Duel Opinions: Steelers/Ravens Keys to the Game

Our panel of writers came together to preview this week’s Ravens game, by each finding a single battle they felt would be the “key to the game” for the Steelers to emerge victorious.

Here are those results:

Brian

I think there is a good chance that the key element to this game is who actually plays.

Does Ben play? Does Dumervil? Does Steve Smith?

It’s almost a matter of attrition. Who is going to be able to field the healthier team? T

here is a chance we are as healthy as we’ve been all year. There is a chance we are healthy minus Ben. There are a lot of critical parts up in the air for this game.

Flacco and the Ravens have had trouble scoring. Flacco either throws 2 picks, or none (he’s thrown two 3 times this year). He has thrown only 5 TD passes. If the Ravens suddenly figure out how to score, it could be a tough game.

Their O-line will be healthy. Our D-Line looks to be healthy.

Can we get pressure on Flacco? If he has time, he’s shown he can hurt us in the past.

The second story line will be “A Tale of Two Line”. Which O-Line plays better? Who can run, who can protect. If our line performs, we win. If it’s there’s, well who knows.

Joe

Killer B’s – The last time Pittsburgh had Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell together against the Ravens, Ben threw for 340 yards and 6 touchdowns.

That’s not the norm against Baltimore, as the Steelers typically play tight games with this division rival, but the last 3 games Pittsburgh has been handicapped. The playoff loss at home they were without Bell, the home loss in 2015 they were without Ben, and traveling to Baltimore last season they were without Bell again.

Paired with what appears to be a healthy roster returning to full strength, I think this game could more closely resemble the road win in Washington, instead of the collapse in Miami.

Zac

My key to the game is the return of Cam Heyward.

The defense took a complete 180 when he exited the lineup. The Steelers did well versus the Jets, but that was the Jets – who are having a horrible season to say the least.

After that game, it has been all downhill; at least that’s how all opposing running backs are running – downhill!

With Cam being a full participant at practice, I expect him to have a large impact. He is a smart guy. He wouldn’t be rushing himself back from a hamstring injury… I expect a sack or two out of 97, a batted pass, and our overall run defense will be vastly improved.

West and others will be bottled up as long as Captain Cam is in there.

20-10 final, Pittsburgh.

Terry

Cam Heyward and his voice on the defensive line. He’s “the guy,” the captain; the leader that directs traffic and causes disruption to the other teams offense. Without Cam we had a lot of confusion on focus and set positions.

From an offensive side, the O-line needs to protect Ben like never before this weekend. He’s 20 days off of knee surgery, and his mobility will be suspect even though his arm never looked better. When these 2 teams get together it’s all about the physical, so keeping Big Ben upright, so that Landry does not have to ride in on a white horse to win, will be key.

Last, it appears that only the Steelers feel DHB is a serious WR threat, shown by his move up to starter on the depth chart behind AB; and the fact that he’s always wide-open for a catch.

Hey if that’s what’s scoring points, we’ll take it.

Keep feeding that speedster the ball.


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