The Sunday Night Game in Week 14 has a special division rivalry to offer: The Baltimore Ravens travel to the Pittsburgh Steelers – and for both of them, the playoffs play a tremendously important role. At the same time, however, the AFC-North duel of the previous week will also be played, with the match being shown live on Monday at 2.30 a. m. on DAZN.
It will be difficult to prevent the unattractive match between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati from last week’s AFC North Primetime game from being omnipresent. Duels between Pittsburgh and Baltimore have been known for years for their toughness and physicality, and they should not change much after the kick-off. However, the mood in the run-up is still subdued.
It all starts with Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier’s spinal injury. A key player in Pittsburgh’s Defense, but as a result of Thursday’s spinal surgery, all football’s arguments are pushed to the background and replaced by thoughts of his future life in the long run. Shazier had trained with Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs in the off-season, Baltimore’s coach John Harbaugh revealed during the week that the team had opened its meeting with a prayer for Shazier.
In addition, last week’s hard hits will also be an issue. The block of Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster versus Cincinnati’s Vontaze Burfict, which Smith-Schuster suspended for the game on Sunday evening, just like Bengal’s hit George Iloka versus Antonio Brown in the final zone. The fact that Baltimore has to forego Jimmy Smith’s best cornerback for the rest of the season due to injury is almost a bit lost.
All in all, the well-known “The Show must go on”motto will apply as soon as the ball flies through the air for the first time from kick-off. At least in the days before, however, a somewhat uncomfortable atmosphere hovers over the Sunday Night Game in Week 14.
So when the gaze then returns to sporting issues, Ravens fans will probably ask themselves one question: Was the surprisingly good appearance of their own offense against Detroit last Sunday due to the bad Lions defense – or was it actually the beginning of a turnaround?
Baltimore still throws the third highest pass in the league, the five yards or less (237 in total). Only the 49ers (241) and Saints (247) have 14 more before week 14. The blatant difference: In New Orleans, this number is primarily achieved by means of an excellent screen game, which is why the Saints produce 1,391 yards after the catch on these passes. San Francisco (711) and Baltimore (834) do not even come close to this number.
But against Detroit it was suddenly different. In addition to the 66-yard pass on Mike Wallace, Joe Flacco also scored over 23,18 and 17 yards. He threw a total of twelve passes, which flew at least ten yards down the field. This is a quantum leap in view of the offensive’s performances so far.
The Ravens also had a good run game in combination with it, which was partly due to the fact that the pass and run moves were built up better on top of each other. Alex Collins put down another good game, the explosive 23-year-old raised his Rushing cut for the season to 4.9 yards per run. Getting Collins to roll against the very strong Steelers front and tuned to boost the play-action passing game to attack the latest Steelers-Secondary will be a decisive factor for Baltimore.
On the other side of the ball the run game is also in focus. Pittsburgh is consistently using the run and integrates Le’ Veon Bell more than enough – but the results were mostly due to the mass of runs rather than efficiency. Here the past two games may have been a trend reversal: Against Green Bay (4.8 yards per run) and against Cincinnati (4.2) Bell was an effective engine for the offense.
But confirming the positive impressions against Baltimore, who cut Bell up almost on his own in this season’s first duel with 144 rushing yards and 42 receiving yards, will not be easy: The Ravens’ run-defense has been much more stable since Brandon Williams’ return, while the defensive tackle also gives Baltimore quite different scheme freedoms behind it.
So it could become an AFC North duel in which hard run defenses leave their mark on the game. The Steelers should have the advantage in the defensive and offensive line, but Baltimore comes with a lot of quality in the secondary and linebacker corps. Without Shazier, Pittsburgh will have to rely on Vince Williams, who is far from stable against the run.
And yet the Ravens – like so many teams in recent weeks – will have to ask themselves the question: How do you stop Antonio Brown? Pittsburgh’s superstar is probably the player most likely to qualify for the MVP award outside of the quarterbacks. Brown has 1,296 receiving yards at 14.7 yards per catch, most recently he tormented the Titans (144 yds, 3 tds), Packers (169 yds, 2 tds) and Bengals (101 yds, Tds).
Baltimore’s front may pose run game problems for Pittsburgh – but in Pass-Protection the Steelers line is better and the Ravens front is not as dominant in the pass rush as it is against the run. Without Smith in the Secondary, Brown will be an even greater Herculean task for Baltimore than he already is.
One thing is clear: with regard to the playoffs, defeat is forbidden for both of them, albeit for different reasons. The Ravens can’t afford any more slip-ups in the wildcard race. For Pittsburgh, it’s all about keeping the best possible chances for the number 1 seed before the long-forgotten duel with the patriots in Week 15.
Pittsburgh Steelers (10-2) – Baltimore Ravens (7-5) (Monday, 2:30 a. m. live on DAZN)
The SPOX NFL Predictor, Week 14:
Pascal
De Marco
125-67