Steelers have a chance

[steelsnis]

Steelers have a chance to really bury the Ravens on Thursday. A Pittsburgh win puts them at 2-0 in the division while Baltimore falls to 0-2. It's early, but that's a big hole to dig out of.

With all of this Ray Rice stuff being swirled up again, there will be distractions galore for the Ravens Thursday night. If they're teetering on the edge, let's do like AB and kick 'em into it.

[Rara]

Just hope this isn't more fuel for them.

[Steelhere10]

I thought about the same thing today, but somehow I think we find a way to lose near the end of the game.

[Slapstick]

You saw how we played against Philly right after Bell and Blount were arrested...I look for the same type of play from the Ratbirds...

[Oviedo]

Ravens already knew they weren't going to have Rice for this game. It won't make a difference and with a short week there won't be any time for the typical media frenzy. We need to worry about us being better more than we worry about the Ravens being worse. Will be a very close game and IMO very high scoring.

[steelsnis]

Ravens already knew they weren't going to have Rice for this game. It won't make a difference and with a short week there won't be any time for the typical media frenzy. We need to worry about us being better more than we worry about the Ravens being worse. Will be a very close game and IMO very high scoring.

It's the first Thursday game of the season so I'm sure there will be lots of hype and plenty of distractions for the Ravens. But that's not the whole point. My point is that the Steelers are actually in a good spot. A win puts them 2-games up over a hated division rival.

[Oviedo]

It's the first Thursday game of the season so I'm sure there will be lots of hype and plenty of distractions for the Ravens. But that's not the whole point. My point is that the Steelers are actually in a good spot. A win puts them 2-games up over a hated division rival.

Ravens are "hated" but Bumgals are more of a concern this year than the Ravens

[steelsnis]

Ravens are "hated" but Bumgals are more of a concern this year than the Ravens

Yep, and Bengals play Atlanta this week. Steelers atop the division by this time next week!

[Slapstick]

Ravens are "hated" but Bumgals are more of a concern this year than the Ravens

Yeah, the Steelers can't afford to take any team lightly...

[sick beats]

I am guessing you all witnessed how awful our D is. Even if we pull out a W here, unless we significantly get better, we will struggle to end up .500 again. Did you see the faces of Tomlin and LaBuaa? They looked like deer caught in headlights. Seriously. They had no idea what to do in order to stop the hemorrhage of Browns offense. We are in real trouble, win this game or no.

[skyhawk]

It's gonna be a blow out in Baltimore. They have their backs against the wall.

And when the Steelers D faces any competitive offense (like the vaunted Browns in the second half, or the Eagles in the preseason) they are gonna struggle.

That being said, it wasn't entirely all on the D. Haley and the O handcuffed Ben and went turtle in the second half (a la Schottencowher). Once the ball was placed in his hands at the end. They drove for the winning FG.

[RuthlessBurgher]

If we win on Thursday that makes us 2-0 with 2 division wins, and makes Baltimore 0-2 with 2 division losses (both at home as well). That would be quite a hole for the Ravens to try to climb out of. It's difficult enough to try to prepare for a Thursday night game with a very short week of practice, and it just got that much harder with the Ray Rice elevator circus coming to town as a distraction, even though we already knew that Rice wasn't playing in this game, but national news outlets (not just sportwriters) will be all over their facility this week for comment after they released Rice.

The Bengals could very well be our primary competition in the division this year, but remember that they have to play both Denver and New England this year, and we don't play either of them.

[Shawn]

I am guessing you all witnessed how awful our D is. Even if we pull out a W here, unless we significantly get better, we will struggle to end up .500 again. Did you see the faces of Tomlin and LaBuaa? They looked like deer caught in headlights. Seriously. They had no idea what to do in order to stop the hemorrhage of Browns offense. We are in real trouble, win this game or no.

I agree and disagree. The only way the Steelers are in "trouble" is if they stop scoring points. The way the Steelers played in the first half is as good as any team in the league.

[Shawn]

If we win on Thursday that makes us 2-0 with 2 division wins, and makes Baltimore 0-2 with 2 division losses (both at home as well). That would be quite a hole for the Ravens to try to climb out of. It's difficult enough to try to prepare for a Thursday night game with a very short week of practice, and it just got that much harder with the Ray Rice elevator circus coming to town as a distraction, even though we already knew that Rice wasn't playing in this game, but national news outlets (not just sportwriters) will be all over their facility this week for comment after they released Rice.

The Bengals could very well be our primary competition in the division this year, but remember that they have to play both Denver and New England this year, and we don't play either of them.

I agree. And I have zero history to back this up. But, I think we see a different Steeler D this week. I think they get after Flacco early and often.

[feltdizz]

(a la Schottencowher).

LOL... perfect description.

Cowher had the Bus tho... much easier to grind out wins when the D knows who is getting the ball but can't stop it.