Tonight at 8:15 pm ET on NBC, AFC North division rivals Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers will go head-to-head for the right to advance to the divisional playoffs.
Over the years, these teams have had great games against one another, and tonight’s game promises to be another great match-up. This season, both teams split holding serve on their home field. The last time these two teams played each was on Nov 2 at Pittsburgh, when the Steelers ran away with a 43-23 victory. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw for six touchdowns and 340 yards, while wide receiver Antonio Brown had 11 receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown.
The only success Baltimore had in that game was the play of quarterback Joe Flacco. Flacco threw for 303 yards, two touchdowns. and an interception. The running game for the Ravens was non-existent as running back Justin Forsett only had 38 rushing yards on nine carries.
For Baltimore to have a chance in tonight’s game, they need the running game to step up big time. Forsett, who has been the team’s starting back since the they released Ray Rice, has had a solid season. He has rushed for 1,266 yards and eight touchdowns. If he can make an impact running the ball, expect the Ravens wide receivers to be able to make plays.
On the other hand, the Steelers will be without their star running back Le’Veon Bell, who suffered a hyper-extended knee injury last week against the Cincinnati Bengals. Without Bell, Pittsburgh will have to depend on a mixture of Josh Harris, Dri Archer and Ben Tate in the backfield to get the job done. This season, Bell has been the perfect complement to Roethlisberger. He has 1,361 rushing yards for eight touchdowns and 854 receiving yards on 83 receptions.
This is the perfect game for Antonio Brown and the rest of the wide receiver core to step up and make plays. This season, Brown has played out of his mind and many people think he should be in consideration for the MVP. Brown has 129 receptions for 1,698 yards and 13 touchdowns; just astronomical numbers.
This season, the Ravens defense is giving up 248.7 passing yards per game, which ranks 23rd in the NFL. The opportunities will be there for Big Ben and Brown but the question is will they take advantage of the opportunity?
In this game, rushing yards will be hard to come by as both defenses are stout against the run. The Steelers are only giving up 100.3 rushing yards per game, which ranks sixth, while the Ravens are giving up 88.3 rushing yards per game which ranks fourth in the NFL.
This game promises to be high scoring and whoever has the less mistakes and has the ball last in the fourth quarter will be one step closer to the Super Bowl XLIX.
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