The playoff race almost looked incredibly spicy for the Baltimore Ravens as the Cincinnati Bengals took a 20-10 lead into the fourth quarter over the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, the Steelers wound up scoring 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, including the game winning field goal as time expired. Had the Steelers lost, the Ravens would have had a chance to win out and actually win the division and potentially taken a top two seed in the AFC playoff race, practically knocking out any chance for the Ravens to win the AFC North and putting their hopes entirely on a tightly contested wildcard spot. The Steelers late win reminds Ravens and Ravens fans alike that you cannot rely on another team to help secure your destiny. A team must secure their own destiny by winning and not hoping and praying that another team will lose for them to be in. At this point, if the Ravens win out, they will be guaranteed a playoff spot for the first time in three seasons. Control your own destinies and win out here, boys.
Fortunately for Ravens fans and the Ravens alike, the Ravens finally managed to win their first game of the season against a team with a winning record. And it was not just a win; it was arguably the most dominant performance of the season from the offense and one of the most complete team wins of the season, second only to the Miami Dolphins game on Thursday night football. Against the Lions, the Ravens were able to record another three turnovers and explode for a season high 37 offensive points and chip in another defensive touchdown. Star quarterback Matthew Stafford of the Lions had a long day that culminated with two turnovers against a stout Ravens defense that truly should give Ravens fans a huge morale boost against the Killer B’s of this Pittsburgh Steelers team. And while the division is likely out of reach, there is nothing ever sweeter than beating the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With that in mind, let us take a look at this week’s key storylines.
Key Storylines:
How do the Baltimore Ravens Play Without Jimmy Smith?: Let us just get the big one out of the way first. Possibly the one player the Ravens could afford to lose the least in prior seasons, star cornerback Jimmy Smith, has gone down with a torn Achilles that will hold him out of the Ravens remaining games and any playoff run. As Ravens fans will so fondly remember, when Jimmy was injured in 2014, Ben Roethlisberger, in the very next game, threw for over 350 yards and six touchdowns in Pittsburgh. In 2016, two games after the injury on Christmas night, Roethlisberger threw for over 250 yards and three touchdowns, including the game winning stretch to Antonio Brown to close the door on the Ravens playoff hopes.
However, this season, the Ravens have built up enough depth between free agent signee Brandon Carr and first round draft pick Marlon Humphrey to hopefully absorb the loss of Jimmy Smith. If Sunday was any indication, though, this may be a little bit more difficult than anticipated. Humphrey immediately replaced Jimmy and was promptly beaten for over 100 yards on the game and helped to set up all three touchdown drives of the Detroit Lions. Marvin Jones and Golden Tate are good receivers, but they are a far cry from the league’s best receiver in Antonio Brown. Brown will pass 90 catches for the season during this game, he will pass 1300 yards as well, and there’s a good chance he will pass 10 touchdowns on the season. The question will be by how much does he exceed these totals?
How do the Pittsburgh Steelers Play Without Ryan Shazier?: The injury to Ryan Shazier was one of those scary, sobering moments that we never want to see in football. In the first quarter, Bengals receiver Josh Malone caught a pass over the middle and Shazier lead helmet first into the thigh of Malone. Shazier immediately fell crumpled to the ground and went to remove his helmet. We saw Shazier move his arms and upper body, but Shazier did not move his legs at all. He would eventually be taken off the field and to the hospital where, after a few days, Shazier had spinal stabilization surgery. It puts the future of his NFL career in doubt and his immediate season is done.
If Shazier cannot continue to play football, it will be an incredibly big blow to their linebacker corp due to just how athletic and freakish of a player Shazier is. When he was drafted in 2014 two picks ahead of CJ Mosley, now of the Baltimore Ravens, almost every Ravens fan laughed. There was no way that Shazier was going to be worth the 15th overall pick. Fast forward to 2017 and Shazier is arguably one of the best inside linebackers in the NFL. He led the Steelers in tackles and had a share in the team lead for interceptions. He had also tacked on two more forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Shazier will surely be missed.
In the immediate future, Arthur Moats will be tasked with replacing Shazier. Moats, who was originally a sixth round pick for the Buffalo Bills in 2010, has been with the Steelers since 2014 and this will be his first time playing inside linebacker for the team. Used primarily as a backup and rotational player, Moats has never been more than a spot starter and now will be thrust into the roll of wearing the green dot for the defense. The Steelers will definitely be feeling the loss of Shazier’s individual impact, but for the entire defense, how will the Steelers communication as a defense be? This is a massive hit akin to the loss of Jimmy Smith for the Ravens.
Can Joe Flacco Continue to Play at a High Level?: For much of the season, the Ravens have won in spite of the poor play of Joe Flacco. Flacco’s continuous poor decisions and erratic accuracy were often the bane of a struggling offense that needed every boost that it could get. On Sunday against the Detroit Lions, the Ravens won because of Joe Flacco. He was on point with nearly all of his throws, showed excellent footwork in the pocket, and his patience to work through his reads lead to the best offensive day the Ravens have had all season long. On Sunday, the Ravens will need more of that.
The Steelers, unfortunately, will offer a much bigger test to the Ravens offense than the Detroit Lions did. The Lions secondary was one of the worst coming into the Ravens game and lived up to that billing. The Steelers, on the other hand, feature the second best secondary, statistically speaking, in the NFL. Even with the loss of Joe Haden, the Steelers have retained a strong secondary ranking thanks to the improved play of young players like Sean Davis and Artie Burns. Couple that with a strong pass rush and Joe Flacco will have his hands full trying to have a repeat performance. However, for the Ravens to win, January Joe will need to make yet another appearance.
Final Score Prediction:
The Baltimore Ravens finally secured their first win against a team with a winning record against the Detroit Lions at home, pushing their record to 7-5 on the season. With that win, the Ravens built themselves a one game buffer over the Buffalo Bills and the Los Angeles Chargers and can afford to absorb a single loss, even if both aforementioned teams win out. I fully expect that one game buffer to come into play this Sunday night.
Final Score: Baltimore Ravens: 14, Pittsburgh Steelers: 27
Fortunately for Ravens fans and the Ravens alike, the Ravens finally managed to win their first game of the season against a team with a winning record. And it was not just a win; it was arguably the most dominant performance of the season from the offense and one of the most complete team wins of the season, second only to the Miami Dolphins game on Thursday night football. Against the Lions, the Ravens were able to record another three turnovers and explode for a season high 37 offensive points and chip in another defensive touchdown. Star quarterback Matthew Stafford of the Lions had a long day that culminated with two turnovers against a stout Ravens defense that truly should give Ravens fans a huge morale boost against the Killer B’s of this Pittsburgh Steelers team. And while the division is likely out of reach, there is nothing ever sweeter than beating the Pittsburgh Steelers.
With that in mind, let us take a look at this week’s key storylines.
Key Storylines:
How do the Baltimore Ravens Play Without Jimmy Smith?: Let us just get the big one out of the way first. Possibly the one player the Ravens could afford to lose the least in prior seasons, star cornerback Jimmy Smith, has gone down with a torn Achilles that will hold him out of the Ravens remaining games and any playoff run. As Ravens fans will so fondly remember, when Jimmy was injured in 2014, Ben Roethlisberger, in the very next game, threw for over 350 yards and six touchdowns in Pittsburgh. In 2016, two games after the injury on Christmas night, Roethlisberger threw for over 250 yards and three touchdowns, including the game winning stretch to Antonio Brown to close the door on the Ravens playoff hopes.
However, this season, the Ravens have built up enough depth between free agent signee Brandon Carr and first round draft pick Marlon Humphrey to hopefully absorb the loss of Jimmy Smith. If Sunday was any indication, though, this may be a little bit more difficult than anticipated. Humphrey immediately replaced Jimmy and was promptly beaten for over 100 yards on the game and helped to set up all three touchdown drives of the Detroit Lions. Marvin Jones and Golden Tate are good receivers, but they are a far cry from the league’s best receiver in Antonio Brown. Brown will pass 90 catches for the season during this game, he will pass 1300 yards as well, and there’s a good chance he will pass 10 touchdowns on the season. The question will be by how much does he exceed these totals?
How do the Pittsburgh Steelers Play Without Ryan Shazier?: The injury to Ryan Shazier was one of those scary, sobering moments that we never want to see in football. In the first quarter, Bengals receiver Josh Malone caught a pass over the middle and Shazier lead helmet first into the thigh of Malone. Shazier immediately fell crumpled to the ground and went to remove his helmet. We saw Shazier move his arms and upper body, but Shazier did not move his legs at all. He would eventually be taken off the field and to the hospital where, after a few days, Shazier had spinal stabilization surgery. It puts the future of his NFL career in doubt and his immediate season is done.
If Shazier cannot continue to play football, it will be an incredibly big blow to their linebacker corp due to just how athletic and freakish of a player Shazier is. When he was drafted in 2014 two picks ahead of CJ Mosley, now of the Baltimore Ravens, almost every Ravens fan laughed. There was no way that Shazier was going to be worth the 15th overall pick. Fast forward to 2017 and Shazier is arguably one of the best inside linebackers in the NFL. He led the Steelers in tackles and had a share in the team lead for interceptions. He had also tacked on two more forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Shazier will surely be missed.
In the immediate future, Arthur Moats will be tasked with replacing Shazier. Moats, who was originally a sixth round pick for the Buffalo Bills in 2010, has been with the Steelers since 2014 and this will be his first time playing inside linebacker for the team. Used primarily as a backup and rotational player, Moats has never been more than a spot starter and now will be thrust into the roll of wearing the green dot for the defense. The Steelers will definitely be feeling the loss of Shazier’s individual impact, but for the entire defense, how will the Steelers communication as a defense be? This is a massive hit akin to the loss of Jimmy Smith for the Ravens.
Can Joe Flacco Continue to Play at a High Level?: For much of the season, the Ravens have won in spite of the poor play of Joe Flacco. Flacco’s continuous poor decisions and erratic accuracy were often the bane of a struggling offense that needed every boost that it could get. On Sunday against the Detroit Lions, the Ravens won because of Joe Flacco. He was on point with nearly all of his throws, showed excellent footwork in the pocket, and his patience to work through his reads lead to the best offensive day the Ravens have had all season long. On Sunday, the Ravens will need more of that.
The Steelers, unfortunately, will offer a much bigger test to the Ravens offense than the Detroit Lions did. The Lions secondary was one of the worst coming into the Ravens game and lived up to that billing. The Steelers, on the other hand, feature the second best secondary, statistically speaking, in the NFL. Even with the loss of Joe Haden, the Steelers have retained a strong secondary ranking thanks to the improved play of young players like Sean Davis and Artie Burns. Couple that with a strong pass rush and Joe Flacco will have his hands full trying to have a repeat performance. However, for the Ravens to win, January Joe will need to make yet another appearance.
Final Score Prediction:
The Baltimore Ravens finally secured their first win against a team with a winning record against the Detroit Lions at home, pushing their record to 7-5 on the season. With that win, the Ravens built themselves a one game buffer over the Buffalo Bills and the Los Angeles Chargers and can afford to absorb a single loss, even if both aforementioned teams win out. I fully expect that one game buffer to come into play this Sunday night.
Final Score: Baltimore Ravens: 14, Pittsburgh Steelers: 27
