the Steelers, though. The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Kyle Shanahan and a new head coach, and look what they did against the Steelers.
Ravens Defense vs. Steelers' No-Huddle Offense
It goes both ways.
The Cincinnati Bengals went almost exclusively with the no-huddle against the Ravens and moved the ball enough for field goals on all but one of their first-half possessions.
Andy Dalton threw the eventual game-winning touchdown pass, a 77-yard connection to A.J. Green, out of the no-huddle in the fourth quarter.
Dalton completed 25 of 38 passes for 301 yards in the game. Like the Steelers, the once-feared Ravens defense could not force a turnover.
Ben Roethlisberger completed seven of nine passes for 94 yards and a touchdown when the Steelers went no-huddle in the first half against the Browns, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Le'Veon Bell ran the ball four times for 43 yards and a touchdown in the no-huddle.
Kelvin Beachum vs. Terrell Suggs
With Ray Lewis and Ed Reed gone, outside linebacker Terrell Suggs is now the heart and soul of the Ravens defense. Suggs said in a conference call Wednesday that he gathered some "inside information" on Ben Roethlisberger while working out with former Steelers Ryan Clark, LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison during the offseason.
"Terrell Suggs says he trained w/ Ryan Clark, LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison this off-season, gleaned "classified information" on Big Ben
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) September 9, 2014"
Like he needs it.
In his last nine games against the Steelers, Suggs has sacked Roethlisberger 10 times, hit him 10 times and hurried him 21 times, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). The last of his seven career interceptions came against Roethlisberger in 2011, when he was AP Defensive Player of the Year.
Beachum won't be the only Steeler responsible for blocking Suggs. But he's the left tackle, and Suggs is listed as the right outside linebacker on the Ravens' NFL.com depth chart.
Beachum received a positive grade from Pro Football Focus for his efforts against the Browns. Maurkice Pouncey was the only offensive lineman with a better grade. Beachum gave up two quarterback hurries but none of the Browns' four sacks.
Ike Taylor vs. Steve Smith
Not that Ike Taylor will only be covering Steve Smith. But when they are matched up, it will be the 34-year-old Taylor against the 35-year-old Smith.
So far this season, Smith has been doing a better job than Taylor of fighting off Father Time. Smith caught seven passes for 118 yards on Sunday, including an 80-yard touchdown that gave the Ravens' a short-lived lead.
Taylor, meanwhile, was beaten on Travis Benjamin's game-tying touchdown four plays after dropping an interception. That was his only defended pass of the day.
The Steelers veteran will get plenty of help from Cortez Allen and William Gay. The latter broke up two third-down passes in the fourth quarter to force the Browns to punt.
Even though Gay is the Steelers' nickelback, he was their best cornerback Sunday, and Tomlin considers him a starter.
“To me the nickel corner is a starter in today’s NFL with the multiple receiver sets and how significant it is in situational football,” Tomlin said in Monday's press conference, via Steelers.com.
Interior of Steelers Defense vs. Dennis Pitta
The Steelers didn't have to face Dennis Pitta last year, but they will Thursday. The Ravens tight end caught 10 passes for 83 yards in the season opener.
It will be up to inside linebackers Ryan Shazier and Lawrence Timmons as well as safety Troy Polamalu to keep Pitta from tearing up the Steelers defense.
In his NFL debut, Shazier made an emphatic tackle for a four-yard loss in the fourth quarter but also dropped an interception and at times looked just as lost as the rest of the Steelers defenders.
"That's what you are going to get with Shazier -- bad, bad, bad, WHAM, bad, bad, WHAM. I'll take it.
— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly_Trib) September 8, 2014"
Polamalu and Timmons received worse grades than Shazier from Pro Football Focus.
Steelers X-Factor to Watch: Offensive Line
The Steelers' dumpster fire of a defense took a lot of the heat away from the offensive line, another unit that disappointed in Week 1.
Offensive line guru Mike Munchak was supposed to come in on his white horse and make the line one of the Steelers' strengths. The quintet already was heading in the right direction in the second half of last season. Ben Roethlisberger was sacked just seven times in the last seven games.
On Sunday, Roethlisberger absorbed four sacks for the first time since Week 10 last season.
Four of the five starters at the end of last year are back this year, plus a healthy Maurkice Pouncey. The Steelers' pass-protection problems are a lot more fixable than their defensive problems. Roethlisberger might have to outduel Joe Flacco for the Steelers to win this game; that won't happen if he can't stay upright.
Prediction
5 of 5
It's going to take a lot more than three days for the Steelers to solve all their problems on defense. They'll need their offense to help them steal a victory.
Playing in Baltimore is tough enough for the Steelers. Now, the resolution of the Ray Rice saga could have a cathartic and galvanizing effect on the Ravens.
If the Steelers can somehow pull it out, they'll be two games up on the Ravens in the AFC North with a 2-0 record in the division and a win over Baltimore in hand.
That's hard to believe considering their defensive woes. And when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is too good to be true.
Prediction: Ravens 31, Steelers 20
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
