Behind Enemy Lines: Steelers/Ravens

Don Spagnolo over at Mondesi's House brings you this week's Ravens/Steelers preview. You can read my thoughts on the game over on his website. Enjoy. I'll get at you when I get at you. Until then, stay solid. Go Ravens.

- Dewey

Ravens fans, I must be brutally honest with you: when looking at the schedule, I had no idea that this game would be anywhere near as important as it appears to be. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. The Steelers and Ravens have played some memorable games, especially of the Monday night variety, in the past decade. And unlike our little relationship with Cleveland, this rivalry is not so one-sided, unless Steeler fans have forgotten the 27-0 and 31-7 pastings at the hands of Team Billick in 2006 that made Sunday's Steeler offensive line play look like an All-Pro performance by comparison.

That being said, I'm sure the Ravens would like to settle the score with many a Steeler for last year's 38-7 humiliation on MNF that basically made James Harrison a member of the Pro Bowl squad. Many of those involved in the Steeler victory were not present for the Week 17 rematch due to injury or the upcoming playoffs, including Ben Roethlisberger, Willie Parker, Troy Polamalu, and Hines Ward to name a few. But it's pretty safe to say that Bart Scott hasn't forgotten that little detail and is looking forward to Monday night's contest.



The major storyline of this game, other than the pure hatred on both sides, the pomp and pageantry of Monday Night Football, and the fact that first place is on the line, is injuries. There are plenty of them on the Steeler side, most notably RB Willie Parker, NT Casey Hampton, and DE Brett Keisel, who will all be absent on Monday. In addition to that troika, Polamalu (quad), CB Deshea Townsend (heel), LB LaMarr Woodley (hamstring), and LB Donovan Woods (hamstring) are also nursing boo-boos, to say nothing for Roethlisberger, who's lucky to be standing upright at this point after the pounding he took on Sunday.

Another storyline worth mentioning is the first career start of rookie RB Rashard Mendenhall, who steps in for the injured Parker on Monday. Mendenhall, who fumbled thrice in the preseason, has carried the ball just 10 times this season, all coming in the week one blowout of Houston. How Mendenhall performs will be greatly dictated by the porous Steeler offensive line, which has allowed Roethlisberger to resemble a human tackling dummy through the first three games. I'm sure the Terrell Suggs, Ray Lewises and Ed Reeds of the world are salivating at facing a Steeler offense coming out at anything less than 100%.

When they are 100%, the Steelers have a group of skill-position players among the best in the league; Roethlisberger is among the NFL's truly elite passers, Parker has established himself as a franchise back, Ward's reputation is well-known among Ravens faithful, and Santonio Holmes is capable of making a big-play at any point in the game. Unfortunately, their talents are negated if the offensive line can't give them time, and that facet of the contest will probably decide the outcome of this game. And if offensive coordinator Bruce Arians doesn't get better at in-game adjustments based on the looks of the defense, he might want to start researching other lines of work.

On the other side of the ball, it will be interesting to see how Joe Flacco reacts to the first real defense he'll face as a pro, albeit one without Hampton and Keisel. Flacco is not thought of in the highest regard after he bailed on the Pitt Panthers a few years ago once he lost the starting QB job to Tyler Palko, so needless to say, quite a few local football fans are surprised to now see him quarterbacking our division rival while Palko is now relegated to showcasing his wares in front of the Broncos on a September afternoon. Flacco has already managed to earn the "game manager" label by no less an authority than Mike Tomlin himself, so we'll see if he can throw for a third-consecutive 129-yard game in a hostile environment.

The banged-up Polamalu has had an inspiring start to his season after an injury-plagued 2007. Woodley, who's also injured to some degree, is the newest Steeler LB that I'm sure you'll come to loathe in the near future. And I believe you're now quite familiar with Mr. Harrison. But the defense as a whole has performed well so far. The only complaints are some annoying third-down conversions they've allowed, but all in all, it's been a strong unit. The team has only allowed 38 points in three games, and that's counting two on a Roethlisberger safety last week. So in reality, the defense is averaging an allowance of 12 points per game, which ought to be looked at as a positive. The only teams better are the Titans (9.6) and the Ravens (10), so don't be surprised if this turns into a defensive slugfest. Hopefully we won't have any Byron Leftwich appearances.

If nothing else, this game will be a barometer of where these teams really are at this point in the season. The Steelers' 2008 campaign has been a bit of a roller-coaster, while the Ravens have experienced nothing but wins. There is one common theme, though: neither franchise has beaten a team that's won a game. Sure, the Ravens have a half-game lead in the division, but I'm not really confident that they would've fared much better against McNabb and Co. on Sunday. I guess we'll definitively find out on November 23 when the two teams do battle.

We now come to the prediction portion of the preview, and that's where I am sure to fail. I stand at 0-2 lifetime when picking games for these "behind enemy lines"-style previews, so take this for what it's worth: Steelers 17, Ravens 10. And don't stray too far from your set, because the lumber will be laid, on both sides of the ball.