On Sunday, November 6, 2011, the best NFL rivalry comes to prime time. It is the Baltimore Ravens visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers. Back in week one, the Ravens dominated at home, 35-7. But much has changed since that game. Now it is the Steelers who are playing great football—winning four in a row. This time they will win. Here’s why:

Momentum

In week one, the Ravens were dominant. Their defense harassed Pittsburgh into seven(!) turnovers. Their offensive game plan worked to perfection. And the home crowd ate it up. But the Ravens were playing their “must win” game of the season. They put everything on the line to win that game. And it showed when they flopped against the Titans in week 2. The Steelers have gotten better since week 1, winning four in a row, including an impressive tear down of the New England Patriots last week. The Ravens are struggling. They got physically pushed around and beaten by the Jaguars two weeks ago. And last week they had to scramble desperately to come back against the pathetic Arizona Cardinals. Clearly the Steelers are playing better all-around football right now.

Roethlisberger is elite, Flacco is not

The main reason for the Steelers’ success is superstar QB Ben Roethlisberger(notes). In today’s pass-happy NFL, he provides a unique skill set to propel the offense. Roethlisberger can thrive even when his protection breaks down. Joe Flacco(notes) gets jittery and scattershot. Roethlisberger is decisive and accurate. Flacco usually looks bewildered against Troy Polamalu(notes) and company. Want stats? For the season, Ben has a 95.7 QB rating (8th in the NFL); Flacco is at 75.4 (27th). Flacco’s rating is between benched Kyle Orton(notes) and raw Curtis Painter(notes). Ben is completing 64.4% of his passes, while Flacco is only hitting 53.8%. Superstar Ben beats (Below) Average Joe.

Both defenses are great against the pass, but the Steelers have more weapons

Neither the Steelers or the Ravens allow QBs to shred them. The passing yards will be hard-earned. But the Steelers have more weapons to get the job done. With Ravens-killer Hines Ward(notes) back, the Steelers have legitimate threats in Mike Wallace(notes), Ward, Antonio Brown(notes), Heath Miller(notes), and Emmanuel Sanders(notes). The Ravens have Anquan Boldin(notes) and a one-route speedster rookie in Torrey Smith(notes). The Steelers have been able to shut down their opponent’s number one threat by letting Ike Taylor(notes) erase them. He has fared well against Larry Fitzgerald(notes), Wes Welker(notes), and Andre Johnson(notes).

Steelers are adjusting to difficulties

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has a mantra: “the standard is the standard.” That means, whoever plays is expected to play at an elite, Steeler-level. That has been important, especially along the offensive line. While the offensive line has been far from elite, but they have been improving as they play more together. The coaches are helping by adjusting the play calling, too. Against the Patriots, for example, the Steelers had a full wristband of quick pass plays. The line didn’t have to hold up long, but the Steelers marched down the field and dominated the time of possession.

Not without concerns

The Steelers situation at linebacker is still unclear. Injuries have knocked out three of the four opening day starters. Lamarr Woodley(notes), James Harrison(notes), and James Farrior(notes) have been limited in practice during the week. If all three are unable to play, the Steelers will have a very young linebacker group. I would like to see 2010 second round pick Jason Worilds(notes) prove his worth, but he may not be ready to play either. AP writer Will Graves notes, though, that all the Steelers linebackers are trained and expected to move to any position and excel. So far, they have done that. But they will have to stop Ray Rice(notes), the Ravens’ most explosive offensive threat. If they can tackle him early, the Steelers will have a great shot to win.

The other concern, of course, is the Ravens’ defense. As coach Tomlin said, they have play makers on all levels. If they generate turnovers like in the first game, the Steelers will struggle again. But I don’t see it happening. The Steelers are surging, playing at home, and just better than the Ravens. Steelers win 20-10. Here we go, Steelers!

Sean Durity is a Terrible Towel twirling Steelers fan living in Atlanta. He grew up cheering the 1970s dynasty and appreciates the organization’s excellence even more as an adult.

More from this contributor:

“Why I Hate the Ravens”

After week one: “Ravens destroy Steelers in ‘must win’: A Steelers fan laments”

Pre-season, fearless game predictions

SOURCES

Will Graves, “Linebacker situation still cloudy for Steelers”

Mike Tomlin November 1 press conference. Transcript provided to media on steelers.com

Quarterback season stats

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Baltimore Ravens 29, Houston Texans 14

BALTIMORE, Maryland — A couple of long passes, Billy Cundiff’s right leg and an efficient performance by the Baltimore defense was enough to give the Ravens another double-digit win at home.

Joe Flacco threw for 305 yards and ran for a score, Cundiff kicked five field goals, and Baltimore pulled away to a 29-14 victory over the short-handed Houston Texans.

The Ravens (4-1) did enough on defense to earn their third straight win and remain in first place in the AFC North. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals are both 4-2 and the Cleveland Browns are 2-3.

Baltimore’s run of nine straight games with a takeaway ended, but the Ravens held Houston scoreless over the final 21 minutes and limited standout running back Arian Foster to 49 yards on 15 attempts.

Flacco had two turnovers, but he also had completions of 51 yards and 56 yards to put Cundiff in position to score. Cundiff connected from 43, 48, 25, 33 and 40 yards to tie a Ravens record for field goals in a game.

Flacco completed 20 of 33 passes and Anquan Boldin had eight catches for 132 yards.

Even though the Texans (3-3) were without wide receiver Andre Johnson and linebacker Mario Williams, they led briefly in the third quarter. Houston trailed only 19-14 until the Ravens went on a 66-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown run by Ricky Williams with 4:01 left.

Ray Rice ran 23 times for 101 yards to help Baltimore win at home for the 13th time in 14 games. The Ravens are 3-0 at M&T Bank Stadium this season, beating Pittsburgh, the New York Jets and Houston by a combined 98-38.

Matt Schaub went 21 for 37 for 220 yards for the Texans, 0-5 against Baltimore since entering the NFL in 2002.

Rice began the third quarter with an 18-yard run after gaining only 16 yards on eight carries in the first half. That sparked a 47-yard drive to a 48-yard field goal and a 13-7 lead.

Houston moved in front for the only time with a six-play, 80-yard drive. Schaub had completions of 20 yards to Kevin Walter and 16 yards to Foster before throwing a perfect 32-yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones, who got behind safety Ed Reed in the end zone.

Baltimore went back ahead on the following series, using a 51-yard pass from Flacco to rookie Torrey Smith to set up a 25-yard field goal and a 16-14 advantage.

After a Houston punt, Flacco found Boldin open down the left sideline for a 56-yard gain, and Cundiff kicked his fourth field goal.

The Texans’ next series ended when safety Bernard Pollard, a former Houston starter, broke up a third-down pass to Foster at the Baltimore 30.

Flacco lost a fumble and threw an interception in the first half, but he also scored a touchdown to help the Ravens take a 10-7 lead.

The Ravens moved 97 yards in 16 plays on their first possession and went up 7-0 on a 1-yard run by Flacco, who went 7 for 8 for 82 yards on the drive. It was the first touchdown against Houston in the opening quarter this season.

Midway through the second quarter, Texans coach Gary Kubiak kept his offense on the field on a fourth-and-1 at the Baltimore 20. Foster was stopped for no gain, but Houston got the ball back when Tim Jamison sacked Flacco, forced a fumble and recovered it at the 17.

Three plays later, Texans guard Wade Smith recovered a fumble by Ben Tate in the end zone.

Late in the half, Cundiff kicked a 43-yard field goal.

New England Patriots 20, Dallas Cowboys 16

FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts — Tom Brady got the offense going just in time to lead the New England Patriots to the winning touchdown in the final minute of a 20-16 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Brady threw an 8-yard scoring pass to Aaron Hernandez with 22 seconds left and the Patriots’ top-ranked offense overcame the Cowboys’ stingy defense.

Dan Bailey’s 26-yard field goal had broken a 13-13 tie with 5:13 left. Each team ran one series before the Patriots got the ball after a punt with 2:30 remaining. Brady then completed eight of nine passes for 78 yards on an 80-play drive capped by his pass to Hernandez in the middle of the end zone.

New England (5-1) won despite its first two lost fumbles of the season and Brady’s two interceptions. He finished the game 27 of 41 for 289 yards with two touchdowns.

Dallas (2-3) ended a five-game road winning streak after a bye despite coming back from a 13-3 deficit midway through the second quarter. Tony Romo was 27 of 41 for 317 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Until the final drive, Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan was headed for his second straight strong game against the Patriots.

He held that job with Cleveland when the Browns beat the Patriots 34-14 last Nov. 7. Since then, the Patriots had scored at least 30 points in 13 consecutive games. That streak ended Sunday, but New England still won.

The regular-season win was Brady’s 20th straight at home and the Patriots 31st in a row at Gillette Stadium.

They took a 3-0 lead on their first possession on a 31-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski. It began when Kyle Arrington intercepted a pass that Dez Bryant failed to reach for on a medium-range slant pattern.

The Cowboys tied it on Bailey’s 48-yard field goal after Terence Newman intercepted a pass by Brady that was tipped by defensive end Kenyon Coleman.

New England turned the ball over again on the kickoff after the field goal when Gerald Sensabaugh recovered a fumble by Matthew Slater, the first fumble lost by the Patriots this season. But Dallas gave the ball right back five plays later when Tashard Choice fumbled and Gerard Warren recovered.

The Patriots capitalized with a 26-yard field goal by Gostkowski with 12:07 left in the half for a 6-3 lead. They made it 13-3 on their next possession on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Wes Welker. Officials ruled initially that Welker had gone out of bounds as he reached the ball out toward the goal line but that was overturned on video review.

That put Brady into eight place in NFL history with 276 touchdown passes, one more than Vinny Testaverde.

Dallas cut the lead to 13-10 at halftime, marching 93 yards on 11 plays to score on Romo’s 1-yard touchdown pass to Witten, the star tight end’s first catch of the game, with 33 seconds left.

The Cowboys tied it on Bailey’s 22-yard field goal with 5:50 remaining in the third quarter.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26, New Orleans Saints 20

TAMPA, Florida — The New Orleans Saints lost a game to Tampa Bay and their coach to injury.

Josh Freeman threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns, Earnest Graham rushed for 109 yards in place of injured starter LeGarrette Blount, and Tampa Bay outlasted New Orleans for a 26-20 win.

The win pulled the Bucs (4-2) into a first-place tie with the Saints in the NFC South and snapped New Orleans’ four-game winning streak.

A bad tone was set on the first drive for the Saints when Payton toppled to the ground during a collision with New Orleans tight end Jimmy Graham in the first quarter. Payton got his left leg caught under Graham as he was tackled on the sideline, suffering a torn ligament and a broken bone.

The Saints had a chance to take the lead late, but quarterback Drew Brees was intercepted in the end zone on a fourth-down pass. Brees became the first passer ever with four consecutive 350-yard games, but also threw three interceptions.

New Orleans had four turnovers in the game. Tampa’s defense also held the Saints under 30 points for only the second time this season and shut down New Orleans’ rushing attack.

The Bucs led 23-13 heading into the fourth period until Mark Ingram’s 12-yard run capped a seven-play, 82-yard drive and pulled the Saints to within a field goal.

Tampa pushed it back to 26-20 with a field goal of its own with 7:54 left, opening the door for Saints. But facing a fourth-and-2 on the 4, Brees’ pass was intercepted in the end zone by safety Quincy Black. The Bucs then put the ball in Graham’s hands and were able to run out the clock.

After the collision with Graham, Payton stayed on the ground for several minutes receiving medical attention before being moved to the end of the bench. He coached from there until late in the half when he was carted to the locker room. It was announced at halftime that Payton tore the MCL in the leg and also sustained a fractured tibia. He was not on the sideline the remainder of the game.

The Saints’ first drive of the game also ended with Ingram’s fumble that was scooped up by Tampa’s Da’Quan Bowers and led to a field goal three plays later.

Brees’ touchdown pass to Marques Colston on their next possession briefly put the Saints up 7-3, but there was little to smile about after that as the Bucs reeled off 17 points.

Minus a few misfired throws early, Freeman was spot-on throughout, connecting with Arrelious Benn over the middle for a 65-yard score and later with Preston Parker in traffic from 18 yards.

Brees was intercepted twice in the half, including one off a deflection by Bucs safety Tanard Jackson. He was playing in his first game since being reinstated by NFL after being suspended more than a year for violating league’s substance abuse policy.