Ready for Round 3

Well we may be limping in but the Ravens are in while the Steelers have just been playing excellent football for the past two months. At least we are in the tournament! Of course I think this played out perfectly for the NFL to have arguably the league's greatest rivalry lined up for the Saturday night game. There is just something different about playing in primetime on a Saturday. It means more,

It is like a heavyweight title fight. We have our undercard light featherweight bout in Arizona versus Carolina (which you know ESPN is going to spin as the greatest game ever played leading up to it) that most people aren't going to be into because of what they know is coming up in the final bout of the night.

Before I get the, "well each game was decided by 20 points," crap let me just point out that yes both games were completely one sided. The mere fact is that the teams are truly tied. Splitting the season series with the total points being an equal amount of 49. The problem with that is that 43 of Pittsburgh's 49 came in the last game (you know, where Big Ben went off for six TDs) which left a sour taste in Baltimore's mouth.

The Steelers tend to do that a lot to the Ravens. The Ravens have redeemed all of their playoff losses except to one team. Pittsburgh is 3-0 against the Ravens in the postseason and have created some horrible moments for Ravens fans. Ryan Clark's devastating hit on Willis McGahee in the AFC title game back in 2009. They last played in a divisional game back in 2010 where the Steelers came back after we had owned them for the entire first half. We lost 31-24.

The biggest issue for both teams (the Steelers seem to have put a band aid on theirs) is the secondary. Both teams can easily get beat in the passing game but seem to still be stout against the rushing attack. In both games this year Bell (who may not be playing at all) was not a major factor in either game totaling 58 yards in their last meeting. Antonio Brown is the difference maker for the Steelers. He ate our souls for a total of 26 catches for 234 yards and three TDs. Dominant. The Ravens best hope to compete with Brown is to double him and possibly put Webb on Bryant. Without Bell, his touches will have to go to someone and I would guess we will see more of Bryant and Heath Miller. Ben's safety blanket will be active. On the flip side, we have a revolving door of receivers that should be well rested. More than likely the Steelers will find a way to eliminate Torrey Smith from the game plan. Leaving more opportunities for young guys like Marlon Brown and Mike Camponero to emerge out of the slot. Can Flacco keep pace with the likes of Big Ben in each of their best statistical seasons?

If we are all being honest here I am not sure. Of course I think we can pull out the victory but it will be tough against a hot Steeler team after we have been proving for a few weeks now that we are slow starters and can't seem to get anything going until late in the game. Hopefully we pull it out and head on to another tough test in New England. More good news, I would have bragging rights in the house instead of the wife!

So go restock the fridge for Saturday night! You know you drank all your beer on New Year's. Throw some wings in the sauce, make sure the blue cheese is on ice, stock up on chips and get your fellow Raven buddies over to the house! Or in my case, talk smack to your spouse all day until the game is over and either excitedly or disappointingly say, "good game."