1:00pm | M&T Bank Stadium | TV: CBS
What a way to start the season.
After watching Thursday night’s Kickoff event and seeing nothing but terrible defense for 60 minutes, it is going to be breathtaking to see real, pure football played this afternoon at M&T Bank Stadium.
As always, I believe the biggest factor in today’s game will be Joe Flacco. Both teams are so similar and the defenses so stiffling that the QB who makes one or two mistakes usually ends up losing the game. Flacco has never shown the ability to consistently move the ball against this Steelers defense, while Roethlisberger has done so on ocassion against the Ravens.
I would expect the Steelers to come out throwing the ball a lot more than usual. The Ravens — like the Steelers — are vulnerable in the secondary and that is the best way to put up points against them.
Let’s roll.
Three Things To Watch For:
1. James Harrison’s health. He looked like he was about 70% healthy during the preseason. He’ll need to be effective for the Steelers to win.
2. Ravens rookie Jimmy Smith. The physical CB was a player I really liked coming out of college and would have loved to have seen him in black and gold.
3. Paging Mike Wallace. He was mostly invisible during preseason and will have to get used to playing against double coverage. Look for Ben to bomb at least one deep ball his way.
Prediction:
These first games are always weird and not neccessarily reflective of how the rest of the season will turn out. Just a feeling. Ravens 20 Steelers 17
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