Ravens vs. Steelers: Previewing Baltimore's Week 4 Matchup

The Baltimore Ravens are still searching for their first win of 2015. 

If they are to get it this week, they'll have to do so in prime time on the road when they face the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night. It's never easy winning in Pittsburgh, but Baltimore is as good as anyone at coming out of the Steel City with a win. 

Just last season, Baltimore went into Pittsburgh in the Wild Card Round and came away with a 30-17 win to knock their AFC North rivals out of the postseason and advance to the Divisional Round. 

The stakes won't be nearly as high this time around, but this is still a must-win game for the Ravens, as they look to avoid an 0-4 start to the season. According to Ryan Field of Fox Sports 1, the only team to make it to the playoffs after starting the year 0-4 are the 1992 San Diego Chargers. 

Needless to say, Baltimore has to win this game or face the reality that 2015 will likely be nothing more than a rebuilding season. 

Game Time: 8:30 p.m. ET

Location: Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Date: Thursday, Oct. 1

TV: CBS and NFL Network

Week 3 Results and Recap

Rob Carr/Getty Images

The Ravens got off to a slow start against the Bengals in their Week 3 divisional clash but fought back valiantly to take the lead twice in the fourth quarter after trailing 14-0.

The final period would be a memorable one, as both teams traded blows with the lead changing four times in that quarter. Baltimore took their first lead of the day after Elvis Dumervil strip-sacked Andy Dalton before C.J. Mosley picked up the ball and ran it into the end zone for six.

That gave Baltimore a 17-14 lead, but the Bengals would answer with Dalton hitting A.J. Green for an 80-yard score to retake the lead.  The Ravens would go right back down the field before Joe Flacco hit Steve Smith Sr. for a 16-yard score to give his team a 21-17 lead with 3:56 left in the game.

The Bengals would march right back down the field before Dalton hit Green for a seven-yard score to once again regain the lead, 28-24. Baltimore got the ball back with 2:10 left, but would turn the ball over on downs after Flacco's 4th-and-17 pass was just out of reach for Maxx Williams.

That allowed Cincinnati to escape with the win and drop Baltimore to an 0-3 record. That also put the Bengals at 3-0 and gave them a commanding lead over the Ravens in the AFC North.

Elsewhere in the AFC North, the Cleveland Browns lost a narrow contest to the Oakland Raiders, 27-20. And the Pittsburgh Steelers were able to escape St. Louis with a 12-6 win over the Rams.

Here's a look at the AFC North standings following Week 3: 

AFC NORTH	W	L	PCT	DIV	CONF
Cincinnati Bengals	3	0	1.000	1-0	2-0
Pittsburgh Steelers	2	1	.667	0-0	1-1
Cleveland Browns	1	2	.333	0-0	0-2
Baltimore Ravens	0	3	.000	0-1	0-3

News and Notes

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Joe Flacco Wishes Ravens were Playing Big Ben

The biggest story to come out of the AFC North, and even the NFL, was the injury to Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. He suffered a sprained MCL and bone bruise during Pittsburgh's win at St. Louis this past Sunday, and he won't play Thursday against the Ravens. 

Roethlisberger is easily one of the NFL's four or five best quarterbacks, and not having him will be a huge loss for the Steelers. That will certainly boost Baltimore's chances of winning this game, but that's not how Joe Flacco wants it.

As Flacco told BaltimoreRavens.com's Ryan Mink, he loves the competition of going against one of the league's best. 

"

As a competitor, it’s always nice to face guys that you’ve been going against for a while. You never like to see somebody injured, either, and have to sit out. Hopefully, everything is going well with [Roethlisberger], and he’ll be out there as quickly as possible.

"

As it stands, Flacco and the Ravens will be facing Michael Vick. Pittsburgh still has a plethora of weapons and will win games without Ben. Baltimore has to be at its best to get this win. 

Setback Prevents Breshad Perriman From Practicing  

It's turning into a rookie season to forget for Ravens wide receiver Breshad Perriman. The 26th-overall pick of this year's NFL draft is battling a sprained PCL that he's dealt with since the beginning of training camp.

Perriman looked to be close to returning after getting in a limited practice session last week. However, he appeared to tweak that injured knee during Sunday's warm-ups before Baltimore took on Cincinnati, according to the Baltimore Sun's Jon Meoli. 

That's kept Perriman out of practice so far this week, so there's no telling when Perriman will return. Don't expect him to play Thursday against the Steelers, but hopefully he'll be able to return some time in October. 

Joe Flacco: Ravens Lacking Confidence

The Ravens certainly have the talent to have picked up at least one win to this point. Why exactly is Baltimore 0-3 and winless as the month of September ends?

Among other issues, a lack of confidence around the team is something that Joe Flacco believes is hurting the Ravens. As he told ESPN's Jamison Hensley, the Ravens have to become more confident in their abilities and their coaching if they are to climb out of their 0-3 hole.

"Right now, it probably comes down to the fact that we’re not believing in ourselves enough, and we’re envisioning winning those football games," Flacco said. "We’ve got to turn that around and make sure we can do that."

At this stage, it's easy to see why players could be losing confidence. Bad teams start seasons 0-3, but this isn't a bad Ravens team.

They've got the pieces to win games but just haven't put together a complete team effort in a game this season. They'll have to do so if they are to come out of Pittsburgh with their first win of 2015. 

Injury Report

Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

NAME	POSITION	INJURY		GAME STATUS
Canty, Chris	DL	Calf	DNP	-
Gillmore, Crockett	TE	Calf	DNP	-
Monroe, Eugene	T	Concussion	LP	-
Perriman, Breshad	WR	Knee	DNP	-

Injury report courtesy of BaltimoreRavens.com

The Ravens got great news to start the week with starting left tackle Eugene Monroe returning to practice. Monroe suffered a concussion in Week 1 at Denver and missed the next two games.

Without Monroe, James Hurst has struggled mightily as his replacement. Simply having Monroe back will be a massive upgrade over what the team was getting from Hurst.

A new name on the injury report is tight end Crockett Gilmore. He's played in each of the first three games as the primary tight end.

However, a calf injury sidelined him Monday and on a short week, will be much harder to recover from in time to play Thursday. If he's out, rookie Maxx Williams will be the primary tight end. 

Key Matchups and X-Factor

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

Ravens CBs vs. Antonio Brown 

As mentioned earlier, Pittsburgh will be going with Michael Vick at quarterback this week with Ben Roethlisberger injured. That's a huge downgrade, as Vick is the kind of QB who isn't very good when he can't throw to his first read.

Roethlisberger is much better at distributing the ball and not panicking when his first option isn't open. That means guarding Antonio Brown will be even more crucial this week, as Vick will likely look exclusively to him most of the game. 

That's not exactly a bad idea with Brown having led the NFL in receiving yards in the past two seasons. He also led the NFL in receptions with 129 grabs in 2014. 

It will be up to Jimmy Smith, Lardarius Webb and Kyle Arrington to slow him down and keep the Steelers offense contained. In three games this season, Brown already has 29 catches for 436 yards and two scores. 

That's an average of almost 10 catches per game and over 100 yards per contest. That's how much Pittsburgh likes to feature him, and that shouldn't change even with Vick starting.

Ravens OL vs Steelers Front Seven

Blitzburgh appears to be back, as the Steelers are finally getting good pressure on the quarterback. After finishing No. 26 in total sacks (33) in 2014, the Steelers are currently in a tie for No. 5 this year with nine sacks in three games. 

Eight of those sacks have come from players in the front seven, but no one has more than 2.5. Defensive lineman Cameron Heyward is the best overall player in the front seven, but he only has one sack so far.

Linebackers Bud Dupree (2), Arthur Moats (1.5) and Ryan Shazier have accounted for 5.5 total sacks. Defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt leads the team with 2.5 sacks. 

Keeping all of those guys blocked is going to be critical for the Ravens offensive line to give Joe Flacco enough time to pick apart a very suspect Steelers secondary. Pittsburgh ranks No. 29 in completion percentage allowed (77 percent), and that secondary struggles mightily when the front seven isn't getting pressure.

Flacco will be the latest to pick them apart if his line keeps him clean in this game. If Baltimore wins this game, it will likely be with its offense getting big plays through the air. 

That won't happen if the line plays like they have at times in the first three weeks.

X-Factor: Penalties

Penalties have crippled the Ravens in every game this season. Against  Cincinnati, Baltimore had 13 penalties for 116 yards, the third-most flags most it's had under John Harbaugh, per BaltimoreRavens.com's Ryan Mink. 

According to NFLPenalties.com, Baltimore has the fifth-most penalty yards (24) in the league through the first three weeks of this season. The five teams at the bottom have a combined 3-12 record.

Simply put, penalties can cause teams to lose games, and they're part of the reason why the Ravens are 0-3. Ironically, their next opponent is someone who they had to play a very clean game against to beat when they last met. 

In the Ravens' win over Pittsburgh in the Wild Card Round last season, they committed a mere two penalties for 14 yards. That's the kind of game the Ravens are going to need in this one to claim their first victory of 2015. 

Prediction

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

The Ravens are in desperate need of a win, and they'll be playing like it against a Steelers team in transition with their franchise QB out of the lineup. 

Pittsburgh simply isn't the same team without Ben Roethlisberger. That will allow Baltimore's struggling defense to contain Pittsburgh's offense.

On offense, this is a game Joe Flacco must step up in, and he will do just that. He will pick apart the Steelers and carry the offense, as Steve Smith Sr. has his way with the Steelers defensive backs. 

The game will be close, but Baltimore will be able to escape with a narrow win, its first of the season. 

Final Score: Ravens 26, Steelers 20