Keys To Ravens V. Steelers

[Ravenslifer]

I'd like to get everyone's thoughts on what you think the keys to Sunday's game and a Raven's victory and/or defeat are. For myself, focusing on a Ravens victory and the offensive side of the ball (since I think that is the area that costs us), my keys are:

1. The offensive line plays very well. McKinnie is a very new piece, and Leach is almost as new; this will be the first time the starting unit steps on the field when it matters. They have to be able to give Flacco time to throw, and they need to be able to open up at least a few holes for the running backs. I wouldn't even mind seeing a few checkdowns from Joe just to get the ball to a running back in space.

2. Joe is able to connect with Lee Evans and stretch the defense. We can't afford to allow the secondary to play up in the box, especially Troy Polamalu. Too many times in the past it's been obvious the Ravens couldn't really move the ball, and the Steelers just stuffed the run all day and made some big plays when they had to. Watching both the Patriots and Packers against the Steelers, we need to be able to force the Steelers defense to play, well, defensively, or at least less aggressively than they would like to.

3. No turnovers. They will kill any team no matter who they're playing, but they are just so much bigger when it's Ravens v. Steelers. A good punt is better than a turnover which gives the Steelers good field position.

[Dnyce215]

Spread out the defense like the packers did, and expose their secondary

[Crabcakes&Football]

1. Pass protection. This is the most important. There's a reason not all teams attack the Steelers secondary like Tom Brady does, it's because of their insane pass rush. Even stepping on the field for the first time in a game this Oline is gonna be the best we've seen since '09. Not only that but the difference between the blocking from our backs from last year to this year will be huge. I think Rice will improve in that area, Ricky Williams is very good in that area, Leach will knock some guys out and Kris Wilson is good at that as well. Give Joe time to throw and good things will happen.

2. Stop their playmakers. This has been the difference between the two teams, we play a very tight game then at the end of the game some player on their side makes the play that changes it. The two biggest playmakers on their team are without a doubt Big Ben and Polamalu. Stop these guys from doing there thing and we can win, easier said than done but nothing in the NFL is easy. Getting better coverage from our DBs and getting sacks is the way to stop him. He's hard to bring down but Suggs has his number and now he should have more help from the rest of our defense. Polamalu just needs to be accounted for, and that is up to Joe.

3. Make our own plays. Last year we had a problem doing that because we lacked that deep threat that would give us a quick strike ability. This year we have it in Lee Evans, Ed Dickson and our young WRs. That's why Ben is able to make that play because of his young fast receiving corps. This will be the best receiving corps that Joe has ever had, his strong arm will connect with Evans blazing speed and it will do great things, this will leave Q with McFadden on him probably which is a favorable matchup.

4. Don't beat ourselves. Despite all our problems last year we have come very close, and even outplayed them in each of our losses until the 4th quarter. Then comes that key turnover that loses us the game. Even though our team as a whole has improved in my opinion it will be close enough that turning the ball over will make the difference between winning and losing.

[Natty Boh]

Pass protection and turnovers go without saying but that's what I got.

[Jamal]

Turnovers, turnovers, and turnovers.

Like most of theses games, I expect another defensive slugfest. And almost every game we have lost the last couple of years has been majorly due to turnovers. Points will be at a premium, and giving them away is just suicide.

[1/28/01]

Protection in every sense of the word...protect Flacco, protect the ball and protect from injury. That's it for this game!

[Twistidfunk]

yah, key to this game is very simple, PROTECT THE FOOTBALL.

when we lose to pittsburgh, there is always,always,always a crucial turnover. All we gotta do is hold the damn football!

I really like coming into this game though, we basically have a totally different looking team than what was on the field last year. I think Leach is gonna have a huge impact on the running game this year and Lee Evans knows how to get it done

[Gtown Purple]

Turnovers are a big key because the last few times we've lost it has been due to turnovers.

Most of the critical areas have been hit but one that hasn't is penalties. We did pretty well last year in avoiding dumb penalties. Lets hope the trend holds this year.

[Thepurplehaze]

[quote name='Jamal' timestamp='1315485860' post='780873']
Turnovers, turnovers, and turnovers.

Like most of theses games, I expect another defensive slugfest. And almost every game we have lost the last couple of years has been majorly due to turnovers. Points will be at a premium, and giving them away is just suicide.
[/quote]
Without a doubt, this. Also, we need to slow down Mendenhall.

[Gtown Purple]

I agree, but Mendenhall hasn't been a real factor in the last few meetings. Ben has beaten us more with his arm than in running the ball.

[quote name='Thepurplehaze' timestamp='1315487136' post='780888'] Without a doubt, this. Also, we need to slow down Mendenhall.[/quote]

[RayToShinningRay]

[quote name='Twistidfunk' timestamp='1315486519' post='780878']
yah, key to this game is very simple, PROTECT THE FOOTBALL.

when we lose to pittsburgh, there is always,always,always a crucial turnover. All we gotta do is hold the damn football!

I really like coming into this game though, we basically have a totally different looking team than what was on the field last year. I think Leach is gonna have a huge impact on the running game this year and Lee Evans knows how to get it done
[/quote]

I totally agree. I think Leach is a big key for the offense. He will set the tone. If he is physical, the offense can control and push the way they need to.

[lowrider]

1. Flacco and if he takes that next step.

2. The young cbs and if they can contain the Steelers receivers

3. Stopping their pass rush and having a pass rush of our own.

[Lawbrum]

I'd like to see some quick hit plays to negate some of the rush from the Steelers. Quick slants and passes to the flats should soften them up a bit and the pass protection doesnt have to be as great on these. Then if they do soften it might gie a chance for more shots down field. One thing for sure, we need to score on these guys and then keep the pressure on. I believe we have the players to do that with this group

[Pitts200]

1.) You guys can't spread out the Steelers like Brady & Rdogers, you don't have the players. (Just being realistic) So Joe has to be extremely efficient with his passes, 9+yds/att. Not like in his past few games where he has a poor completion % and short dink&dunk passes.

2.) Expect the Steelers to be a pass first team in this game. The Steelers know that you're defense has a few new players and we have enough wrs to easily go 4 or 5 wide pretty often, will it work, who knows.

3.) Plan on Leach not being as involved with this game as you think, a fb doesn't typically work against the Steelers because they don't thrive on penetration when stuffing the run. They use the d-line to control the flow of the ball and let the lbs make the tackles. So most of the time a fb never even makes it to the second level to lay a big block. Now I know Leach will 100% help you guys this year but it wont be huge against the Steelers.

4.) Is Evans 100%? Obviously that is a huge factor especially for a speed player. If he isn't, that would be a big concern for you guys considering how thin you are at wr.

5.) Rule changes. The change of moving the kickoff to the 35 is huge, considering how porous the Steelers special teams typically are.

6.) Rice needs to be a factor, yes he had that nice td play where he got Troy but he was a largely non-factor last game.

7.) Ben, you guys need to do more than just sack him. I wish they had a stat that showed how often a qb would win when getting sacked 6+ times in a game and still pulled out a win. If I had to bet, I'd guess Ben would be up there and sacks dont phase this guy, a collapsing pocket on multiple plays is what throws off his rhythm.

Good luck guys and here's to no injuries.

[PWNEDbyDEANO]

[quote name='Pitts200' timestamp='1315495364' post='781001']
1.) You guys can't spread out the Steelers like Brady & Rdogers, you don't have the players. (Just being realistic) So Joe has to be extremely efficient with his passes, 9+yds/att. Not like in his past few games where he has a poor completion % and short dink&dunk passes.[/quote]

Obviously we aren't the Pats or the Packers but I do feel that this would be the best way to beat you (just like you feel with us) right now it seems our corners are the weakness of both of our teams. Ours for inexperience, yours just being a weakness. Spreading you out, making Troy cover more often rather than letting him do what he wants and hopefully making you tone down the blitzes.

I said it almost a month ago. Whilst it might lead to fewer turnovers, we're not going to beat you if we try to maintain a run first mentality against you because you're too good at stopping it.

[dirtybird10]

I think its really gonna come down to the O-line and our pass protection (primarily our young CB's). If those two hold up relatively well, than we could easily be looking at a win on Sunday.

[H8R]

Keep Joe clean, he'll give us the victory
Keep Ben clean, he'll give the Steelers the victory.

[SteelYourThunder]

Neither secondary is good enough to protect without pressure so I think pass rushing will be the key for both teams.

[Militant X 1]

my keys are:

protect Joe Flacco (give the man time to make reads and the WRs time to get open)

establish our 3 headed rushing attack (Rice, Williams and Leach) to pound the rock!!

take a few deep shots with Lee Evans and Torrey Smith....it open things up underneath for Boldin, Doss and our TEs.

protect the football!! no fumbles, no ints etc.

offensively...play a crisp and smooth-flowing offense. don't look like the Bad News Bears...smh!!!!

Cam???? DON'T BE PREDICTABLE IN YOUR PLAY-CALLING!! do some stuff that is out-of-the-box

defensively....bring the pain!

~Mili

[J-man]

Long scoring offensive drives, and no turnovers. That should really set the tone for the entire game and stop the Steelers from getting their huge momentum shifts they usually get when they are down late.

[justifythegame]

If we are talking strictly about the Ravens offense vs the steelers defense.....i think the only key that matters is Joe Flacco. If he is going to go blindly run the play that Cam Cameron gives him instead of reading the defense before the snap and see obvious things like a S like polumalu blitzing off the edge n telling a fb, rb or TE to chip the guy or changing the play completely then we are going to lose the game like every steelers game. Whether he has the weapons or not, weather Cam Camerons plays suck or not, more of the responsibility belongs to Joe Flacco. Leading the offense is up to him at the end of the day, and a true leader doesn't wait to gain experience or for the coaches to give him the role...he takes the role himself and it comes naturally. And imo all Flacco has proven thus far is that he can be a game manager, i think this is his opportunity to prove he is more than that.

[Alexir]

key to this game is not to be foolish and take your foot off the gas pedal!

[Pitts200]

[quote name='Alexir' timestamp='1315500397' post='781085']
key to this game is not to be foolish and take your foot off the gas pedal!
[/quote]

Usually neither team has a chance to get on the gas pedal because the game is so tight and a defensive struggle. Yes, last game you had a 14 pt lead but that wasn't really from you guys being an offensive juggernaut. I think you guys had less than 100yds total offense at halftime.(I'm not trying to rub anything in, just stating a fact that it's not like you were in complete control of that game on both sides regardless of the score).

You guys aren't concerned about losing Mason, he is a smart smart veteran who knew how to find the holes in Lebeau's zone defense. To me that is a huge lose for you guys because Mason usually plays the Steelers very solidly.

I

[Hjulmann]

Also the fans... I was at the game where ravens played steelers last december, you couldn't hear a thing for sheer noise from the ravens fans.

[JEEPercreepermd]

Key to beating the Steelers - Score more points than them by the end of the game (Thanks Andy Reid lol)

But in all seriousness.

On offense-
The Oline has got to find a way to keep as much pressure off of Joe as they can. Both Boldin and Evans matched up man to man with their CB's could absolutely dominate them, what makes that tough is that Steeler's pass rush. People keep saying that we need to "Spread the Steeler's Defense out" I'm sure that Cam Cameron would absolutely relish the chance to attack the Steelers with all guns blazing but with 4 or even 3 WR's on the field will the Oline be able to give Joe the time to get rid of the ball? I wouldn't expect big numbers from either TE in this game simply because they'll be blocking most of the time. Honestly though, I feel that even with the lack of time our O line has had to practice together for this game that they are still better than the Oline we played Pittsburgh with all 3 times last season. Vonta leach will also help with picking up those blitzes, and hopefully get a hat on Harrison, Woodley and Timmons a few times and maybe slow them down a step or two as the game progresses. Also, no dropped balls in the end zone would help tremendously!

On Defense-

Not much has changed, I believe that we will still be able to shut down the Steeler's offense. The big challenge is just keeping our composure on defense and not giving up the big play or giving them 15 yd penalties in crucial moments of the game.


Just like over the past three seasons, the Ravens have the talent to beat the Steelers. The Ravens CAN NOT just give the game away by turning the ball over or taking bad penalties.

[gabefergy]

It's pretty much already been said, but my keys on Offense are 1st) take care of the football and 2nd) Offensive line play, both in pass protection and run blocking.

We have been able to run on Pitt before, and I think we can still be effective running the ball. To do this I want to see 2 things 1) Use a lot of single back sets with either 3 WRs or 2 TEs. These formations allow for more flexibility and give Ray Rice a little bit more room to operate. 2) Use some of those Zone Blocking schemes to stretch out Pitt's front line. The Steelers are strong and physical at the point of attack, but other than Timmons they dont have a particularly fast LB corps and if we can make Troy stay back in coverage Ray Rice will have the advantage here.

On Defense my keys are to contain the speedy Pitt WRs, pressure Ben without selling out, and Do Not Allow big plays. Ben has killed us in the past by extending plays and finding wide open receivers down field. If our front 4 can contain him and still get pressure he will be in for a long day. It's going to be hard to shut down all their talented WRs, but I think we have the depth at CB to do it.

I really think we have added the pieces that we need to beat the Steelers. Now lets see it come to fruition!

[Ravensstrike4424]

just win baby!

[Suggs Package]

On Defense:

Cover Deep Routes: The Steeler receivers are very fast, but aren't very good route runners. Keep the safeties deep as the Steeler offense is predicated on long passes. Limit the DB blitzes as Big Ben can shrug off tackle attempts from dbs pretty easily.

Play man on Hines and Jerricho: The two Steeler receivers who are actually good route runners, but neither have the athletic ability to scare you, so don't go for the deep fake. If either decides to run a deep route, remember that you have safety help.

Make sure OLB seal edge on running plays: The Steelers average less than four yards a carry up the middle but average about five on the outsides. Limiting him from getting to the outside will limit his damage. Don't get cute with interior blitzes from your OLB or the Steelers will make you pay.

Force Big Ben to the left: He likes to throw outside the pocket, but forcing him to the left will delay his delivery and cut off his options. He still makes a lot of mistakes under pressure trying to extend the play. If you overload, overload to the right, and don't jump at his pump fakes, but keep driving.

On Offense:

Counter Pittsburgh's aggressiveness: They love the zone blitz, but that also leaves defensive linemen and bigger linebackers trying to cover receivers. Use a lot of 2TE sets in passing downs. Also, run a lot of delay hand-offs because in the zone blitz, the DL will leave their main responsibilities giving us a chance to read and react to the DL leaving the line of scrimmage. They will only use that type of blitz in passing downs so we can't be scared to run in a 3rd and long situation. Limit play-action usage in obvious passing downs. Trap blocks work well against zone blitzes because it gives us an extra layer of protection. Also it lets our TEs and RBs block the backers instead of linemen.

The Steelers like to run a flipped Cover-2 in which the corners and safeties switch responsibilities at the last minute. Pay attention to the safety movement as if the shift is caught, the middle of the field is wide open, but if it isn't Joe ends up reading that a receiver is open that really isn't. Most of the time during a blitz, your top bailout receiver actually isn't open for the quick pass, so going through progressions is key.

Find Troy P: Against the Ravens, he plays deep the majority of the time. They can afford to with their run defense. When Troy is at the LOS, that is the perfect time to attempt a deep pass, but be wary of deep passes in nickel and dime packages as Troy may be playing any position on a particular play and not just SS and the situation may be a decoy.

Isolate the CBs: They are without a doubt the weak link of the team and there will be a lot of times where they are isolate because of blitzes. On non blitzing plays, force Troy and Ryan to make decisions and cover receivers every play.

Others:

Turnovers, Penalties, Responsibilities, Discipline, Blah Blah

[i82much]

Agree 100% re: turnovers. We have self-destructed so many times against the Steelers it is disturbing.

I understand why people want to "spread out" the Steelers but we are not the Packers. Look at the roster, the offense we run, the plays we practice, I just don't see it. It's not like Rocky where he just trains for Clubber Lang like a boxer instead of a slugger, it takes years to develop that type of offense and chemistry. Our best bet is to play our game, keep the score close, don't make mistakes, and see if Leach and Rice can't put together something in the 2nd half behind those hosses on the O-line. Take a couple shots deep with Evans to keep them honest but don't pretend like we are something we're not.

[ROH522155]

[quote name='i82much' timestamp='1315510461' post='781255']
Agree 100% re: turnovers. We have self-destructed so many times against the Steelers it is disturbing.

I understand why people want to "spread out" the Steelers but we are not the Packers. Look at the roster, the offense we run, the plays we practice, I just don't see it. It's not like Rocky where he just trains for Clubber Lang like a boxer instead of a slugger, it takes years to develop that type of offense and chemistry. Our best bet is to play our game, keep the score close, don't make mistakes, and see if Leach and Rice can't put together something in the 2nd half behind those hosses on the O-line. Take a couple shots deep with Evans to keep them honest but don't pretend like we are something we're not.
[/quote]

+1 for the Rocky reference