thundercleetz

My point is to have success against the Steelers don't use a fullback, spread them out. With our banged up line we weren't going to punch them in the mouth anyways. We had success throwing the ball against the Steelers last time. The Bills showed the Steelers secondary can be exploited for big plays. I would be surprised if the new fullback McKie is even used. Either way it will be really interesting to see how Cam constructs his gameplan this week without McClain.

I agree with this. Even though McClain has played at a Pro Bowl calibur level this season, we have been horrible in 3rd & short situations this season, so how exactly is McClain helping us? McClain has not been able to convert in short yardage and goal-line situations and most of Rice's long plays have come out of a single back or shotgun sets. It is not really McClain's fault as Birk and Chester are a liability when power running to the right side. The line simply does not get any push on that side. And while Yanda has played well at right tackle, he was a Pro Bowl-calibur player at right guard IMO. The right side of the line last season was very tough and powerful with Yanda and Oher. As a whole, we were a balanced line that could run on anyone. This year that right side is much more finesse with Chester lined-up on the right next to Birk, and Yanda being undersized at tackle. If we want to run a power game, we have to run to the left side, which is way too predictable. We need a big, strong right tackle that would allow Yanda to move back to guard. Oher was that guy, but we obvioulsy need him at LT. The fact that we would be willing to sacrifice Pro Bowl play of Yanda at right guard to shift him to right tackle says a lot about what the coaching staff thinks of Oniel Cousins, eh? My point is that maybe this forces Cam to get more creative on offense. With McClain in the game we are very predictable. We run Rice/McGahee to the left side, have that fullback trap to McClain, and then we have that throw-back screen to McClain. Without McClain, the Steelers are going to have to be more on their guard as to what we might do to compensate for McClain's loss. Maybe Ed Dickson gets more PT using his speed to create a mismatch on a linebacker. Maybe this means more Donte' Stallworth in four receiver sets. I have never liked the idea of running a full backfield with a tight-end against that Steelers 3-4 defense. Their outside linebackers are too good at getting off of the ball and reading the play, they get too much of an advantage in pass rushing and it allows them to put simply too many people in the box. Teams that have had success against the Steelers have spread them out with four receiver sets making those OLBs spread out a little from the box, then countering the blitz with quick slants across the middle.

I agree with papasmurf, I am 'Slightly Pessimistic'. With the way our rush defense has been this season and how successful the Steelers running game has been, containing Mendenhall will be much more difficult with Ben at QB than when we could stack the box with Batch as QB. I feel like we could contain Ben and the passing game, but the big play always looms and one miscommunication in the secondary could lose the game for us. With Ben, he always seems to get one big play on a broken coverage on us that wins them the game. The Steelers have the top ranked run defense in the league, and with our banged up offensive line, I am scared Joe is not going to have time to throw. Where my optimism comes from is the fact that we could move the ball on them in the first meeting, and I do believe we are a better offense now than we were earlier in the season. Also Ben has been sacked a lot this year. Add in the foot injury and I believe will get to Ben. We got good pressure on Freeman and have done well in the past few weeks. I think papa is right, a 24-20 loss. But I still would not be surprised if we got some turnovers and penalties from the Steelers and won. They have not been a disciplined football team this year. And the home crowd WILL help.

He just needs to roid back up and he'll be golden.

Thanks a bunch for the info! Definitely very interesting about the Falcons game, I didn't know that. Believe me, I am not sleeping on you guys at all. I love Mike Williams. He is a guy that us fans, Ozzie Newsome and the Ravens were very high on coming into the draft. He was a guy we were targeting in round 2. Arrelious Benn is another guy I liked a lot as well. He is a local kid, and I am sure he will be highly motivated to have a big game playing so close to home. I see a lot of Joe Flacco in Josh Freeman, and Blount is a very physical back who could certainly give us trouble. With all that said, I just don't think your talent across the board matches up with the Ravens and the Ravens do a very good job of beating up on teams that are not as talented as we are. I know the Bucs are 4-1 on the road, but we heard the same road warrior mentality about the previously 3-0 Dolphins on the road. On the flip side, the Ravens are 16-2 at home under John Harbaugh the past three seasons. Teams have a lot of trouble playing at the Bank, and our team really thrives playing at home. Would I be surprised if the Bucs won? A little, but I could see it happen. Cover 2 has given our offense trouble, although Joe has had a lot of success the past few weeks against it. Then a physical back like Blount and a speedy receiver like Williams could definitely cause problems on defense for us. Nevertheless, I expect our offense to control the ball (as you mentioned you guys let up 136.5 rush yards per game, 29th in the league) while Flacco works at his best off of the play-action. So even if you guys control the run, it should be enough for us to get the advantage on the TOP and make some plays off of play-action. However, if your defense can force some turnovers and get off the field on third downs, you never know...

Mason left a big play on the field. He'd still be running if he didn't drop that third-down pass. We can't have drops or fumbles killing drives like that. It has killed us all season.

Freeman, Mike Williams, and Kellen Winslow definitely present an interesting matchup for us, and LeGarrette Blount is a big back that could give us trouble like Peyton Hillis did. But the Bucs have been terrible against higher-level competition and have had a *** I'm stupid for thinking this game is easy *** schedule. The combined winning percentage of six teams they have beat (Panthers twice): .364 (16-44). Their three loses have come from the Steelers, Saints, and Falcons. They have lost by an average of about 19 points. They shouldn't be slept on, but we do well against lower-level competition. I'm fully expecting a win. I don't think it will be a blowout, but I believe we will be in control throughout the game.

I agree with you, the "it" factor isn't there yet. However, I felt we definitely had the "it" factor in 2003, but lost to the Titans. I felt the same way again for the 12-4 season in 2006, but we lost to the Colts. It all comes down to who's hot and who's healthy when the playoffs come around.

The guys on the other side of the ball get paid too. We are 7-3 with three loses by a combined 13 points. Don't under estimate how hard it is to win a game on the road, no matter who we are playing. Going into Atlanta and New England are two of the most dificult places to win in the league. The bottom line is that under Harbaugh we have been in nearly every single game down to the last possession, no matter who we have played. You lose a game against the Falcons letting up a game winning drive, you win a game with a touchdown drive against one of the top defenses in the league in the Steelers. That's the NFL. As for Harbaugh and his coach speak, is he really going to say we suck in the press conference to the media? I guarantee what he tells the media is nowhere near what he is telling the team.

Getting too fancy on that run. If you are going to run it on a third-and-short, just run it.

Haha that Polamalu commercial was funny!

That long run was Suggs' fault. His responsibility is the cut-back. He got too deep and was too slow coming down the line to fill the cut-back lane.

Freeman and Mike Williams definitely present an interesting matchup for us, but the Bucs have been terrible against higher-level competition. And LeGarrette Blount is a big back that could give us trouble like Peyton Hillis did. The combined winning percentage of six teams they have beat: .350 (14-40). Their three loses have come from the Steelers, Saints, and Falcons. They have lost by an average of about 19 points. They shouldn't be slept on, but we do well against lower-level competition.

We are 6-3 with a good chance to be 8-3 going into Pittsburgh in a couple of weeks. While defensive rankings are important, I am not putting all my stock in it. For as much glamor as the Patriots defense is getting for shutting down the Steelers offense, the Pats D is still 29th in the league. Make it into the playoffs and if you get on a hot streak you can beat anyone. The 2006 Colts had the 21st ranked defense in the league and held the Chiefs to 8 points, us to 6 points, and the Bears in the Super Bowl to 17 points. New Orleans came into the playoffs last year with the 25th ranked defense. They hold Arizona to 14 points, forced 6 turnovers against the Vikings, then hold the Colts to 14 points in the Super Bowl. As Ray Lewis would say, the bottom line is that we have the talent on offense to put up points and the talent on defense to stop the run and force some turnovers. No one is going to blow us out, so we will be in every game into the fourth quarter. If we get on a hot streak going into the playoffs we have just as good a chance as anyone else to make a Super Bowl run.

I like some of them better than others. From a Ravens perspective, I would like to see a redesign on our helmet and uniform.

I agree with you, Suggs is not an elite pass rusher and is probably overpaid. He is a solid player, but certainly not an elite player. He could use some help out there.

Max, you said it yourself. If the Pats can shutdown the Steelers with a bunch of no names, there is no excuse for Mattison with this defense. We have a lot of talent on the defense, Mattison is not utilizing it.

When criticizing Suggs you have to ask: Does he really have any help out there on the pass rush? Outside of Suggs we do not have a guy that can pass rush. I am not saying Suggs is a great pass rusher, but he has done well this season with what he has had to work with. I think it is Mattison's fault for not realizing the lack of talent on the pass rush and utilizing more stunting along the defensive line. Other teams do this all the time, why can't we? Against Matt Ryan it was continual three, four-man rushes straight up. The offensive line knew what was coming. It has been like that all season. Mike Nolan was vanilla like Mattison, but at least Nolan was able to throw some wrinkles in there along the defensive line.

I think Wilson went down a little too easily... The real question is why wasn't Roddy White double teamed?

Defense let this team down tonight.

INT ends it. Lets go defense!

When did Joe Theisman become a NFL DC?

The offense has done all it can, you couldn't ask for more. It's all up to the defense now.

Reed scares the hell out of me on the punt returns too.

Back in business boys!!!! LETS GO!!!