(Photo: Fox Baltimore)
Special Preview- NFL, Week 16
Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens
Steelers: They got it handed to them in South Philadelphia in week 15. Again, when you give a physical team a taste of their own medicine and play their style against them, they will fold and that’s exactly what happened against the Philadelphia Eagles. Once again, they struggled to come away with points in the red area and I understand they have survived this a few times during the season, but it won’t always work in their favor and once they were in a 17-3 hole, I knew it’d be tough for them to recover. The good football teams will have their strong moments and not so strong, but by far, this was the worst I’ve seen the Pittsburgh Steelers look all season long with consistent mistakes such as penalties, turning the ball over and when you’re playing a football team that’s won consecutive games in a row, you must be flawless and they were far from it. Despite the loss, they still clinched a playoff spot and are guaranteed to be playing January Football come postseason time. Also, they are still in first place in their division. I’ve had them as the third-best team in the AFC behind the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs since November and nothing has changed for me. They’re well coached, Russell Wilson has given them a spark offensively and defensively, and they’re still one of the best units in our league. This Saturday afternoon, the Steelers will play a rival in the midst of a tough three-game stretch. It’s Ravens week.
Ravens: They frustrate me at times. It’s a mix of the inconsistent football they can put on display and getting away from their identity. I don’t care if I sound like a broken record player and I will continue to repeat myself as many times as I need to, their identity travels through Derrick Henry and that’s that. They still haven’t gotten the memo which is Lamar Jackson having to come out the phone booth wearing the cape to come save the day. My thing is why wouldn’t you want the ball in the hands of your best player? Go back to the five-game winning streak and look at Derrick’s numbers at that time! It will be a miracle if the Baltimore Ravens make a run come playoff time and if they don’t, it’ll be because they didn’t feed the king the football. I have no issues with Lamar being the guy, but I feel as though it’s forced at times. Let him play within the design of the offense and go from there. I want to stay on the topic of the Quarterback if I may. Yes, the Ravens bounced back and beat the Giants (who hasn’t?) and he threw five touchdown passes, but this doesn’t mean he’s the frontrunner to win consecutive MVP awards again. Plus, they only let Derrick touch the football a total of 14 times and I’ve said consistently that he needs between 20-26 carries to be impactful. They bounced back after falling short to the Eagles prior to their bye week. The Ravens return home on Saturday afternoon to face their rivals in a huge game.
Steelers X-Factor: Alex Highsmith– Alongside T.J. Watt, this has become arguably the best tandem of edge rushers in the league. Think of all the attention T.J. commands regularly, which leaves Alex to work many single looks and get home. He’s strong in rushing the passer and can stop the run very effectively. Every time I watch Alex, he’s always attacking at the line of scrimmage in some capacity. He’s always in the right spot at the right time, whether he’s making a tackle, getting after the Quarterback, or recording an interception.
Ravens X-Factor: Rashod Bateman– Lamar continues to build chemistry with his receivers and this is one of the targets he enjoys to target, next to Zay Flowers of course. I followed Rashod during his college days at Minnesota and I still think his future is bright in this league. Since breaking into the league, he’s improved and has become that complete Wide Receiver who can run the route tree consistently, and his yards after the catch continue to climb the ladder. Anytime Lamar looks his way, Rashod makes a play. If Lamar could get him the ball earlier, watch out.
Final Thoughts: I previewed their first meeting in Pittsburgh. What was expected to be an offensive showdown ended up turning into a defensive slugfest which gave me the feels of their meetings during the mid-2000s. The Steelers won this game by two points and didn’t even score a touchdown, yes, you read that correctly. Over a month later, here we are in December in a crucial AFC North showdown. That was the worst I had seen Lamar look all season and Derrick only had 13 carries. I know for a fact the Steelers will enter this game very angry after being embarrassed in Philadelphia. The only way the Ravens will win this game is if they can consistently throw the football and the same could be said about the Steelers. These defenses are two of the best when it comes to stopping the run. This would be a statement win for the Ravens if they could get their revenge in this one. Baltimore must avoid allowing this game to become a defensive struggle because that can fall into the Steelers’ lap and they are the much better defensive team between the two. I like Baltimore to squeeze by and win this game.
Prediction: Ravens 23, Steelers 21
