Steelers hope to penetrate Baltimore defense
Get your popcorn ready for Sunday night. The NFL’s No. 1 defense will try to stop the league’s No. 2 offense at Heinz Field.
The Pittsburgh Steelers enter the game averaging 453 yards and 29.3 points per game while the Baltimore Ravens are giving up only 273 yards and 17 points per game.
With all due respect to the first three quarterbacks on Baltimore’s schedule — Nate Peterman, Andy Dalton and Case Keenum — Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger will be the stiffest test yet for the Ravens.
The last time Roethlisberger played the Ravens, he passed for 506 yards and two touchdowns in a 39-38 Steelers victory last December.
Roethlisberger has picked up this season right where he left off. Through three games he is averaging 380 passing yards per game and has thrown seven touchdowns.
Roethlisberger is coming off another masterful performance in the Steelers’ 30-27 victory over the Buccaneers. He threw for 353 yards and three touchdowns.
The Ravens have been excellent at home this season with impressive wins against the Bills and Broncos to their credit. However, in their one road game, the Bengals beat the Ravens, 34-23, and Andy Dalton threw for 265 yards and four touchdowns.
“Obviously, their secondary is very good,” Roethlisberger said. “It starts with (Eric) Weddle, who kind of leads that charge now. I also think the pass rush helps the secondary. You look at pass breakups, interceptions, a lot of times that has to do with pressure on the quarterback. They’re just a really good defense all around.”
The Ravens have nine sacks and three interceptions on the season. Terrell Suggs, an old Roethlisberger nemesis, leads the Ravens with 2 1/2 sacks.
Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has enjoyed his fair share of success against the Steelers defense over the years. He’ll take his shot Sunday night against a pass defense that is allowing 288 yards per game. Tampa Bay quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 411 yards in the Monday night game.
Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said he will continue to rotate cornerbacks this week. Joe Haden is entrenched as one starter, but Artie Burns and Coty Sensabaugh split time at the other corner spot against the Buccaneers. Both players struggled and Tomlin said he’ll continue with the same approach until one of them distinguishes themselves.
Tomlin also said second-year corner Cameron Sutton could be in the mix as well. Sutton split reps with Sensabaugh the previous week against the Chiefs when Haden missed the game with a hamstring injury.
“We’ll continue to play all three of those guys,” Tomlin said. “All three of those guys work hard. They’re putting themselves in position to make plays, but they’re not making enough of them. Until we get that the rotation will continue.”
The Steelers might need all defensive hands on deck. In that 39-38 thriller at Heinz last December, Flacco threw for 269 yards and his running backs amassed another 152 on the ground.
SERIES HISTORY: 45th regular-season meeting. Steelers lead series, 24-20. The Steelers have won the last three meetings after losing four straight. The Steelers won the most recent meeting, 39-38, last December at Heinz Field. Five of the last six games have been decided by seven points or fewer. The Steelers and Ravens met four times in the playoffs, with the Steelers owning a 3-1 edge in postseason games.
