In this, the 3rd meeting of the year, I expect a full-on assault of anyone who carries the ball for either of the 2 teams. This will be the 8th meeting for Baltimore & Pittsburgh in the past 3 seasons & the simple fact is these 2 teams know 1 another far too well. Right down to each player, each coach, each tendency, each strength & specifically - each perceived weakness.
The NFL's AFC North Division Champion Steelers finished the season with a record identical to the Ravens (12-4), & the 2 teams split the regular season series (1-1). The past 4 meetings between the 2 have been split as well & get this - the total points scored by the 2 in those 4 games were 67 a piece! Even crazier, all 4 of those games were decided by 3 points, exactly. Both teams play in cities rich in tough, blue-collar tradition & accordingly, neither fan base appears to want Saturday's win any less than the other.


Though the match-up seems even on paper (not to mention the way it's actually been playing-out on the field in recent years), I expect 1 team to take control of this game early. There's no doubt players on both sides will exchange punches til the bitter end, but at this point in the season, injuries & fatigue should play a larger role, so you'd want to take a halftime lead into the locker room. In my estimation, it'll come down to the team that wants it more - I'm hoping that team will be the 1 wearing purple...
Wow, what a game! While I'm extremely disappointed with the outcome, a 24-31 loss a the hands of the Steelers again, I'm very pleased the game lived up to the widely regarded high expectations across the sports community.
ReplyDeleteThe game itself was a tale of two halves, as the Ravens defense nearly dominated the 1st 30 minutes of the contest, but were unable sustain the 21-7 halftime lead as the offense failed to really do much of anything the entire game. The Steelers' offense made more plays in the end & thusly deserved to win the game.
Overall, the defense did all it could, but without the offense stepping up to make the big time plays when it counted it was a futile effort. Though I'm happy for the successful 13-5 season, this team underachieved. In this complicated era of NFL free agency, keeping a talented team together is difficult to do, do you hate to see teams spoil opportunities.
There were numerous turnovers, multiple altercations, many injuries, tons of shit talking & ridiculous calls/no-calls by the officials - I'm telling you, it was a hard hitting, tough nosed, grind it out & earn you points kind of game (despite what the final tally might indicate). So with that in mind, I guess I'm happy my favorite squad showed up for the fight, & ready to scrap! THIS is the NFL's best current rivalry - hands down...