“Obviously I think that at the end we would have liked to have made it a little less exciting, if we could have,” Ravens Coach John Harbaugh said.

A 17-point, fourth-quarter lead all but disappeared for the Ravens as Dalton got the Bengals to the Baltimore 7-yard line in the game’s final minute, seeking a tying touchdown. But an intentional grounding call on Dalton pushed the Bengals backward and he was sacked on a fourth-down play from the 17-yard line.

“We just need to play better early so we don’t have to come back from behind at the end,” Dalton said.

Dalton threw for a touchdown and amassed 373 passing yards in his first game against the Ravens. But he also threw three interceptions and had a would-be touchdown pass in the fourth quarter overturned on an instant-replay review.

“We’ve got to play smarter,” Bengals Coach Marvin Lewis said. “We didn’t play smart enough today to win the football game. We had too many critical errors at critical times.”

The Ravens rebounded from a loss a week earlier at Seattle and improved their record to 7-3. They’re tied with Pittsburgh for first place but hold the tiebreaker advantage thanks to their two victories over the Steelers this season. They’re 3-0 against the Bengals, who dropped into third place with a record of 6-4, and Steelers. The Ravens and Bengals play in Cincinnati in the regular season finale.

“We have to go play and win,” Lewis said. “If we win, it [the playoff race] takes care of itself.”

The Ravens have stumbled this season against some of the less-imposing opponents on their schedule. But they have played their best in their biggest games, and that trend continued. Flacco threw touchdown passes to Smith and fellow wide receiver Anquan Boldin. Smith had six catches for 165 yards, and Rice ran for 104 yards and two touchdowns.

“We stumbled a little early but we kind of hit our stride by making big plays,” Flacco said. “Torrey came up huge and we were able to capitalize on a couple of those turnovers and make a couple of those big plays.”

Ray Lewis was on the Ravens’ inactive list because of a toe injury. He missed his first game since 2007, ending a string of 57 straight starts. That didn’t prevent Lewis, dressed in black sweat clothes and a black cap, from delivering his customary pregame motivational speech to his teammates on the field.

“We like him out there [on the field] better,” Harbaugh said.

The Bengals were without injured rookie wide receiver A.J. Green. Even so, they had the early lead after the first of running back Cedric Benson’s two rushing touchdowns. The Ravens managed only one first down and 27 yards of total offense in the first quarter, and some boos could be heard from the home crowd.

But the Ravens got second-quarter touchdowns on Flacco’s 35-yard pass to Boldin and a one-yard run by Rice. They might have had another touchdown late in the first half when Smith made a catch and sprinted toward the end zone but was tackled — legally, under NFL rules — by his long hair, which hangs out of the back of his helmet. Flacco threw an interception soon thereafter. The Bengals were thwarted on their final drive of the first half when Dalton lofted a pass into the end zone that was intercepted by Ravens safety Ed Reed.

The Ravens added to their lead with kicker Billy Cundiff’s third-quarter field goal. The Bengals had an immediate response with Benson’s three-yard touchdown run, but the Ravens restored their lead to 10 points in the final moments of the third quarter. Dalton threw a pass directly to Ravens rookie cornerback Jimmy Smith, who made the interception but had the ball knocked from his hand on his return as he neared the goal line. Referee Ron Winter was knocked down in the pileup of players trying to recover the fumble. Winter took a few seconds to get back to his feet after the play but continued to officiate. The Ravens’ Brendon Ayanbadejo recovered the fumble and Rice cashed in with a two-yard touchdown run.

Dalton’s third interception came on a pass on which Ravens cornerback Lardarius Webb made a diving catch. The Ravens scored on the next play on Flacco’s 38-yard pass to Torrey Smith. Dalton answered with a 49-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Andre Caldwell. But the Bengals got only a field goal with just more than 5¹/
₂ minutes to play after an apparent touchdown pass from Dalton to tight end Jermaine Gresham was nullified on a replay review. The officials ruled that Gresham lost possession of the ball as he tumbled to the ground.

BALTIMORE – The Cincinnati Bengals have surprised quite a few people with their impressive start this season. The Baltimore Ravens are not among those on the list.

Cincinnati went 4-12 last year and still beat the Ravens. Baltimore is 5-4 in its last nine regular-season games against Pittsburgh and 3-6 against the Bengals.

So don’t go telling the Ravens (6-3) that Sunday’s showdown for first place in the AFC North is an unexpected development.

“I knew they were always on the brink of being a good team,” Baltimore linebacker Terrell Suggs said. “Now they’re winning games.”

Suggs is the Ravens’ career sacks leader, but he didn’t have one last year against Cincinnati (6-3). On Sunday he will be chasing quarterback Andy Dalton, whose 14 touchdown passes over the first nine games is the most by a rookie since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

Four different Cincinnati receivers have at least 26 catches and two touchdowns, most notably A.J. Green (41 receptions, six TDs). Green’s return from a right knee injury sustained in last week’s 24-17 loss to the Steelers won’t be determined until game time, but coach Marvin Lewis still has plenty of options to send at the renowned Baltimore defence he ruled from 1996-2001.

“They’ve got some good weapons over there,” Suggs said. “This team is not only dangerous, but they’re special. Marvin Lewis knows that. They’re playing with a lot of confidence. We definitely have some work to do, especially after last week.”

Ah, last week. Coming off an uplifting win in Pittsburgh, the Ravens inexplicably lost at Seattle to tumble out of first place.

“We lost a game. Nobody feels good about it, but at the same time, we can’t really ride that wave and be on emotional highs and lows,” quarterback Joe Flacco said. “We have to get ready to play another game — a very important game.”

The winner climbs into a first-place tie with Pittsburgh, and the Ravens own the tiebreaker with the Steelers. The Bengals can ill afford to drop into third place with an 0-1 record against each of the top two teams.

“I think that’s really key, that (the Ravens) have kind of put their best foot forward already in the division by beating the Steelers twice,” Lewis said. “So for Pittsburgh and us and Cleveland … we’re all kind of playing uphill to the Ravens right now. This is a big football game that way. If you want to win your division, you’ve got to win the division games.”

Cincinnati is 4-1 on the road this season, but this will be its toughest test to date. The Ravens have won six in a row at home and 14 of 15.

“That’s our challenge, to win again on the road,” Lewis said. “We know that, like some places we’ve played this year, it can get loud. But we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do — be efficient on offence and be exact on defence. Then it just comes down to playing football.”

Cincinnati’s six wins are against teams with a combined 22-36 record, but the Bengals feel no need to defend themselves after their strong showing in defeat against Pittsburgh.

“It was tough that we ended up losing, but we were in the game the whole time,” said Dalton, who brought Cincinnati back from an early 14-0 deficit. “And so, we do have confidence we’re going to be in a lot of these games.”

After facing the mighty defence of the Steelers, Dalton now must rebound against a unit similarly stocked with veteran talent.

“It seems like when you talk about Baltimore and you talk about their defence, you talk about Ray Lewis you talk about Ed Reed,” he said. “It’s going to be fun to get a chance to play them.”

Although Dalton has been intercepted nine times, the Bengals have lost only one fumble and own a plus-3 turnover differential.

“I think that they’re winning in the same way they played last year,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “They’re just doing it a little bit better in the sense that they’ve really protected the football. That’s probably the No. 1 key. They’re playing excellent defence and they’re moving the football. They are a well-rounded football team.”

It’s nothing Harbaugh hasn’t seen before from Cincinnati.

“They’ve beaten us plenty of times. We’ve always had a ton of respect for the Bengals,” he said. “It’s a big rivalry game for us. It’s one of the toughest games we play every single year. One of the most physical games we play, and that’s what we’re gearing up for.”

Baltimore has won its last 11 games following a loss — the longest current streak in the NFL — and is 14-4 in that situation during Harbaugh’s three-year tenure. Ravens fans lamented the defeat the Seattle for days, but the players quickly went into bounce-back mode.

“It hasn’t been difficult,” Suggs said. “We’re all professionals here.”

The Baltimore Ravens are back at home, leaving the mess they made in Seattle last week where they lost 22-17 to the Seahawks.

Undefeated at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium where they are 4-0, the Ravens will be looking to return to their winning ways and into a first-place tie with Pittsburgh when they play host to the 6-3 Cincinnati Bengals.

One area in which the Ravens will be looking to improve this week is in getting to the opposition quarterback. In that key defensive category the Ravens have slowed down of late.

Through their opening seven games, the Ravens had collected 25 sacks but in their last two games they have managed just two.

And it won’t get any easier for the Ravens in attempting to put Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton on the ground. Through their first nine games the Bengals O-line has allowed Dalton to be sacked just 13 times.

Taking the rap for Baltimore’s low sack output the past two games is their defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano, who said he has to let his dogs loose.

“I’ve got to send them more,” Pagano said during his weekly briefing. “I’ve got to call more. That’s not on them. That falls on my shoulders. I’ve got to be more aggressive and get after them.

“(Opponents are) keeping more guys in to protect, they’re running the ball a little bit more. So we’ve got to do a great job on first and second down and get them into throwing situations, and no matter what the situation is, if they want to keep six or if they want to keep seven in, we’ve got to design and I’ve got to do a better job of putting our guys in position to get after the quarterback.”

Dalton, beware.

CAN’T HOLD GORE BACK

Frank Gore may be beat up but the San Francisco 49ers’ featured running back says he is ready to rumble.

“Yeah I’ll play. I’ll play good,” Gore said the other day of being able to start Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals.

In last week’s important 27-20 victory over the New York Giants, Gore was a non-factor due to a knee injury that sidelined him for the second half of the game.

“I hyper-extended my leg, and it kind of shut down my leg, and I couldn’t really push off like I wanted to,” Gore said. “I wanted to be smart, and (running backs coach Tom) Rathman wanted me to be smart, knowing we’ve got a long season ahead and we can be successful, and I want to be there.”

Prior to banging up his knee, Gore had accomplished little in the game as he had six carries for ZERO yards.

It was obvious that the Giants game plan was to stop Gore and in that regard, they succeeded.

“It was 10 men in the box. They were coming to stop the run,” Gore said of the Giants’ defensive strategy.

On the season, Gore, who is also bothered by a left ankle injury, has gained 782 yards rushing, has a 4.7-yard average and rushed for five touchdowns.

To make sure that Gore doesn’t get worn down, the 49ers will probably share the running load with rookie Kendall Hunter, who gained 40 yards on six carries last week.

Whatever the coaches want to do, I’ll be fine with it,” Gore said. “But I want to be out there. I want to be out there bad.”

THIS EAGLE WON’T FLY

The Philadelphia Eagles season has fallen apart and it looks like a certainty that when they line up to face the New York Giants on Sunday they will be without the services of Michael Vick.

The banged up Eagles quarterback hasn’t practised this week due to two broken ribs, an injury he sustained in last week’s loss to Arizona.

The Eagles are expected to wait until game time before making it official but it doesn’t look good for Vick.

This week, backup Vince Young has taken all of the practice reps with the first-team offence and he’ll need that work as he has appeared in just one game this season, attempted one pass and it was intercepted.

The Eagles, who are 3-6 and all but officially eliminated from post-season play, still are holding out hope that Vick can somehow make the start.

That list includes offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.

“Yeah, he’s a tough man, and I’m always optimistic with him,” Mornhinweg told reporters. “He’s doing everything possible to get ready for the next game — both in the training room as well as in the classroom.

“He’s a tough guy and wants to play. He’s tough both mentally and physically. We’ll see.”

Even if he does play, Vick has not come close to the level of play he exhibited last season.

Against Arizona, Vick was 16-for-34 with two interceptions and no touchdowns. In his past five games he has thrown five touchdown passes but also eight interceptions. On the season he has thrown 11 interceptions and has lost three fumbles.

AT LEAST HE’S HONEST

New York Giants defensive end Justin Tuck isn’t having the type of season he is accustomed to but you have to admire his honesty.

Last year Tuck counted 11 1/2 sacks on the season but this season after nine games he has registered just two.

“I do suck,” Tuck told the New York Daily News of his play this season. “I’m a very honest person. I’m not a very good player now. I do look at myself on film, and I don’t like what I see.”

This season, Tuck has been hobbled by neck and groin injuries and has played in just five games. However, he isn’t using that as an excuse.

“I feel like I’m putting forth the effort,” he said. “But there’s just some things not allowing me to play my style of football.”

Defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said he isn’t worried, that it will take time for him to regain his full health.

“He wants to return to form,” Fewell said. “It’s just taking him a little bit more time than both he and we expected.”

On Sunday, Tuck hopes to break out against the Eagles.

SEATTLE – Marshawn Lynch caught the pass and was a few yards short of a critical Seattle first down late in Sunday’s game against the Ravens. The only guys standing between Lynch and the line were Ray Lewis and Jarret Johnson.

He left Lewis and Johnson grasping at air and all but sealed the Seahawks’ surprising victory.

Lynch finished with 109 yards rushing and Seattle’s lone touchdown, Steven Hauschka matched a franchise record with five field goals, and the Seahawks forced three turnovers in a 22-17 win.

“He made like he was out there in the backyard playing against some of his cousins or something,” Seattle quarterback Tarvaris Jackson said. “He made a great move.”

Seattle added yet another flop to the Ravens’ resume that already included slip-ups earlier this season at Tennessee and at Jacksonville, all three losses coming after important wins for Baltimore (6-3).

And Seattle (3-6) gave coach Pete Carroll a perfect final drive to use in his teaching.

“Coaches love nothing more than to get that situation in the fourth quarter and run the clock out,” Carroll said. “And think about who you did it against. That’s really cool that happens.”

Seattle’s lead had been trimmed to 22-17 after Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco hit Ed Dickson on an 11-yard TD on his 52nd pass attempt of the night. The Seahawks took over at their own 20 with 5:52 left and immediately picked up two penalties to back them up to the 10, creating a first-and-20 situation that in the past would lead to a short series and a punt.

Not this time. They worked to a manageable third-and-5, and Jackson connected with Golden Tate for 24 yards. A minute later, they faced the same down and distance from the Baltimore 46. Jackson threw short for Lynch, who slipped ahead for 8 yards and another clock-churning first down.

“I’ve said it before: The man walks aggressively. Everything about him is moving forward aggressively and trying to gain yards. You’ve got to love that,” Seattle fullback Michael Robinson said.

Lynch added four more runs that ensured all Jackson had to do was take a knee twice inside the Baltimore 20 to close out the victory. For a drive that produced no points and started with a pair of penalties, it couldn’t be more valuable for the young Seahawks.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had a four-minute drill quite like this before,” Seattle centre Max Unger said. “I couldn’t tell you a time that we had that much time left on the clock with the lead and ran the ball out like that.”

Hauschka kicked field goals of 22, 38, 39, 35 and 30 yards. Jackson was 17 of 27 for 217 yards and Lynch had another five receptions and 58 yards receiving as Seattle snapped a three-game losing streak. The Seahawks also picked up their second victory over a division leader this season after beating the New York Giants in early October.

Lynch became the first Seattle running back to record consecutive 100-yard rushing games since Julius Jones early in the 2008 season, following up on his 135 yards rushing last week against Dallas. Lynch carried a career-best 32 times, and most of those equaled short gains, but the types of yards Seattle needed against Baltimore’s defence.

After Lynch’s 1-yard TD run on Seattle’s second possession, the Seahawks got inside the Baltimore 25 on five other occasions, settling for field goals each time.

That proved to be enough thanks to Seattle’s stout defence and special teams mistakes by the Ravens. David Reed fumbled twice on kickoff returns, leading to six points for Seattle. Flacco’s lone interception was returned by David Hawthorne inside the Ravens 10 and eventually led to another field goal from Hauschka. Along with Reed’s two fumbles, Billy Cundiff missed field-goal attempts of 52 and 50 yards in the first half.

The magic Flacco had in last week’s win over the Steelers was gone. He was rarely able challenge the Seahawks secondary downfield due to strong coverage that forced him to throw underneath. When he did have opportunities to pick up chunks of yards, Flacco missed open receivers.

Flacco was 29 of 52 for 255 yards. Ray Rice, who was visibly upset after the Ravens had to settle for a 35-yard field goal late in the third quarter, had five carries for 27 yards. He caught eight passes for 54 yards. Carroll said he hoped Baltimore would abandon the run and try to throw its way past the Seahawks.

“We understand that we are going to be a target of a lot of criticism right now. We understand that. We understand that it’s going to be local; it’s going to be national,” coach John Harbaugh said. “We understand the fans are very disappointed in the game. We’re very disappointed in the game. We had an opportunity here to do something to separate ourselves a little bit in our division and we didn’t finish.”

Notes: Seattle lost G John Moffitt (knee), WRs Sidney Rice (concussion) and Doug Baldwin (concussion), DB Atari Bigby (hamstring), DE Anthony Hargrove (hamstring) and SS Kam Chancellor (concussion) during the game. None returned. … Even with Baltimore throwing so much, Seattle had just one sack of Flacco. … Baltimore entered this week with just one loss to a sub-.500 team after Week 2 since Harbaugh took over in 2008. … Flacco’s 52 attempts were a career high.

___

Follow Tim Booth on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/ByTimBooth

BY TIM BOOTH

The Associated Press

SEATTLE — It’s seems like the perfect trap. Coming off an emotional and important victory, the Baltimore Ravens fly across the country to play a 2-6 team coming off a third straight loss.

Problem for the Ravens is it’s a situation they’ve faced and failed at twice this season.

The Ravens said all the right things this week about realizing the importance of today’s game at Seattle and how any benefits from their thrilling, last-second 23-20 win over Pittsburgh last week will be completely negated with a West Coast flop.

But the Ravens track record this season says the rare matchup against the struggling Seahawks could mean problems. All they have to do is look back to Week 2 at Tennessee and Week 7 at Jacksonville to see the mistakes.

“We have been riding an emotional high right now. Coming off those big wins, (the media) like to say we have that tendency of a letdown,” Baltimore running back Ray Rice said. “I think it’s time for us to be able to put the big games behind us and treat every game like it’s a big game.”

After routing Pittsburgh in its season opener, Baltimore followed up with a flop against the Titans. Five weeks later, the Ravens had another poor performance at Jacksonville a week after an impressive victory over Houston.

They are rare moments in the tenure of John Harbaugh. Since taking over in 2008, the Ravens have three losses against sub-.500 teams. Only one was later than the second week of the regular season, and it came three weeks ago against the Jaguars.

The fact two of those slip ups against losing teams happened this season, and with a home game waiting next week against division co-leader Cincinnati, is what’s causing the Ravens concern about this trip.

“It’s really easy to get ready for a team like Seattle because they’re very talented. I think they’ve lost a lot of close games and their record is not in any way indicative of the type of football team they are,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve had this experience already and so we know that those records don’t mean anything.”

Flacco spent most of the week deflecting the praise being heaped his way following his nearly flawless final drive last week against Pittsburgh, which ended with a 26-yard TD pass to rookie Torrey Smith with 8 seconds left that gave the Ravens a season sweep of their AFC North rivals. Flacco took the Ravens 92 yards in the final 21/2 minutes for the winning score.

“If we just dwell on that then the end is going to be nothing. We’re going to look back on it and say, ‘Who cares?’ because we lost a couple more games,” Flacco said. “But as long as we go and do our jobs the rest of the season I think we will be able to look at that as a big win.”

A win Sunday would give the Ravens their second 7-2 start in franchise history. The previous time came in 2006 when Baltimore finished 13-3 and had the second-best record in the AFC.

Seattle isn’t anywhere near thinking about 7-2 starts and 13-3 records. They’ve dropped their last three, scoring a combined 28 points in losses to Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dallas.

The Seahawks are proving talented enough to give better teams fits, as evident by the fact they’ve been within one score in the fourth quarter in five of their six losses. But that only highlights Seattle’s sometimes maddening inconsistency and seeming to always be playing from behind.

They are headaches that were expected with such a young team. That doesn’t make being 2-6 any easier to accept.

“It’s just been the performance level of our guys has just not been where it needs to be, you know? We haven’t taken care of the football as well as we need to. We haven’t gotten the ball as much as we need to,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “With our young guys up front, it’s been a process. As much as we have no patience about it, we have had to be patient as we watch them develop. It’s just been a fight. So, we’re getting along here.”

If there was a bright spot to take from last week’s loss in Dallas, it was the rediscovery of a running game. The Seahawks scraped the no-huddle approach that worked in an upset of the New York Giants last month — and subsequently sputtered — and ran for 162 yards against a Cowboys defense that was fourth in the league against the run. Marshawn Lynch topped 100 yards in the regular season for the first time in nearly three years, but Seattle couldn’t overcome three interceptions from Tarvaris Jackson.

Carroll said this week that Seattle’s ability to run is of paramount importance to how the rest of the team operates, no matter if it’s in a hurry-up offense or not. If they’re able to run against Ray Lewis, Haloti Ngata and the rest of the Ravens’ defense, it’ll be an impressive statement.

“We are in for a fight. What else can you ask for?” Jackson said. “We’re a young team, and we’re trying to show what we have, and put together a nice team here. So what better challenge is it to have to go against one of the better defenses in the league?”

——

Follow Tim Booth on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ByTimBooth

SEATTLE (AP) — It’s seems like the perfect trap. Coming off an emotional and important victory, the Baltimore Ravens fly across the country to play a 2-6 team coming off a third straight loss.

Problem for the Ravens is it’s a situation they’ve faced and failed at twice this season.

The Ravens said all the right things this week about realizing the importance of Sunday’s game at Seattle and how any benefits from their thrilling, last-second 23-20 win over Pittsburgh last week will be completely negated with a West Coast flop.

But the Ravens track record this season says the rare matchup against the struggling Seahawks could mean problems. All they have to do is look back to Week 2 at Tennessee and Week 7 at Jacksonville to see the mistakes.

“We have been riding an emotional high right now. Coming off those big wins, (the media) like to say we have that tendency of a letdown,” Baltimore running back Ray Rice said. “I think it’s time for us to be able to put the big games behind us and treat every game like it’s a big game.”

After routing Pittsburgh in its season opener, Baltimore followed up with a flop against the Titans. Five weeks later, the Ravens had another poor performance at Jacksonville a week after an impressive victory over Houston.

They are rare moments in the tenure of John Harbaugh. Since taking over in 2008, the Ravens have three losses against sub-.500 teams. Only one was later than the second week of the regular season, and it came three weeks ago against the Jaguars.

The fact two of those slip ups against losing teams happened this season, and with a home game waiting next week against division co-leader Cincinnati, is what’s causing the Ravens concern about this trip.

“It’s really easy to get ready for a team like Seattle because they’re very talented. I think they’ve lost a lot of close games and their record is not in any way indicative of the type of football team they are,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve had this experience already and so we know that those records don’t mean anything.”

Flacco spent most of the week deflecting the praise being heaped his way following his nearly flawless final drive last week against Pittsburgh, which ended with a 26-yard TD pass to rookie Torrey Smith with 8 seconds left that gave the Ravens a season sweep of their AFC North rivals. Flacco took the Ravens 92 yards in the final 21Ú2 minutes for the winning score.

“If we just dwell on that then the end is going to be nothing. We’re going to look back on it and say, ‘Who cares?’ because we lost a couple more games,” Flacco said. “But as long as we go and do our jobs the rest of the season I think we will be able to look at that as a big win.”

A win Sunday would give the Ravens their second 7-2 start in franchise history. The previous time came in 2006 when Baltimore finished 13-3 and had the second-best record in the AFC.

Seattle isn’t anywhere near thinking about 7-2 starts and 13-3 records. They’ve dropped their last three, scoring a combined 28 points in losses to Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dallas.

The Seahawks are proving talented enough to give better teams fits, as evident by the fact they’ve been within one score in the fourth quarter in five of their six losses. But that only highlights Seattle’s sometimes maddening inconsistency and seeming to always be playing from behind.

They are headaches that were expected with such a young team. That doesn’t make being 2-6 any easier to accept.

“It’s just been the performance level of our guys has just not been where it needs to be, you know? We haven’t taken care of the football as well as we need to.”

We haven’t gotten the ball as much as we need to,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “With our young guys up front, it’s been a process. As much as we have no patience about it, we have had to be patient as we watch them develop. It’s just been a fight. So, we’re getting along here.”

If there was a bright spot to take from last week’s loss in Dallas, it was the rediscovery of a running game. The Seahawks scraped the no-huddle approach that worked in an upset of the New York Giants last month — and subsequently sputtered — and ran for 162 yards against a Cowboys defense that was fourth in the league against the run. Marshawn Lynch topped 100 yards in the regular season for the first time in nearly three years, but Seattle couldn’t overcome three interceptions from Tarvaris Jackson.

Carroll said this week that Seattle’s ability to run is of paramount importance to how the rest of the team operates, no matter if it’s in a hurry-up offense or not. If they’re able to run against Ray Lewis, Haloti Ngata and the rest of the Ravens’ defense, it’ll be an impressive statement.

“We are in for a fight. What else can you ask for?” Jackson said. “We’re a young team, and we’re trying to show what we have, and put together a nice team here. So what better challenge is it to have to go against one of the better defenses in the league?”

——

Follow Tim Booth on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ByTimBooth

It’s seems like the perfect trap. Coming off an emotional and important victory, the Baltimore Ravens fly across the country to play a 2-6 team coming off a third straight loss.

Problem for the Ravens is it’s a situation they’ve faced and failed at twice this season.

The Ravens said all the right things this week about realizing the importance of Sunday’s game at Seattle and how any benefits from their thrilling, last-second 23-20 win over Pittsburgh last week will be completely negated with a West Coast flop.

But the Ravens track record this season says the rare matchup against the struggling Seahawks could mean problems. All they have to do is look back to Week 2 at Tennessee and Week 7 at Jacksonville to see the mistakes.

“We have been riding an emotional high right now. Coming off those big wins, (the media) like to say we have that tendency of a letdown,” Baltimore running back Ray Rice said. “I think it’s time for us to be able to put the big games behind us and treat every game like it’s a big game.”

After routing Pittsburgh in its season opener, Baltimore followed up with a flop against the Titans. Five weeks later, the Ravens had another poor performance at Jacksonville a week after an impressive victory over Houston.

They are rare moments in the tenure of John Harbaugh. Since taking over in 2008, the Ravens have three losses against sub-.500 teams. Only one was later than the second week of the regular season, and it came three weeks ago against the Jaguars.

The fact two of those slip ups against losing teams happened this season, and with a home game waiting next week against division co-leader Cincinnati, is what’s causing the Ravens concern about this trip.

“It’s really easy to get ready for a team like Seattle because they’re very talented. I think they’ve lost a lot of close games and their record is not in any way indicative of the type of football team they are,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve had this experience already and so we know that those records don’t mean anything.”

Flacco spent most of the week deflecting the praise being heaped his way following his nearly flawless final drive last week against Pittsburgh, which ended with a 26-yard TD pass to rookie Torrey Smith with 8 seconds left that gave the Ravens a season sweep of their AFC North rivals. Flacco took the Ravens 92 yards in the final 2½ minutes for the winning score.

“If we just dwell on that then the end is going to be nothing. We’re going to look back on it and say, ‘Who cares?’ because we lost a couple more games,” Flacco said. “But as long as we go and do our jobs the rest of the season I think we will be able to look at that as a big win.”

A win Sunday would give the Ravens their second 7-2 start in franchise history. The previous time came in 2006 when Baltimore finished 13-3 and had the second-best record in the AFC.

Seattle isn’t anywhere near thinking about 7-2 starts and 13-3 records. They’ve dropped their last three, scoring a combined 28 points in losses to Cleveland, Cincinnati and Dallas.

The Seahawks are proving talented enough to give better teams fits, as evident by the fact they’ve been within one score in the fourth quarter in five of their six losses. But that only highlights Seattle’s sometimes maddening inconsistency and seeming to always be playing from behind.

They are headaches that were expected with such a young team. That doesn’t make being 2-6 any easier to accept.

“It’s just been the performance level of our guys has just not been where it needs to be, you know? We haven’t taken care of the football as well as we need to. We haven’t gotten the ball as much as we need to,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “With our young guys up front, it’s been a process. As much as we have no patience about it, we have had to be patient as we watch them develop. It’s just been a fight. So, we’re getting along here.”

If there was a bright spot to take from last week’s loss in Dallas, it was the rediscovery of a running game. The Seahawks scraped the no-huddle approach that worked in an upset of the New York Giants last month — and subsequently sputtered — and ran for 162 yards against a Cowboys defense that was fourth in the league against the run. Marshawn Lynch topped 100 yards in the regular season for the first time in nearly three years, but Seattle couldn’t overcome three interceptions from Tarvaris Jackson.

Carroll said this week that Seattle’s ability to run is of paramount importance to how the rest of the team operates, no matter if it’s in a hurry-up offense or not. If they’re able to run against Ray Lewis, Haloti Ngata and the rest of the Ravens’ defense, it’ll be an impressive statement.

“We are in for a fight. What else can you ask for?” Jackson said. “We’re a young team, and we’re trying to show what we have, and put together a nice team here. So what better challenge is it to have to go against one of the better defenses in the league?”

___

Follow Tim Booth on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ByTimBooth

The AFC North has been wild this year. The season started with the Baltimore Ravens absolutely drubbing the Pittsburgh Steelers, establishing a possible early dominance in the division. But as the season progressed, the Steelers have bounced back, the Ravens have made a case for why they could be an AFC favorite and the young Cincinnati Bengals have surprised everyone by going 6-2, creating a virtual three-way tie for first place (the Steelers are 6-3, but have not yet had a bye week). This AFC North division race is going to continue to be a tight one, but at the end, look for the Pittsburgh Steelers to emerge on top.

Most recently, the Steelers lost their second game of the season to the Baltimore Ravens in a game that came down to the final minute. Led by quarterback Joe Flacco, the Ravens were able to come back from a 20-16 deficit on a touchdown pass to rookie receiver Torrey Smith. A game in which the Steelers controlled for the most part was out of their hands, and they took the loss. Although Pittsburgh lost to Baltimore both times this season, Pittsburgh has shown something on both sides of the ball that the Ravens have not–consistency. Once the Steelers picked up their play following the season-opening loss to Baltimore, they’ve been dominant as always defensively and executed the offense as expected. The Ravens, on the other hand, have shown their defensive dominance, but have struggled at times offensively. Joe Flacco has played well recently, but going back just three games, he had a less-than-spectacular performance against the mediocre Jacksonville Jaguars. Additionally, a huge part of the Ravens’ offense is their running game, which was non-existent in that game against the Jags. It makes analysts wonder whether the offensive coaching is responsible because running back Ray Rice is a Pro-Bowl-caliber back. With these flaws offensively, the Ravens are a tougher team to pick. In addition, Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been having a good year, and running back Rashard Mendenhall has made big contributions as well to the offense.

Consistency always helps make a safe pick. But there is another reason why the Steelers are a better pick to win the division over both Baltimore and Cincinnati: experience. The players on the Steelers have, for the most part, all been to the playoffs before. Just a season ago, the Steelers were in the Super Bowl. Many of the returning players know exactly what it takes to get back there. Although the Ravens have experienced players in terms of the playoffs, very few, if any ,have made it to the Super Bowl other than Ray Lewis. The defense of the Ravens, like that of the Steelers, is championship quality and could propel them to the Super Bowl, but the Steelers are a much safer choice.

We’re halfway through the season, and the remaining schedules of each team also contribute to this decision. The Steelers have a much lighter schedule than the Ravens for the rest of the season, which is just another reason why the Pittsburgh Steelers will win the AFC North division. 

Rice had 15 carries for 37 yards, and Joe Flacco was 18 for 28 for 180 yards for the Ravens (5-2), who are looking to sweep their bitter rivals and move past them in the division.

Cundiff had field goals of 18, 43 and 51 yards, the latter coming on the final play of the first half. Cundiff also missed from 40 yards, and Pittsburgh’s Shaun Suisham kicked field goals of 36 and 30 yards in a game befitting the NFL’s two best statistical defenses.

The Ravens converted 10 of 14 third downs and had 224 yards of offense against the team that ranks No. 2 in the NFL in defense, trailing only Baltimore.

Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger was 14 for 26 for 235 yards — but Terrell Suggs intercepted him on the first drive of the second half with the Steelers at the Baltimore 14.

The Steelers (6-2) have won four consecutive games and are 6-1 since a 35-7 blowout loss at Baltimore in the season opener.

Baltimore took the opening kickoff and held the ball for 14 plays and 6:50, getting a first-and-goal at the 1 after a pass interference call on William Gay in the end zone.

But Ryan Clark nearly intercepted Flacco’s pass on the ensuing play, and Rice was stuffed running up the middle on the next two plays, setting up Cundiff’s first field goal.

Rice had taken the first play from scrimmage 76 yards into the end zone, but the play was called back for a holding penalty on Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith.

Baltimore’s second field goal that gave it the lead again came at the end of a 10-play drive in the second quarter.

A week after holding the ball for almost 40 minutes in a 25-17 win over New England, the Steelers had less possession time than the Ravens through three quarters.

The Steelers drove to the Baltimore 18 early in the second quarter, but the drive stalled after Hines Ward could not hold onto a pass near the first-down marker on third-and-7 due to a helmet-to-helmet hit from Ray Lewis.

Ward left the game with a stinger and his return was questionable. Ward, who missed last week’s win over New England due to an ankle injury, was sitting on the sideline without his helmet.

Suisham’s second field goal came with 1:05 left in the first half, but Davis Reed returned the ensuing kickoff 32 yards. That — along with a personal foul call on Clark for hitting a defenseless receiver — allowed Flacco to drive the Ravens in position for another Cundiff field goal.

Pittsburgh has beaten Baltimore six of the previous nine meetings — including in playoff games following the 2008 and ‘10 seasons. That includes five of the past six played at Heinz Field, although the Ravens did win here in the regular season last season.

The previous meeting was the Ravens’ most lopsided victory in the 15-year series between the teams. In that game, Baltimore sacked Roethlisberger four times and forced seven turnovers.

Pittsburgh, though, has just two turnovers during its four-game winning streak.

Flacco had three touchdown passes in the September meeting against the Steelers, but has only five since.

Pittsburgh welcomed back former All-Pro linebacker James Harrison, who had missed the past four games since sustaining a broken orbital bone in a loss at Houston. Harrison had his third sack of the season late in the second quarter.

Former Pro Bowl linebackers James Farrior and LaMarr Woodley are not active for the Steelers due to injury. Also inactive for Pittsburgh was nose tackle Chris Hoke and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders.

The winner of the game keeps pace in the division with Cincinnati (6-2).

This is the fifth consecutive season these two teams have played a prime-time game.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

PITTSBURGH (AP)—Ray Rice(notes) had a 4-yard touchdown run, Billy Cundiff(notes) made
three of four first-half field-goal attempts and the Baltimore Ravens held a
16-6 lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers at the end of the third quarter of a
crucial AFC North game Sunday night.

Rice’s touchdown came with 4:27 left in the third quarter to cap a 12-play
drive that lasted more than six minutes. The possession was aided by a pass
interference call on Pittsburgh’s Ike Taylor(notes) two snaps earlier that gave the
Ravens a first-and-goal at the 4.

Rice had 15 carries for 37 yards, and Joe Flacco(notes) was 18 for 28 for 180 yards
for the Ravens (5-2), who are looking to sweep their bitter rivals and move past
them in the division.

Cundiff had field goals of 18, 43 and 51 yards, the latter coming on the
final play of the first half. Cundiff also missed from 40 yards, and
Pittsburgh’s Shaun Suisham(notes) kicked field goals of 36 and 30 yards in a game
befitting the NFL’s two best statistical defenses.

The Ravens converted 10 of 14 third downs and had 224 yards of offense
against the team that ranks No. 2 in the NFL in defense, trailing only
Baltimore.

Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger(notes) was 14 for 26 for 235 yards—but Terrell
Suggs(notes) intercepted him on the first drive of the second half with the Steelers at
the Baltimore 14.

The Steelers (6-2) have won four consecutive games and are 6-1 since a 35-7
blowout loss at Baltimore in the season opener.

Baltimore took the opening kickoff and held the ball for 14 plays and 6:50,
getting a first-and-goal at the 1 after a pass interference call on William Gay(notes)
in the end zone.

But Ryan Clark(notes) nearly intercepted Flacco’s pass on the ensuing play, and
Rice was stuffed running up the middle on the next two plays, setting up
Cundiff’s first field goal.

Rice had taken the first play from scrimmage 76 yards into the end zone, but
the play was called back for a holding penalty on Ravens wide receiver Torrey
Smith(notes).

Baltimore’s second field goal that gave it the lead again came at the end of
a 10-play drive in the second quarter.

A week after holding the ball for almost 40 minutes in a 25-17 win over New
England, the Steelers had less possession time than the Ravens through three
quarters.

The Steelers drove to the Baltimore 18 early in the second quarter, but the
drive stalled after Hines Ward(notes) could not hold onto a pass near the first-down
marker on third-and-7 due to a helmet-to-helmet hit from Ray Lewis(notes).

Ward left the game with a stinger and his return was questionable. Ward, who
missed last week’s win over New England due to an ankle injury, was sitting on
the sideline without his helmet.

Suisham’s second field goal came with 1:05 left in the first half, but Davis
Reed returned the ensuing kickoff 32 yards. That—along with a personal foul
call on Clark for hitting a defenseless receiver—allowed Flacco to drive the
Ravens in position for another Cundiff field goal.

Pittsburgh has beaten Baltimore six of the previous nine meetings—
including in playoff games following the 2008 and ’10 seasons. That includes
five of the past six played at Heinz Field, although the Ravens did win here in
the regular season last season.

The previous meeting was the Ravens’ most lopsided victory in the 15-year
series between the teams. In that game, Baltimore sacked Roethlisberger four
times and forced seven turnovers.

Pittsburgh, though, has just two turnovers during its four-game winning
streak.

Flacco had three touchdown passes in the September meeting against the
Steelers, but has only five since.

Pittsburgh welcomed back former All-Pro linebacker James Harrison(notes), who had
missed the past four games since sustaining a broken orbital bone in a loss at
Houston. Harrison had his third sack of the season late in the second quarter.

Former Pro Bowl linebackers James Farrior(notes) and LaMarr Woodley(notes) are not active
for the Steelers due to injury. Also inactive for Pittsburgh was nose tackle
Chris Hoke(notes) and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders(notes).

The winner of the game keeps pace in the division with Cincinnati (6-2).

This is the fifth consecutive season these two teams have played a
prime-time game.

(Sports Network) – A blowout victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers back in Week
1 helped to propel the Baltimore Ravens to the top of the list of contenders in
the AFC.

Pittsburgh has slowly been making its climb back into the conference mix and
has hit its stride just in time for Sunday’s rematch with Baltimore, this time
on the home turf of Heinz Field.

The Steelers aim for a fifth straight victory on the season and seventh in a
row at home, including the playoffs. To do that, they’ll have to shake off the
memories of a turnover-filled 35-7 defeat in Baltimore back on Sept. 11.

The Ravens’ defense was in top form in that game. Baltimore forced a
franchise-record seven turnovers, intercepting Pittsburgh quarterback Ben
Roethlisberger three times and forcing a total of four fumbles. Roethlisberger
was also sacked four times, and the Steelers’ seven giveaways were their most
in a game since also turning the ball over seven times versus Minnesota on
Sept. 24, 1995.

With the Ravens having set a club record for their largest margin of victory in
games against the Steelers, many expect Pittsburgh to be better prepared for
Baltimore’s swarming defense in this rematch.

And despite the Steelers having the second-ranked defense in the league behind
only the Ravens, Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin was quick to praise the
opposition on Tuesday.

“It’s probably a coincidence at this juncture. I am not ready to at least put
us in the conversation with the Ravens’ defense,” Tomlin said. “We are not even
close to doing what they are doing right now. Maybe statistically, but the way
they are generating splash plays sets them apart.”

Pittsburgh does have a huge win to build off of, as it defeated Tom Brady and
the New England Patriots at home for the first time since Oct. 31, 2004 with a
25-17 victory last Sunday.

The Steelers held the ball for almost twice as long as the Patriots, taking
some pressure off of their injury-plagued defense. Linebackers James Harrison
and James Farrior were out, as was defensive end Aaron Smith. Linebacker
LaMarr Woodley also suffered a hamstring issue towards the end of the game,
putting his status for this contest in doubt.

Harrison (eye) has been cleared for practice but is unlikely to play until
after the team’s Nov. 20 bye, while Farrior is battling a calf issue and is
questionable. Woodley’s hamstring was reported to be a serious injury that
could sideline him until the bye, but the linebacker said not to rule him out
for this game. Tomlin added that Woodley’s ability to practice will decide if
he plays.

Wide receiver Hines Ward also missed the New England win with an ankle issue,
but is expected to be available for this rematch.

The Steelers are trying to open a season 5-0 at home for the first time since
2007 and have won six of seven since their loss to the Ravens to take a half-
game lead over Baltimore and Cincinnati for first place in the division.

The Ravens won four of five to open the season before suffering an ugly 12-7
loss in Jacksonville on Oct. 24. They were then in danger of losing a second
straight time last Sunday to an Arizona team that came into the game with only
one win, but rallied from 21 points down to beat the Cardinals, 30-27.

Baltimore trailed 24-6 at the break, but outgained Arizona by a 249-56 margin
in the second half and scored 24 unanswered points. The Ravens then won it on
Billy Cundiff’s 25-yard field goal as time expired.

“We woke up, plain and simple,” said wide receiver Anquan Boldin. “Our offense
came out flat. We turned the ball over a couple times. We felt like we gave
them 14 points. We just woke up in the second half. We knew that we couldn’t
keep putting our defense in that situation. Still had a bitter taste in our
mouth from last week, so we wanted to come out and rectify that.”

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco said earlier this week that the come-from-behind
victory may have given the club more confidence for this game than its Week 1
rout of Pittsburgh.

“We have to look back at it and see what we did well, and see what
we can carry over to this game plan,” Flacco said of the first win over the
Steelers. “I think last week, really, was more important for our confidence
heading into this week than that week was. We always feel like we can play
with these guys and go give them a good matchup and go beat them.”

Baltimore is trying to start a season 6-2 for a second straight season and the
third time in club history.

SERIES HISTORY

Baltimore’s win at M&T Bank Stadium in the 2011 opener cut Pittsburgh’s
overall lead in this regular-season series to 18-13, and the Ravens also
handed the Steelers a 17-14 defeat at Heinz Field during Week 4 of last year,
though Roethlisberger did not play in that contest while serving a suspension.
Pittsburgh has bested Baltimore in the Steel City in seven of the past nine
seasons, however, and the Ravens have not swept the home-and-home set between
the teams since 2006.

Pittsburgh moved to 3-0 against Baltimore in postseason play with last
season’s win in the Divisional Round. In addition to a 23-14 home verdict for
the Steelers in the 2008 AFC Championship, the Black and Gold also earned a
27-10 triumph in a 2001 AFC Divisional Playoff at Heinz Field.

Including the playoffs, Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh is 3-6 all-time
against the Steelers, while Tomlin owns a 7-4 record versus the Ravens and is
6-3 in head-to-head encounters with Harbaugh.

WHEN THE RAVENS HAVE THE BALL

Flacco and the offense shook off some early turnovers that gave the Cardinals
some easy points. Baltimore managed just a pair of Cundiff field goals in the
first half, but running back Ray Rice (489 rushing yards, 33 receptions, 7
total TD) went off for a career-high three touchdowns in the second half, all
from three yards or closer. Rice ended with 63 yards on 18 carries and also
caught seven balls for 36 yards. Boldin (34 receptions, 2 TD) also had a big
day against his former team, hauling in seven passes for a game-high 145 yards.
Tight ends Ed Dickson (28 receptions, 1 TD) and Dennis Pitta (16 receptions)
made six catches each, but wide receiver Torrey Smith (15 receptions, 3 TD)
caught only three of his nine targets for 57 yards. Though he did not throw a
touchdown pass and was intercepted once, Flacco (1751 passing yards, 8 TD, 6
INT) still posted 336 yards passing, completing 31 of the career-high 51 throws
he attempted. Flacco was also sacked three times, but could have left guard Ben
Grubbs back in the lineup for the first time since Week 1 as he recovers from a
toe injury. Wide receiver Lee Evans remains doubtful with an ankle problem,
however, while both center Matt Birk and receiver David Reed are questionable
because of injuries.

Pittsburgh hasn’t allowed more than 20 points in a game since its loss to
Baltimore, a matchup in which the Ravens racked up 385 yards of offense. The
Steelers, though, now rank second overall in total defense (270.8 ypg) and
stand first versus the pass (171.6 ypg). Unlike the Ravens, the Steelers
struggle in forcing turnovers, however, as they have just two interceptions and
four fumble recoveries on the season. Overall, Pittsburgh has a turnover ratio
of minus-10 and did not force one versus the Patriots. Still, the fact that the
Steelers limited New England to just 213 yards of offense without Harrison (23
tackles, 2 sacks) and Farrior (45 tackles, 2 sacks) is impressive. Woodley (36
tackles, 9 sacks, 1 INT) managed two sacks before suffering his injury, while
Harrison replacement Larry Foote (30 tackles, 1 sack) and safety Ryan Clark (50
tackles, 1 INT) led the team with eight tackles each. Defensive end Brett
Keisel (19 tackles, 3 sacks) added a sack, while cornerback Ike Taylor (20
tackles) ended with six stops. If Woodley and Farrior can’t play this weekend,
Lawrence Timmons (37 tackles) would be the lone regular starting linebacker in
the lineup.

WHEN THE STEELERS HAVE THE BALL

Roethlisberger (2302 passing yards, 14 TD, 7 INT) has done his best in putting
the season-opening game behind him. He has just four interceptions in seven
games since getting picked off three times by Baltimore and has thrown 11
touchdown passes over the Steelers’ four-game win streak, including two versus
the Patriots. Roethlisberger finished that contest with 365 yards on 36-of-50
passing and was also picked off once. Mike Wallace (43 receptions, 5 TD) ended
with seven catches for 70 yards, but the wideout’s long was only 16 yards as
the Patriots looked to take away his deep-play ability. That left plenty of
balls for wide receiver Antonio Brown (34 receptions, 1 TD) and tight end Heath
Miller (30 receptions, 2 TD), with Brown pulling in nine passes that included
his first career touchdown. Miller had seven receptions for a team-high 85
yards. With Ward (26 receptions, 2 TD) out, Emmanuel Sanders (18 receptions, 2
TD) added five catches for 70 yards against New England. Seeing as the passing
offense was clicking and ranks eighth overall in the NFL, starting running back
Rashad Mendenhall (421 rushing yards, 3 TD) got just 13 carries last week, but
did turn those opportunities into 70 yards for a 5.4 average per carry.

The respected Ravens defense may have yielded 27 points last week, but short
fields and a special-teams score inflated that total. The NFL’s top-ranked unit
(263.3 ypg) actually gave up a mere 207 yards of net offense, including just
98 through the air. On the season, Baltimore ranks third against both the run
and the pass. Linebacker Terrell Suggs (33 tackles, 6 sacks, 1 INT) was all
over the field against Arizona, recording a game-high 13 tackles and a sack. He
has 13 1/2 career sacks versus the Steelers in the regular season, the most any
active player has compiled against the franchise. Safety Ed Reed (27 tackles, 1
sack, 2 INT) had a pair of interceptions in the Week 1 meeting with Pittsburgh
and Suggs had three sacks in that game. Linebacker Ray Lewis (55 tackles, 2
sacks, 1 INT) also had a pick and seven tackles in the Week 1 rout, and added
five more stops versus the Cardinals. In all, the Ravens logged six sacks
against Arizona, getting a pair from pass-rush specialist Paul Kruger (6
tackles, 3 sacks) and one each from cornerback Chris Carr (7 tackles, 1 sack),
linebacker Jarret Johnson (26 tackles, 2.5 sacks) and safety Bernard Pollard
(21 tackles, 1 sack). Rookie cornerback Jimmy Smith, who suffered an injury at
the season’s onset and has been working his way back since, is expected to see
an expanded role in this game. Though he did not log a tackle versus the
Cardinals, he did have one pass defensed.

KEYS TO THE GAME

Keep an eye on Rice. The Steelers’ defense has allowed just three 100-yard
rushers in its last 58 games dating back to 2007, but Rice has two of them.
That includes 107 yards in the Week 1 victory and a 141-yard effort in
Pittsburgh on Dec. 27, 2009.

Flacco and Roethlisberger both have their work cut out for them this week, and
whichever quarterback finds a way to make plays will likely come out on the
winning side. The edge could go to Flacco given the Steelers’ issues at
linebacker.

Keep Heinz Field involved. The Steelers are always tough to play at home and
bring an impressive run into this meeting. The Ravens are just 5-10 all-time at
Pittsburgh during the regular season and 0-3 there during the playoffs.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

While a Week 9 matchup certainly won’t decide the AFC North, especially with
Cincinnati lurking in the shadows, the victor of this key clash will certainly
have an edge should the Steelers and Ravens meet for a third time this season
in the playoffs. That being said, Baltimore’s Week 1 victory likely won’t
factor into how this game will shake down. Enough time and games have passed to
make that meeting irrelevant at this point, and the change in venue certainly
seems to favor the Steelers. Pittsburgh’s injuries on defense could be the x-
factor, but the Ravens have been just too inconsistent this year to leave Heinz
Field with a win.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Steelers 21, Ravens 17

The Sports Network

PITTSBURGH — In the tradition of former Steelers linebacker Joey
Porter, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs entertained
Pittsburgh reporters — and thus fans of both teams — with an
exuberant performance during a Wednesday pre-game conference
call.

Suggs’ Ravens, of course, are coming to Heinz Field for a
top-of-division showdown against the Steelers on Sunday night. So
Suggs felt the need to “close the door” because “it’s gonna get hot
up here” prior to the questioning.

With three sacks against the Steelers in Week One, and a
league-high 15½ career sacks of Steelers quarterback Ben
Roethlisberger (counting playoffs), Suggs was asked why he’s played
so well against the Steelers.

“I consider Heinz Field my Madison Square Garden,” he said. “In
my eyes, if you’re an opponent and you want to go into a hostile
environment, what better than Heinz Field?

“I’m definitely the bad guy. To you guys’s fans, I don’t think
there’s a player they hate more than me. But I love that. I love
playing in Heinz Field. Even though the fans hate me, everything
about this game they bring it. They’re a big part of the game and
we’re even looking forward to hearing that song in the fourth
quarter.”

After Suggs bashed the reporters for asking a couple of dull
questions, he was asked simply if the Ravens are going to win on
Sunday.

“I expect to,” he said. “I mean, who goes into a game and plans
to lose? I’m expecting a straight-up gang-fight brawl. I think
their coach declared war on us in November.

“It’s everything we expect going into Heinz Field. We’re not
going to be surprised if we come out there and get into a scuffle
or a brawl. This is football. This is football at its finest. This
is definitely the most physical game of the year out of all 32
teams. We’re looking forward to it, and especially tell 86 I hope
he plays because it wouldn’t be Baltimore-Pittsburgh without him.
I’d be really disappointed if 86 doesn’t play.”

Suggs, of course, was referring to Hines Ward, No. 86, who said
he will play Sunday against Baltimore.

“I’m worried about the Pittsburgh Steeler offense and I know 86
is a valuable part of that and I would really love to see my good
friend Hines Ward on the field,” Suggs added. “We had an interview
a couple weeks ago with each other. I told him I’d see him in
November and I don’t want to be a liar.”

Suggs talked about his respect for Steelers left tackle Max
Starks and the team’s young wide receivers. And then he got most
Steelers fans on his side by taking a shot at New England
quarterback Tom Brady after Suggs was asked about the importance of
defense in the AFC North Division.

“Defense is a means of survival in every division, if you don’t
got the pretty boy from up north,” Suggs said. “If you don’t got
him, you better have a good defense. Y’all showed last week that
even that won’t get it done for you. If you’re 32nd in defense,
you’re not going to be a pretty good team at all.

But usually you have a chance with the NFL’s golden boy on your
team.”

Suggs said the Steelers-Patriots game was “a lose-lose game for
me. I liked when they hit him, but like I said I couldn’t win.
Whatever the outcome of the game, I couldn’t win.”

And finally, Suggs was asked why his own offense, which he’s
criticized at numerous stops throughout his nine-year career, will
do anything but fail in yet another big game.

“That’s a good question,” he said. “Why should anyone believe
it’s going to be different this year until we show it? I guess
we’ll know Monday morning.”

NOTES: For the second time this season,
Roethlisberger was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week, this
time for his performance against the New England Patriots.
Roethlisberger broke team records for attempts (50) and completions
(36) in a win.

He also threw for 365 yards and 2 touchdowns. … The Steelers
signed WR Jamar Newsome to their practice squad and released DL
Elisha Joseph.

Newsome is a 6-0½, 200-pound undrafted rookie out of Central
Florida who made the Jacksonville roster this season, but was
released on Sept. 20. … Scoring changes from the win over the
Patriots: The team was credited with the safety and not Troy
Polamalu and kicker Shaun Suisham missed from 44 yards, not 43.

© 2011 heraldstandard.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been one of the hottest teams in the NFL lately. On November 6 they will be looking for payback after their worst loss in recent memory when they host the Baltimore Ravens in prime time. But Pittsburgh might have a difficult time doing that with one of their best players on the sideline. Pittsburgh linebacker LaMarr Woodley(notes) will miss the Baltimore game with a hamstring injury. His loss would be a major blow for the Steelers in a huge division battle.

Woodley suffered a hamstring injury against the New England Patriots during their won on October 30. The injury was serious enough for the team to mention that it wasn’t good. Woodley is expected to miss not only the Baltimore game but also the game against the Cincinnati Bengals the following week. The best case is for Woodley to return after the team has a bye on November 20. That means he will be missing two huge division games that could define the season for Pittsburgh.

Woodley has had multiple sacks in four straight weeks, including against New England. He has nine sacks on the season and also has an interception. He is one of the key defenders in Pittsburgh’s aggressive 3-4 scheme. The Steelers are already missing a pair of other key linebackers in James Harrison(notes) and James Farrior(notes). With Woodley joining them on the mend, Pittsburgh will have a hard time generating the defensive pressure they need in order to be the Ravens.

Baltimore is a team that thrives on the run but they can also throw. After a couple of bad weeks, Joe Flacco(notes) came alive in the second half against the Arizona Cardinals. The Ravens have already shown that they can move the ball once against the Steelers. With the various linebacker injuries, the Ravens should be able to do it again. Pittsburgh might have depth, but losing a guy that has gotten sacks the way Woodley has is going to be difficult. Pittsburgh doesn’t have another player that can step in and do the things that he did. The Steelers are 6-2 right now but the Ravens and Bengals are both right behind them. There might not be a worse time for them to lose Woodley for a couple of games.

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

NORTHBROOK, Ill. (STATS)—The Baltimore Ravens staged an impressive
comeback win Sunday, and in the process came up with an extremely effective way
of protecting Joe Flacco(notes).

While falling behind by three touchdowns and moving into a continual
hurry-up offense is not the traditional path to victory, the Arizona Cardinals
could be at the point where they’ll try just about anything to give Kevin Kolb(notes)
some time.

In an overall down week for offensive lines, Baltimore graded out tops in
the league with its season-best 90.1 in the New York Life Protection Index.
Bolstered by the quick tempo they were forced into by an early deficit, Flacco
and the Ravens finished strong in their 30-27 win over Arizona, which again saw
the struggling Kolb battered due to a league-worst minus-25.4 mark.

The NYLPI is a proprietary formula created by STATS LLC which measures pass
protection by using metrics such as length of passes, penalties by offensive
linemen, sacks allowed and quarterback hurries and knockdowns.

The Ravens scored 36.3 points higher in the index than they did a week ago,
when they were shockingly overmatched by Jacksonville in a 12-7 Monday night
loss. They didn’t play much better for the first two quarters Sunday afternoon,
either.

But something clicked just before the half, as Baltimore went no-huddle on
their last possession of the second quarter and drove 62 yards before a sack and
field goal left them with a 24-6 deficit at the break. Coach John Harbaugh
elected to continue that strategy in the second half, and Flacco went on to
complete 19 of his next 28 passes for 238 yards and no interceptions, getting
sacked just once.

“I think they played better as the game went on,” Harbaugh said of his
offensive line. “I think the tempo helped us. Joe mentioned that, the fact that
the no-huddle stuff kept them out of some of their pressures. They still
pressured, but it’s hard to rush the passer when you start getting tired. So I
think that helped us, too.”

The Ravens’ NYLPI was the lowest by any week’s leader this season, but it
was hard for Harbaugh not to be optimistic that his line’s late performance
could help turn a corner and provide solid momentum for its key matchup against
archrival Pittsburgh this weekend.

“My assessment is that they’ll be ready to play against Pittsburgh, and
we’ll be the best offensive line we can be,” Harbaugh said. “That’s the only
thing you really need to assess as a coach. You look for ways to get better,
anything specifically, and we try to work on all those things.”

For the Cardinals, there are no shortage of things to work on, and pass
protection may be at the forefront. Kolb was sacked a season-worst six times and
knocked down nine. Outside of an early 66-yard catch-and-run to Larry
Fitzgerald(notes), he completed just 9 of 20 passes for 87 yards.

Looking for help, coach Ken Whisenhunt replaced right tackle Brandon Keith(notes)
with Jeremy Bridges(notes) during the game. He hasn’t decided whether the move is
permanent.

“It’s hard to make a wholesale change on the line,” Whisenhunt said. “There
were some aspects of the game that the line did very well. That gets overlooked
because you look at the stats and you look at the number of sacks, which is
tough. You’ve got to walk that line.”

Walking that line – or any other – would be difficult for Kolb, who had his
right foot in a boot Monday to protect a turf toe injury he suffered. His status
for this week’s game against St. Louis is up in the air.

Tim Tebow’s,(notes) however, is not. Coach John Fox confirmed the former Florida
star would get his third straight start Sunday despite another horrific
performance by the Denver offense in a 45-10 drubbing by Detroit.

Although the Broncos actually improved in their week-to-week numbers,
scoring a 26.6 in the NYLPI after finishing with an NFL season-worst minus-25.6
mark in their overtime win at Miami, Tebow likely didn’t sense much of a
difference. He was still sacked seven times and knocked down 10 in the loss to
the Lions.

Tebow didn’t help his cause, finishing 18 of 39 for 172 yards with one
interception and three fumbles – and those numbers were padded in the fourth
quarter after he was just 7 of 20 for 80 yards in the first three.

While the shine on Tebow and the passing game in general may be losing its
luster in Denver, the team recognizes there is plenty of blame to go around.

“As an offense, we need to function as a unit. It takes all 11 guys to
function,” running back Lance Ball(notes) said.

One player Tennessee would love to get functioning is Chris Johnson. Yet
despite the superstar running back’s season-long issues on the ground – 14
carries for 34 yards in his latest disappointment – the Titans have proven to be
quite adept at keeping Matt Hasselbeck(notes) off of it.

For the season, the team moved up to second in the NYLPI after another
strong week of protection. Hasselbeck completed 23 of 33 passes for 224 yards
and one touchdown in a 27-10 win over Indianapolis. He was sacked only once and
knocked down just three times as Tennessee came in second for the week at 88.1.

Last season, Hasselbeck was the second-most sacked quarterback in the
league.

Because of that strong outing, combined with a season-worst one by New
Orleans, the Titans edged closer to the Saints at the top of the season NYPLI.
Coming off a 62-7 win over the Colts in Week 7, New Orleans was stunned in a
31-21 loss to previously winless St. Louis and graded out at just 47.1 on the
index.

Drew Brees(notes) was 30 of 44 for 269 yards and one touchdown, but had two
interceptions and was sacked a season-worst six times. He was knocked down nine
times and hurried three.

The poor performance by the line may have played a part in an argument
between offensive guard Carl Nicks(notes) and line coach Aaron Kromer, which led to the
two having to be separated.

“As you talk about the protection, there’s a lot that can be going into that
and we can do a better job as coaches to work with our tackles or our inside
people,” coach Sean Payton said.