First off, what do you see as potential surprises for Steelers fans about this Ravens team coming into of this matchup?
Offensively, this Ravens team hasn’t sorted out it’s identity yet this year. They’ve been trying to throw deep more than last year – they still rely on the run offense but they’ve bene throwing deep more and despite Jackson saying he worked on this a lot in the offseason, it hasn’t been working.
There have been more mental errors by Jackson this year. I think because of that Baltimore gets back to trying to pound the ball more this week against Pittsburgh. I think they try to grind down the clock and keep the Steelers offense on the sidelines. I can see them trying to throw a lot early over the linebackers to the tight ends in the seam, and maybe hit Marquis Brown on some slants and see if he can break one with the Steelers loading the box.
How are the Ravens on offense health-wise with Ingram and Phillips questionable?
The Ravens have always been notoriously stingy with injury information. Harbuagh did say he thought Ingram would play this week, bit ankle injuries can be hard to evaluate. They can take two days or four weeks.
They have three good running backs – I can see them sitting Ingram and going with Dobbins and Edwards- or maybe just giving Ingram a few carries to keep him from getting rusty.
Tyree Phillips has been banged up a lot of this season – but I think he missed just one game. I expect we’ll see him play on Sunday.
Baltimore is the only team that blitzes more than the Steelers. You see that continuing this weekend?
I think the Yannick Ngakoue.trade will hopefully lessen the need for that. They’d prefer to have success with the four-man rush of course. I think they’ll see if he gets home with the pass rush so they have to blitz less, but they’ll still blitz. It’s who they are. If Ravens saw them not blitz I think they’d go into a panic!
I can see a lot of fake blitzing this week too. Guys threatening to blitz then dropping back and forcing the offensive line to hold their blocks longer. I think you’ll see some defensive back blitzes too – they have so many good defensive backs they can afford to do that and not get hurt. A lot will depend on Ngakoue and the front four.
I was going to ask you about the new additions of Ngakoue and Bryant. Any thoughts on what Baltimore will do with Bryant this week?
I would be shocked if Bryant played this week. I think the consensus was to get him on the practice squad now and get him acclimated to the playbook and build some chemistry with Jackson before they throw him out there.
When you look at the matchup, what do you worry most about the Ravens offensively?
I think it all comes down to Lamar Jackson and forcing him to do what he’s not good at. If the Steelers can put some points on the board early he tends to try and play like Aaron Rodgers and he doesn’t do that well. If they can give him some unique looks and drop guys into coverage that look like they are blitzing – Philly and Cincinnati did that and he struggled with it. He’s thrown it into the chest of some defenders. If he tries to do too much that’s where he struggles.
Defensively, any areas that concern you on this Ravens team?
Teams have had success attacking the middle of the field. Queen has been fantastic but he’s a rookie and makes mistakes. The center of the defense has been a bit of a crapshoot especially when they blitz – they have a lot of young guys there with Queen and Harrison at linebacker and Elliott at safety. They’re also missing their top three slot corners – all are on IR. It’ll get better but it’ll take time.
What do you see as the deciding factor in the game?
Honestly I think it’s all on Jackson. He’s a fantastic player when he’s in the zone and he gets those one-on-one matchups and is able to make guys miss. I don’t think anyone matches up well with him. He can pick up yards quickly. I don’t think the Steelers play 60 minutes of football every week either, so i think they can get some things going against them. Of course, the Ravens haven’t either so it works both ways!
Defensively the Ravens have two Pro Bowl cornerbacks and a good safety and still have Jimmy Smith who’s not a Pro Bowl corner but still playing fantastic football. It’s tough to throw into those guys without making a mistake and throwing an interception. I can see the Steelers coming in and playing safe, smart football to avoid mistakes.
Hard to do that though and run up the score to force Jackson to throw more thought right?
Ha exactly! That’s why Baltimore has been so good and been able to beat some many teams. Jackson hasn’t had to do that that often.
Any predictions?
If Jackson shows up with a true MVP-type performance like he showed he could do last year I think Baltimore can blow out Pittsburgh. But we haven’t seen that this season. If we get what we’ve seen the last few weeks – him not running a lot when he has open lanes and errant throws and missing open receivers, I think Pittsburgh wins.
I have the Steelers winning a close game – a three-point game. Neither team has played a full 60 minutes but Pittsburgh has beaten a very good team in Tennessee. Baltimore’s offense is not clicking and it’s not a one-week fix in my opinion – even with a bye week. I think it’ll be a slugfest – an old AFC North style game with Pittsburgh winning by three.
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