Ravens vs. Steelers: Roethlisberger Will Be Deciding Factor in Battle of "D's"

The Ravens vs. Steelers rivalry is one of the hardest hitting in all of the NFL. Each time they meet it seems that tempers flare and a melee will erupt at any second.

It is truly riveting, but the difference will come down to the offensive units.

Ben Roethlisberger is coming off a game in which he smoked the New England Patriots' weak defense.

He capitalized on the poor secondary and threw for 365 yards and two touchdowns.

He will want to replicate and even build if he can on that performance.

The Ravens, on the other hand, have struggled to get the run going consistently leaving the ball to be moved more often than not by Joe Flacco.

Flacco is a poised, young quarterback who has a very strong arm, but is not going to be able to break down the Steelers secondary by himself.

The first time the two met in Baltimore saw Flacco in top form, but that game did not have the Steelers fully in form yet.

The Steelers defense looked weak and Big Ben gave away a few pick-sixes.

This time around, the Ravens will have to get all cylinders of their offense running and this means that Ray Rice will have to put in one of his best games so that there is a more even distribution of the workload.

If not, the pass-rushers of the Steelers will knock down Flacco hard and often.