[News] Late For Work 12/20: Steelers' Mike Mitchell: 'We're Coming For You, Steve Smith'

[KidNme]

At the beginning of the year, I was excited to see an Xmas game on our schedule especially when it's the Steelers and there is nothing good on TV that day anyway however, we stand the risk of being bummed out on Christmas day! The end of the Eagles game when Joe passed the ball instead of running it, left me feeling pretty crappy and was the 1st game this year that I let out a series of expletives not fit for family consumption. Oh, a "BS" comes out every now and then during games this year but nothing like I did last week. I think I went a whole 2 minute paragraph using just adjectives. I actually made up cuss words as I went along. Not pretty. If we have more than 2 penalties or call dumb plays, ignore the play clock etc, I may have to run outside and kick a rock!
It's not losing that gets me that way because you can't win them all but it's the way we do it sometimes that just makes me want to go to the stadium and shake someone!
I hate to waste a wish on a football game but that is my Christmas wish this year. Play smart football, pay attention for 60 minutes and "Play like a Raven! That's all I ask for. A win would be very nice too!
Let's go Ravens, we're counting on you! My kids know enough cuss words as it is, they don't need daddy teaching them new ones!

[Crusader]

I think as long as all of our starting players do their jobs, NO penalties and Marty and Pees put together a well thought out game plan (With a plan "B" at the ready), we'll come out victorious. There was plenty of "teaching moments" on tape of the Eagles game so I hope they have drilled and drilled again that they don't make the same mistakes. Emotions will be high but the thinking process has to be calm and deliberate. Joe needs to calm down on thinking he can throw us into wins on his own and everyone just needs to be on point.
I know that's a lot to ask but if they don't, we'll get our butts kicked!

and if they need to make half time adjustment. DO IT.

[rmcjacket23]

The Steelers aren't exactly blowing people out and had to stage a comeback just to beat the Bengals. If you have watched the games, Ben has been horribly inaccurate here recently and if we can stop LeVeon Bell, we will go a long way to defeating the Steelers.

Let's hope Marty can keep his common sense hat on through the whole game and if not lets hope after 9 years, Flacco can soon check out of a bad play. I have always noticed Flacco changing from a run to a pass, but rarely do you see it otherwise.

We need our QB to go to football college in the offseason and lets do some work on that extremely low football IQ he has. Little less diaper duty and more passing to your receivers and watching tape. It is the off-season but for 120 million we expect work in the off-season.

I think the same thing should apply for blog posters. Instead of spending the offseason whining and complaining uselessly on an internet fanboard, maybe some of them should go to football college and do some work on their own extremely low football IQ.

I'd expect that kind of work from fans in the offseason regardless of how much you get paid.

[Purple Dawg 96]

Hey Ravens wouldn't it be nice to have the W against the Raiders and the Jets right about now - two teams we should have beat!!!! Always making it harder on themselves by committing stupid mistakes.

WORD!

[Purple Dawg 96]

  1 hour ago, ibleedpurpleandblack said:

Hey Ravens wouldn't it be nice to have the W against the Raiders and the Jets right about now - two teams we should have beat!!!! Always making it harder on themselves by committing stupid mistakes.

WORD!

And the giants! Smh

[b93333]

He's right about Jimmy Smith... need him healthy for this one.

[Militant X 1]

6 hours ago, fusuymada said:

The Steelers aren't exactly blowing people out and had to stage a comeback just to beat the Bengals. If you have watched the games, Ben has been horribly inaccurate here recently and if we can stop LeVeon Bell, we will go a long way to defeating the Steelers.

Let's hope Marty can keep his common sense hat on through the whole game and if not lets hope after 9 years, Flacco can soon check out of a bad play. I have always noticed Flacco changing from a run to a pass, but rarely do you see it otherwise.

We need our QB to go to football college in the offseason and lets do some work on that extremely low football IQ he has. Little less diaper duty and more passing to your receivers and watching tape. It is the off-season but for 120 million we expect work in the off-season.

And the Ravens had to stage a comeback just to beat the Browns.  C'mon now! 

[RavensBaltimore]

  7 hours ago, fusuymada said:

The Steelers aren't exactly blowing people out and had to stage a comeback just to beat the Bengals. If you have watched the games, Ben has been horribly inaccurate here recently and if we can stop LeVeon Bell, we will go a long way to defeating the Steelers.

Let's hope Marty can keep his common sense hat on through the whole game and if not lets hope after 9 years, Flacco can soon check out of a bad play. I have always noticed Flacco changing from a run to a pass, but rarely do you see it otherwise.

We need our QB to go to football college in the offseason and lets do some work on that extremely low football IQ he has. Little less diaper duty and more passing to your receivers and watching tape. It is the off-season but for 120 million we expect work in the off-season.

And the Ravens had to stage a comeback just to beat the Browns.  C'mon now! 

The Ravens are clearly not the same team that they were in the beginning of the season. If we're comparing common games, the Steelers got dominated by the Dolphins, and we beat the Dolphins by 32. Since the bye, the Ravens are 5-2 with both losses coming on the road against the teams tied for the best record in the NFL, by 10 and 7 points. Both teams have looked great and terrible at times this year, but Sunday is its own game.

[RavensBaltimore]

  5 hours ago, budkretz said:

  6 hours ago, omar586 said:

the key to pit game is our secondary, if they contain all those WRs/TE, we can win, if not, get ready for the draft. we have to win out basically, if we lose 1 game we're out b/c dolphins/kc will pick the WCs

We all know if we win both games we're in. Ravens just do it, so we don't have to play the what if game. However, the what if game is: If we go 1-1 and it doesn't matter who we lose to and end 9-7 we can get the #6 wild card If: Miami must lose both games (they are at Buf and then home against Pats) they win one game they have the #6 spot by record. Tenn and Den must lose at least one of their last two games to have the Ravens tie or better them and we have the tiebreaker on both. At best the Colts and Buf can tie and we have tiebreaker over Indy and beat Buf head-to-head. The first wild card slot #5 will go to either Oak or KC whoever doesn't win their division.

Merry Christmas to all and on Christmas night around 7:30 we hope to be cheering a Ravens victory to cap a great day of family celebration.

In my eyes, if we do not win the division we might might as well just not the playoffs anyway because l don't see them going to the Super Bowl as a wild card team and have to go on the road the rest of the way. They need to set up like they did in 2012 Super Bowl run; win the division and start off with a playoff home game in the wild card round then go on the road in the last two to get to the big dance.

In 2012, we had to beat the top two seeds, the Broncos and Patriots, on the road. I really dont think the location of the first game made a difference.

[RavensBaltimore]

He's right about Jimmy Smith... need him healthy for this one.

I don't think we're going to have him for this one. We did blow out the Steelers in the playoffs a couple years ago without Jimmy Smith. When he isnt on the field, our defense usually plays off the receivers to guard against big plays, which doesn't hurt us as much against Pittsburgh as other teams. Ben doesn't stick to the short, quick passing game. He likes to hold onto the ball and make plays down field, which allows us to play off of their receivers and gives our pass rush time to get there. Our pass rush will be key in this one.

[mearzunkies]

The Steelers aren't exactly blowing people out and had to stage a comeback just to beat the Bengals. If you have watched the games, Ben has been horribly inaccurate here recently and if we can stop LeVeon Bell, we will go a long way to defeating the Steelers.

Let's hope Marty can keep his common sense hat on through the whole game and if not lets hope after 9 years, Flacco can soon check out of a bad play. I have always noticed Flacco changing from a run to a pass, but rarely do you see it otherwise.

We need our QB to go to football college in the offseason and lets do some work on that extremely low football IQ he has. Little less diaper duty and more passing to your receivers and watching tape. It is the off-season but for 120 million we expect work in the off-season.

Freaking Ryan Mathews looked like the league best back against the Ravens last week. What makes U think LB will do less ? They looked tired in the second quarter. One can bet The Steelers saw that too!

[mearzunkies]

  7 hours ago, omar586 said:

the key to pit game is our secondary, if they contain all those WRs/TE, we can win, if not, get ready for the draft. we have to win out basically, if we lose 1 game we're out b/c dolphins/kc will pick the WCs

Uhh, not really- the key is not our secondary. The Buffalo Bills' secondary shut down Pittsburgh's passing game and look what happened- Pittsburgh went with the run and Le'Veon Bell absolutely destroyed Buffalo with 200+ yards of rushing and 3 TDs. With Pittsburgh, it's never as simple as one key to the game.

Ummm in da snow G. But I agree with your point.

[mearzunkies]

At the beginning of the year, I was excited to see an Xmas game on our schedule especially when it's the Steelers and there is nothing good on TV that day anyway however, we stand the risk of being bummed out on Christmas day! The end of the Eagles game when Joe passed the ball instead of running it, left me feeling pretty crappy and was the 1st game this year that I let out a series of expletives not fit for family consumption. Oh, a "BS" comes out every now and then during games this year but nothing like I did last week. I think I went a whole 2 minute paragraph using just adjectives. I actually made up cuss words as I went along. Not pretty. If we have more than 2 penalties or call dumb plays, ignore the play clock etc, I may have to run outside and kick a rock!
It's not losing that gets me that way because you can't win them all but it's the way we do it sometimes that just makes me want to go to the stadium and shake someone!
I hate to waste a wish on a football game but that is my Christmas wish this year. Play smart football, pay attention for 60 minutes and "Play like a Raven! That's all I ask for. A win would be very nice too!
Let's go Ravens, we're counting on you! My kids know enough cuss words as it is, they don't need daddy teaching them new ones!

LOL I would not try and shake me I fight back;) My 14 top boy is like DAD What the heck? LOL I was so fired top last week and they laid that egg and almost gave the game up. The D line looks worn out and tired. I hope for the W but feel like we lose the next 2:-(

[Militant X 1]

2 hours ago, RavensBaltimore said:

The Ravens are clearly not the same team that they were in the beginning of the season. If we're comparing common games, the Steelers got dominated by the Dolphins, and we beat the Dolphins by 32. Since the bye, the Ravens are 5-2 with both losses coming on the road against the teams tied for the best record in the NFL, by 10 and 7 points. Both teams have looked great and terrible at times this year, but Sunday is its own game.

And neither are the Steelers.  

Both teams have had 4 game losing streaks at one point.    But the Steelers have turned theirs around and are presently on a 5 game win streak.  That's tremendous momentum for them going into Sunday's game!  

Something else to factor in imo is the Ravens "road" games record.  You mentioned that they are 5-2 since their bye.  But what you failed to mention is that all 5 of those wins were at home in Baltimore.  The Ravens are actually 2-4 on the road this entire season and those 2 wins came against the 0-14 Browns and the 2-12 Jaguars. Not really impressive world-beaters type of stuff imo. 

 

Edited December 21, 2016 by Militant X 1

[JamesA119]

  9 hours ago, fusuymada said:

The Steelers aren't exactly blowing people out and had to stage a comeback just to beat the Bengals. If you have watched the games, Ben has been horribly inaccurate here recently and if we can stop LeVeon Bell, we will go a long way to defeating the Steelers.

Let's hope Marty can keep his common sense hat on through the whole game and if not lets hope after 9 years, Flacco can soon check out of a bad play. I have always noticed Flacco changing from a run to a pass, but rarely do you see it otherwise.

We need our QB to go to football college in the offseason and lets do some work on that extremely low football IQ he has. Little less diaper duty and more passing to your receivers and watching tape. It is the off-season but for 120 million we expect work in the off-season.

Freaking Ryan Mathews looked like the league best back against the Ravens last week. What makes U think LB will do less ? They looked tired in the second quarter. One can bet The Steelers saw that too!

There's no doubt that the run defense had a rough day. Prior to last week we were the #1 ranked run defense. There's a reason for that. The Raves usually play LB well. Holding him to 100 yds below his game average this year. 100 YARDS!

To try and argue that Flacco has been as good as our defense and much less our run defense is just a non starter.

[hen826957]

3 hours ago, RavensBaltimore said:

In 2012, we had to beat the top two seeds, the Broncos and Patriots, on the road. I really dont think the location of the first game made a difference.

What l'm saying is that it would make it much easier to win the division and start the playoffs as a home game first then go on the road the next two. Getting a wild card would mean to have to win three games on the road instead of two which it would be much more difficult.  In 2012 we won the division, we start on wild card weekend at home against the Colts which was much easier path. I'm just saying the Ravens need to go to the playoffs this way, then get hot the next game on the road to either the Patriots or Raiders. 

[Zeus]

BP can run but can't catch

[huntrgathrr]

I think the analysts have lost their minds. In the last 3 years the Ravens and Steelers have played 6 times, most with the Steelers favored. The Ravens are 5-1 including a stunning beatdown in the playoffs as heavy underdogs at Heinz field 2 years ago. This year the game was 21-0 with 8 minutes left and the Steelers were physically dominated on both sides of the ball.
The formula for these wins has been the same. Shut down the run, triple team Brown, run the ball and don't turn it over.
The Steeler defense is ripe for the picking....Heyward and now Tuitt are on IR....they should have little or no run defense. We need to pound the ball behind Yanda, Stanley and Wagner...it's a big mismatch. Their LBs are old and slow (except Dupree) and can't match up with Moore or Dixon out of the backfield. Their secondary counts on 2 rookies, Sean and Ernie. They can be beat all day by Perriman and Wallace. We have mismatches all over the field.
Our front seven is one of the best in the NFL and is facing a below average offensive line. Dumervil, Suggs and Judon need to put Ben on the ground.
If Jimmy Smith plays I can't see a possible way in the world the Ravens don't blow these guys out.....we match up too perfectly. This is why we are 5-1 the last 3 years.....that is not an accident.
The final determining factors (if needed) are we have the best kicker in NFL history and we have better coaching (usually). Tomlin seems to under perform routinely, having one playoff win in the last 5 years with the best QB in the league.

[huntrgathrr]

That being said, now is the time for Joe to step up against an average defense and earn his money. No inteceptions and no turnovers, put up 30 and we win this one.

[Rav'n Maniac]

The key to stop the Steelers has always been to slow their run game. Bell is their #1 weapon, control him running the ball and coming out of the backfield on short passes and we force them into mistakes throwing the ball downfield.

[rmcjacket23]

9 hours ago, huntrgathrr said:

I think the analysts have lost their minds. In the last 3 years the Ravens and Steelers have played 6 times, most with the Steelers favored. The Ravens are 5-1 including a stunning beatdown in the playoffs as heavy underdogs at Heinz field 2 years ago. This year the game was 21-0 with 8 minutes left and the Steelers were physically dominated on both sides of the ball.
The formula for these wins has been the same. Shut down the run, triple team Brown, run the ball and don't turn it over.
The Steeler defense is ripe for the picking....Heyward and now Tuitt are on IR....they should have little or no run defense. We need to pound the ball behind Yanda, Stanley and Wagner...it's a big mismatch. Their LBs are old and slow (except Dupree) and can't match up with Moore or Dixon out of the backfield. Their secondary counts on 2 rookies, Sean and Ernie. They can be beat all day by Perriman and Wallace. We have mismatches all over the field.
Our front seven is one of the best in the NFL and is facing a below average offensive line. Dumervil, Suggs and Judon need to put Ben on the ground.
If Jimmy Smith plays I can't see a possible way in the world the Ravens don't blow these guys out.....we match up too perfectly. This is why we are 5-1 the last 3 years.....that is not an accident.
The final determining factors (if needed) are we have the best kicker in NFL history and we have better coaching (usually). Tomlin seems to under perform routinely, having one playoff win in the last 5 years with the best QB in the league.

I mean all of this is great, but past performance isn't indicative of future results. Just because we beat Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh two years ago doesn't mean that we have equally as good of a shot of doing it this season.

In particular there is a huge discrepancy in our offensive production from two years ago compared to now. Sure, we SHOULD have mismatches in certain spots. But a lot of those same mismatches have been applicable against other teams, and said mismatches were never attempted, used, or executed properly.

And while we were missing key personnel in that playoff game as well (namely Jimmy Smith), we also had several weeks to figure out how to play without him. If you recall, LeVeon Bell did not play in that playoff game, as he injured his knee the week before. He kind of makes their offense go in a lot of ways.

Granted, he historically has far less success against the Ravens than others, but his injury effectively made the Steelers one dimensional in that game before kickoff even occurred. 
 

Edited December 21, 2016 by rmcjacket23

[Drew P]

10 hours ago, huntrgathrr said:

....Heyward and now Tuitt are on IR...

Tuitt is on IR?

[huntrgathrr]

Essentially.....he's out with a significant knee injury. Another factor in our favor is the Steelers historically play terrible at the 4 pm game time. But we will see...does anybody know the status of Jimmy Smith? We need him to shut down Brown.

[Drew P]

6 minutes ago, huntrgathrr said:

Essentially.....he's out with a significant knee injury. Another factor in our favor is the Steelers historically play terrible at the 4 pm game time. But we will see...does anybody know the status of Jimmy Smith? We need him to shut down Brown.

Tuitt isn't on IR and he hasn't been ruled out because his injury isn't that significant.

On the other hand Smith's injury is significant and at this point I would consider him a scratch.