2007 Steelers - Week #17 Baltimore Ravens

Last Week’s Result

• Pittsburgh 41, St. Louis 24
• Record: 10-5
• Standings: 2007 AFC North Champions
• Current Playoff Seeding: Fourth

Last Weeks Game Recap

I am kind of late getting this write up finished. I kind of slacked off during the holidays. It has been almost a week since the Steelers played and that is a long time for my memory to be honest. I did want to briefly post something even though the final game of the regular season is only a day away.

A win is a win, especially in the competitive NFL. The Steelers were in desperate need of a win and they were able to pull one out on the road against a team that was getting healthy and confident. Many people, myself included, predicted that the Rams may challenge for the NFC West crown this year. However, they got off to a dismal start, loosing 8 straight games to start the season. In their next 6 games however, they went 3-3 and seemed to be getting some of their explosiveness back on offense. While, this wasn’t the New England Patriots, they certainly weren’t a walk over either.

On offense, the Steelers were very good. Ben had his third game of his career with a perfect passer rating. He completed 16 of 20 passes with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. Ben’s game isn’t dinking and dunking as his 16 completions netted 261 yards. His first throw of the game went for 83 yards and his second throw scored a touchdown. However, in this same series Willie Parker was lost for the year on his first carry of the game. Fortunately, the Steelers stayed with a balanced offense and Najeh Davenport was able to come into the game and finish with 123 yards on 24 carries.

The one negative on offense was the number of sacks given up. Ben was sacked 4 times, while the steelers defense was only able to generate one sack. That being said, I thought that the offensive line was solid if not spectacular. There was at least one play that I recall where Ben could have thrown away the ball, but took the sack instead. It is hard to be critical of Ben because he has had an outstanding year, but I will admit that in the back of my mind, I sometimes wonder if Ben is worried about his statistics too much. It is a hard proposition. I love the fact that Ben wants to complete every pass. However, at times it is better to throw the ball away than take the sack. Beyond that tiny little complaint, it was hard to find anything wrong with the offense. Granted that they were playing against a pretty mediocre defense, but it was still nice to see them able to do whatever they wanted.

The Steelers once again struggled on defense and played pretty soft. I will bring it up again because it was such a huge loss. This defense is not the same without Aaron Smith on the line. He affects both the running game and passing game. With him on the line, the defense is not as effective at stopping the run and therefore has to commit more people to stopping the run and opening up some passing lanes. I think the secondary has actually played very well given the fact that the current steelers defense is both unable to generate a consistent pass rush as well as stop the run.

In the first half, this was an offensive game. Neither defense could stop the opposing offense. At half time the score was 24-17, with both offenses making big plays and moving the ball at will against the opposing defense. Steven Jackson finished the night with 85 yards on only 12 carries, with an average of nearly 7 yards per carry. The defense did stiffen in the second half and held the Rams to only 7 points, while at the same time the offense kept scoring and basically taking Steven Jackson out of the gameplan. The defense was able to close out the game and it was Ike Taylors interception that made this game a blow out. However, the Rams are a 3-win team and are not an elite team this year.

Ultimately, the Steelers were able to win with their backs to the wall which is encouraging. The defense still seems to be soft and going into the playoffs that is discouraging. However, many teams are making golf plans in January and after missing the playoffs last year, I am excited to see the Steelers playing in the postseason once again.

Game MVP

Ike Taylor- I felt that Ike did very well in this game and really put the game out of reach with his interception and touchdown at the end of the game. Ike really struggles holding onto the ball and there was nothing really spectacular about the interception, besides the fact that he held on to it. But beyond that play I thought he was a standout defender in this game and really most of the season. He was thrown at 7 times, with 3 completions and a bogus pass interference call. The current woes of the defense have nothing to do with the secondary play in my opinion.

Game Grades

• Offense: B+ - Ben Roethlisberger had his third game with a perfect rating. Najeh Davenport, the back up running back, went over 100 yards. The offense was balanced and effective. The one blemish is the number of sacks given up.
• Defense: C - The defense was able to generate only a single sack and they allowed a rusher to average 7 yards per carry. That is not championship defense. The only reason the grade is this high is because the secondary is really performing well with out good pressure on the quarterback.
• Special Teams: D - The kick off coverage got off to a terrible start, allowing kick-off returns of 43-yards and 49-yards after the first two scores by the Steelers. Giving any team good field position is a mistake. With an offense like the Rams it is devestating. The coverage teams did tighten up a bit the Steelers returns were good if not outstanding.
• Coaching Staff: A - Mostly a token grade for the fact that Mike Tomlin and staff were able to win the AFC North in his first season as the head coach. I have had my complaints about the coaching staff and they are far from perfect, but Tomlin has handled adversity fairly well and consistently kept focused on the task at hand.
• Overall: C+

Season (Composite) Grades

• Offense: - C+
• Defense: - C+
• Special Teams: - C
• Coaching Staff: - C+
• Overall: - C

Next Up: Baltimore Ravens

Thanks to the Browns losing in Cincinnati, the Steelers have now wrapped up the AFC North. There is a slight possibility that they could grab the #3 seed in the playoffs with a win. However, San Diego would have to loose or tie against Oakland for this to occur.

So the question becomes, how much do the Steelers want to win this game? As a fan, I really want to see the defeat the Baltimore Ravens. I really despise the Ravens, their coach and most of their players. It appears that Ben will not start, but Charlie Batch has proven to be effective in past games. I figure that the Steelers will start this game to win it. If the game turns into a blowout either way, a good portion of starters will be pulled.

For the Ravens, Troy Smith gets his first start. I actually thought he looked good in some pre-season play I saw and I am actually pretty interested to see how he does with live bullets. The Ravens offense has been terrible all year and it probably won’t do much better with Smith at the helm. McGahee is quietly having an outstanding year in an offense that has become very one dimensional.

The NFL is about being physical and no matchup defines physical play like this one. The Steelers have been soft, especially on defense, for the past few weeks and it would be encouraging to see them come out playing physical against this Ravens team. Loosing is never a confidence builder and this is a division rival. I think the Steelers show up to play and are able to take this game in Baltimore while building a head of steam going into the play-offs.

Final Score Prediction

Pittsburgh 24

Baltimore 14