Joe Platania of Baltimore PressBox provides a Steelers – Ravens Preview. See below for the complete article:
Ravens, Steelers Play Hard, But Trash Talk Will Flow
RIVALS BRING INTENSITY TO THE FIELD
By Joe Platania
OWINGS MILLS — The insults, hate and trash-talking will be flowing at Heinz Field faster than the facility’s namesake ketchup.
There’s just no getting around it. The Ravens and unbeaten Pittsburgh Steelers will try to outplay each other during Sunday’s key AFC North Division showdown. But at the same time, they will attempt to out-talk each other as well, no matter how head coach John Harbaugh likes to downplay it.
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| Last season, both the Ravens’ games against the Steelers were decided by three points. The Ravens defeated the Steelers, 20-17, in overtime in Week 12, while the Steelers edged the Ravens, 23-20, in Week 16. (Sabina Moran/PressBox) |
“The game is played on Sunday,” he said wearily during his Monday press conference at The Palace at Owings Mills. “They won’t talk as much as is going to be said throughout the week. We’ve played them too much and they’ve played us too much. If something gets said, it gets said.”
Sunday’s game will mark the 29th regular season meeting between the Ravens and Steelers, tying Pittsburgh with the Cincinnati Bengals for the opponent Baltimore has met most often since it came back into the league in 1996.
The two teams have also met twice in postseason play, the Steelers taking home both wins at home: a 2001 divisional playoff round game and the 2008 AFC championship game.
The Steelers have won four AFC North titles to the Ravens’ two and have taken home two Super Bowl championships in the decade elapsing since Baltimore won Super Bowl XXXV.
But despite the long, antagonistic history between the two fan bases, Harbaugh is quick to note all NFL games have a violent, nasty aura about them.
“Every game is pretty heated in this league,” the coach said. “There is a little more history [with these two teams]. We just have to focus our energy and challenge ourselves to just play the next play.”
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TRADES WORKING OUT: Let’s take a little inventory on how some of the Ravens’ high-profile trades have worked out:
– When the Ravens traded their 2007 third- and seventh-round picks to the Buffalo Bills for Willis McGahee, the Bills then used the third-rounder to take Stanford quarterback Trent Edwards, released by the Bills Monday after an unspectacular career.
– When Baltimore dealt its 2008 fourth-round selection to the Oakland Raiders for cornerback Fabian Washington, the Silver and Black used the pick to take Richmond running back Arman Shields, currently out of football.
– When the Ravens traded this year’s third- and fourth-round picks to Arizona for receiver Anquan Boldin and a fifth-round pick, the player the Ravens took with the extra selection turned out to be promising defensive tackle Arthur Jones.
The Cardinals traded the fourth-round pick to New Orleans and with the third-round selection, the Cardinals tabbed Citadel receiver Andre Roberts, who has touched the ball on just two punt returns so far.
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STOVER SIGHTING
(This item is dedicated to the late, great George Blanda, a longtime kicker and quarterback for Houston and Oakland who passed away Monday at the age of 83.)
Many years ago, Matt Stover kicked for Louisiana Tech. He’s heading back to the Bayou State to tryout for the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.
If you saw all or part of the Saints’ overtime loss to the Atlanta Falcons, you know why this tryout is taking place.
Garrett Hartley, the man who will go down in history as the one who kicked the Saints into their first Super Bowl, missed a 29-yarder that would have beaten the Falcons in the extra session.
Stover is the oldest player to appear in a Super Bowl, playing in one for Indianapolis last year. Ironically, the youngest Super Bowl participant is also someone with Ravens ties — running back Jamal Lewis.
When Stover kicked for the Colts last year, he showed up in Baltimore and kicked what proved to be the winning points midway through the fourth quarter. If he sticks with the Saints, he’ll return to Charm City Dec. 19.
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PURPLE EVENING: Purple, the Ravens’ women’s group, is holding its annual “Purple Evening” at M&T Bank Stadium Oct. 11 at 5 p.m.
Wristbands for player autographs will be distributed at 4 p.m. outside Gate A. All ticketholders to the event are automatically entered in a drawing for a 10-day Bahamas cruise.
Fan forums, on-field activities, stadium tours and player appearances will all be part of the fun. Some concession stands and the Team Store will be open as well.
Posted September 27, 2010
