With all the Ray Rice bullshit, its been hard to get any info or news out of training camp this week. Of course the question arises, "Can the Ravens focus on the game with all the media distractions this week"?
Looking at the game, one glaring statistic jumps out at me. The Steelers allowed 183 yards on the ground to the Browns and rookie RB Terrence West (a local kid from Towson MD) at a clip of over 6 yards per carry. Looking at pre-season game 3 (the game where the starters play the most), the Steelers gave up over 180 yards to the Eagles. Conclusion from statistics and the eye test at watching the Steelers game replay is that this defense looks more like a shower curtain than a steel curtain.
The Ravens in the past several years win games when they run the ball effectively. Last week, they rushed at a decent 4.5 yards per carry but had only 20 rush attempts. They allowed Flacco to throw 62 times. The Ravens will not win with that formula. Their offensive line is much improved this year and they need to take advantage of the rushing game tonight. Forsett is a good little running back. Bernard Pierce can be a downhill force, but was benched after his first career fumble last week. If the coaches (Kubiak in particular) can pull their heads out of their asses and put together a balanced attack, this game is there for the taking.
2 things worry me in particular for the Ravens tonight. One, The Ravens seem to have made a habit of slow starts in the first half. Last week's 1st half performance was almost as hard to watch as an elevator scene. They came back and took the lead only to lose it after our Div II-A level CB, Chykie Brown, was incomprehensibly covering AJ Green one on one and allowed and easy playground play to go 80 yards for a TD. Ladarius Webb comes back to play corner tonight. That's like upgrading from a Prius to a Camaro. The second thing the has to be addressed is that the last 5 Ravens-Steelers games have been decided by 3 or less points. The Ravens are favored by 2.5. That is a lot of points in this match up.
This is as close to a must win for the Ravens as you can get. They cannot afford to go 0-2 especially with both games being division games.
I feel strongly that the Ravens can move the ball very effectively on the ground tonight. The Steelers will get their points also but I have to give the edge to the Ravens here. I do not think the Steelers are legitimate playoff contenders this year and have a very suspect defense. If the Ravens play a balanced offensive game and continue their "bend but don't break" defense play (with Webb back at corner), I think the Ravens get it done.
Play: Ravens -2.5 WIN
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