Smash Mouth Saturday!

In my last blog post, I posed the question "Is Steelers/Ravens the biggest rivalry in the NFL?" I think the media this week answered my question. From ESPN to Fox Sports, it is obvious that the Steelers and Ravens game on Saturday afternoon is the most anticipated game of the weekend. It's a rubber match. It's going to be a brutal game of smash mouth football, and every fan in the NFL is looking forward to it.

As biased as I am, I have to admit, this game could go either way. These teams are so evenly matched and so familiar with each other, that picking a winner is almost impossible. The Ravens and Steelers are 9-8 in their last 17 games, favoring the Steelers. Five of the past 6 regular season games were decided by 3 points, the other by 4. The home team has won 14 of the last 18 meetings. So of course, the Vegas line is Steelers -3.5. As a result, 63% of the Vegas money is flowing toward the Ravens getting 3.5. I personally wouldn't touch this game.

Joe Flacco has had success throwing the ball against the Steelers. He went 17 for 33 for 266 yards last time. The Ravens also torched corner Bryant McFadden the entire game. Something that worries me going into this game. And the Ravens will have to throw, you can't run against Pittsburgh. The Steelers held Ray Rice to 32 yards in 9 carries last time. So the Steelers suspect secondary will need to step up in this game.

Unfortunately, the Steelers didn't have much luck running the ball in the last meeting either. The Ravens held Mendenhall to 45 yards on 19 carries. The Ravens are 8th against the run and 1st against the pass (post season stats), so the Steelers receiving core will also need to have an outstanding game, which they are more than capable of doing. In the last game, Ben went 22 for 33, for 253 yards. If he can avoid being sacked, he may put up those kind of numbers again.

There will be nothing nice about this game. It will be brutal and raging, just like a good NFL rivalry should be. As corner Bryant McFadden put it, "It's like the Old West. It's like two gunfighters You are looking at two teams with the same mind set, the same kind of approach." Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs thinks the winner of this game will go to the Super Bowl. I am not sure about that. The winner is going to be really banged up, and will probably head to Foxborough to play the Patriots. Unless, of course, the Jets can pull off a miracle on Sunday.

Steelers Nation will not be on it's best behavior on Saturday, neither will the Raven's fans. And neither fan base should be. It will be a tense, nail biting, down to the last second game. The only real advantage is that one team is rested and playing at home. We all know who that is. I can't wait.