Merged: Ravens Will Face Pittsburgh

[StingerNLG]

I was fearing that moment during the Texans game, too. I was thinking, "Is this going to be that game I was there when Flacco threw that career-high 6 picks against Buffalo last year?!"

But, knowing Joe and witnessing Joe, I know he's done some good during games that mattered the most.

 

Exactly.  I don't know why people are holding onto that Texans game like he's been that bad all year.   Since the bye, he threw 4 interceptions total, and 3 were in the Houston game.   He went 3 games in a row with 0 picks.   And he's had 8 games this year with 0 interceptions.  

 

Of the teams in the AFC playoffs, the QB's have this number of zero interception games:

 

Luck - 4

Dalton - 5

Flacco - 8

Brady - 8

Manning - 8

Rothlisberger - 9

 

Sitting in pretty good company I'd say.

[52520Andrew]

Realistically, what's he going to see beyond how badly they've been playing?

How badly they have been playing lol

[Inqui]

How badly they have been playing lol

"Hmmm, these guys really suck. I'm going to try and torch them where I can."

 

I think he could have realised that without the extra week.

[52520Andrew]

"Hmmm, these guys really suck. I'm going to try and torch them where I can."

I think he could have realised that without the extra week.

Yeah probably, the extra week just gives him a rest which he needs right now. The way the buzz is going with him right now, I don't want to be the one to face him when he goes off because I think he still has a bit more in him. Kinda like Brady post Chiefs but not as bad. Peyton usually is red hot going into the playoffs and chokes then but when he struggles going into it, then who knows. More just throwing the film bit in there because he is Peyton Manning and he is a football nerd lol. At least we wouldn't play them till the AFC Championship game and if we make it there I will be doing backflips anyways.

[codizzle]

A lot of posters in here love to hang their hats on the "Joe is clutch in the playoffs" in his defense during horrible games. Well guys and gals; here we are...in the playoffs! Now, let's see that "clutchness" of Joe Flacco starting on Saturday vs Steelers.

Let's goooo Joe!

GO RAVENS!

Backup tackles a journeyman RB with no backup.. A rookie TE and no #1 WR and you gotta rely on Torrey getting past everyone untouched or a 35 year old first option

Go be clutch though, Joe

With that said... Yea Joe has to be 4th Q today joe for ravens to even have a shot

[Bltravens]

I'd like this matchup if we had our actual starting Oline playing, then Joe could get after their secondary a bit. Forsett needs to get in the ice tub all week too.

[Willbacker]

I really, really, really, really, REALLY want to win this one. More than I can remember wanting to win a game since the Super Bowl. We'll need to start fast this time and use our full potential to win this time. The greatest rivalry continues; let's hope we can finally knock Pittsburgh out of the playoffs for the first time. 

Yeah it's been Charles St now for way too long. Time to reverse this thing.

 

A lot of posters in here love to hang their hats on the "Joe is clutch in the playoffs" in his defense during horrible games.  Well guys and gals; here we are...in the playoffs!  Now, let's see that "clutchness" of Joe Flacco starting on Saturday vs Steelers.

 

Let's goooo Joe!

 

GO RAVENS!

You Joe lovin freak. lol.

[HoldingCall]

The Bengals held the Steelers leading RB to 8 carries for 20 yard before L. Bell suffered an injury. The Bengals loss was due primarily to turnovers and a special teams touchdown, those are important points to remember. However the Ravens cannot repeat the slow start that has plagued them lately. If they play aggressively it should be a good game.

[I AM LEGEND]

Imo we're playing with house money right now.

After our off-season...after all the injuries....after all the pundits said we probably were done after the losses to the Chargers and Texans...

Let's go Into Pitt and play free and win.

[HoldingCall]

Backup tackles a journeyman RB with no backup.. A rookie TE and no #1 WR and you gotta rely on Torrey getting past everyone untouched or a 35 year old first option

Go be clutch though, Joe

With that said... Yea Joe has to be 4th Q today joe for ravens to even have a shot

The great equalizer is the Ravens' defense; they need to have a stellar day.

[TDubbs]

The great equalizer is the Ravens' defense; they need to have a stellar day.

 

Especially the pass rush. If Doom/Sizzle can terrorize the edges with a fresh Ngata in the middle we can make it a tough day for Ben. Also, we need at least one of those punishing Upshaw hits on Ben to take a chunk out of him. 

[Bryden88]

If we avoid a 4th quarter start and instead start in the first half - and our D plays like it needs to - we win this.

 

If Joe doesn't get going until late 2nd half, it'll probably be a very ugly game.

[757RavensFan]

I honestly think we'll do well vs the Steelers.  Both games this year were definitely

different than previous years.  If I were to tell you at the beginning of the year

that they would win both of their home games by 20, no one would believe me. 

The margin of victory between these two is usually a FG. Just goes to show 

how evenly matched they are.

 

BTW...any news on T. Jernigan?  Getting Haloti back if Jernigan isn't able to go is huge. 

 

I always wondered why the NFL didn't take a week off before the playoffs started.

[Kid87]

Contain Le'Von Bell and Antonio Brown and We Will WIN

[arnie_uk]

Pass rush will win or lose this game for us Imo.

[rmcjacket23]

Pass rush will win or lose this game for us Imo.

Pass rush on both sides. If our O-line (which personnel wise is worse than it was the last time we played them) doesn't improve significantly from our last meeting, we are in trouble.

 

I think we'll be able to run the ball sufficiently, and I expect us to stop the run sufficiently. Our secondary, while still nowhere near where any of us would like it to be, is improved in my opinion from the last meeting.

 

But if we can't get to the QB, and they can, it will be almost impossible to win this game in my opinion.

[redrum52]

Imo we're playing with house money right now.

After our off-season...after all the injuries....after all the pundits said we probably were done after the losses to the Chargers and Texans...

Let's go Into Pitt and play free and win.

This is my mentality. This team better come out aggressive. I don't want to see whatever gameplan we've started with the past few weeks. I'd rather go with the more recent playoff success than Kubiak and let a Joe run the show.

[The Mom Gene]

Pass rush on both sides. If our O-line (which personnel wise is worse than it was the last time we played them) doesn't improve significantly from our last meeting, we are in trouble.

 

I think we'll be able to run the ball sufficiently, and I expect us to stop the run sufficiently. Our secondary, while still nowhere near where any of us would like it to be, is improved in my opinion from the last meeting.

 

But if we can't get to the QB, and they can, it will be almost impossible to win this game in my opinion.

Leveon will be gimpy too...  His hyper-extended knee cannot heal this quickly...  he has 5 days...  That's a plus on our defensive front... and with getting Ngata back, should also be helpful.  Defensively, I'm not worried as much...  Offensively, whatever is holding these guys back better get booted out of that locker room.

[The Mom Gene]

No: Patriots.  They have been playing great recently.

 

Yes:  Bengals.  Playoff Dalton is a thing of beauty. 

Playoff Dalton started last night...  Did you watch that game 

Was it 4 turnovers????  Two passes right into the arms of the Steelers secondary.

[gabefergy]

I don't know the health stats of Lev Bell, but the Steelers are a totally different team without him. I like our chances either way, but if Pitt doesn't have Bell we should win.

[Tru11]

gabefergy, on 29 Dec 2014 - 3:09 PM, said:

I don't know the health stats of Lev Bell, but the Steelers are a totally different team without him. I like our chances either way, but if Pitt doesn't have Bell we should win.

 

couple this with getting good pressure on ben and we should win.

 

just hope the o-line can hold up though

[Ozzsome]

Could it be any better? I LOVE IT!!!!

 

This Rivalry in the first Round of the Playoffs is just phenomenal

[Florida Ravens Fan]

Idk I don't feel good about our Cbs against their Wrs. That Bryant kid is pretty good.

[RedFire]

We are the defending AFC Super Bowl champs!!! If the NFL ended today we were the last AFC team to win it all!

We are still the best team in th AFC until another AFC team wins it all...bottom line!

Playing like a Raven is about getting over hurdles! And we will beat them stillers in da burgh or it is a disappointment. Unlike the steelers we ain't front runners...we ruin people's day, score on defense and tell you about it! We got swag and are the true feelings of America as in talk trash, have swag and actually win!

[RedFire]

Once we get pressure on Ben and they can't run doubles moves we can jump the routes like those stiller teams did with Townsend and Ike Taylor used to do us!

[FlocksGottaFeed]

This is the only matchup that I wanted to see 1st in the playoffs. Thank you Football Gods! It's still Christmas for me and the tree stays-up. There's no better way to prove who are the 'TRUE' AFC North Champs. We got this!

 

The 'Paper Champions' will fall to Purple and Black.

[rmcjacket23]

Leveon will be gimpy too...  His hyper-extended knee cannot heal this quickly...  he has 5 days...  That's a plus on our defensive front... and with getting Ngata back, should also be helpful.  Defensively, I'm not worried as much...  Offensively, whatever is holding these guys back better get booted out of that locker room.

Defensively, I'm clearly concerned about our secondary vs their receivers. Its not a favorable matchup for us.

 

But that still all comes back to the pass rush and our ability to put pressure on Ben.

[The Raven]

Simple as this: We win this game if we can make tackles and get a pass rush. Oddly, I'm more concerned about our defense in this game than our offense. Then again, James Harrison will wreak havoc on whoever is playing LT so that's an issue.

[RedFire]

Texans have rolled into the burgh and won, right?

We got Kubiack, jones, and forsett...we should be okay.

[rmcjacket23]

Simple as this: We win this game if we can make tackles and get a pass rush. Oddly, I'm more concerned about our defense in this game than our offense. Then again, James Harrison will wreak havoc on whoever is playing LT so that's an issue.

I think Harrison's game against us was sort of a fluke if you will. He really hasn't done much of anything since then, and I think he's visibly wearing down after nearly a full season.