Turning Tides?

For years, the Pittsburgh Steelers have dominated the AFC North behind Ben Roethlisberger and a dominant defense. As Pittsburgh ages, Baltimore has improved even while getting bit by the injury bug. Are tides changing in football's toughest division?

Sunday night was a classic meeting of the NFL's current greatest rivalry. Any time the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens meet, a gritty, hard fought, closely-contested and gruesome (both in terms of physicality and style points) is more imminent than the current fiscal cliff. Last night was no different, as we witnessed a 13-10 Ravens victory at Heinz Field behind a stingy, bend but don't break defense and an offense that refused to turn the ball over.

Last I checked, you make the playoffs based on wins, not flash. That's a good thing for Joe Flacco and the Ravens.



Baltimore improved to 8-2 on the season and took sole possession of first place in the AFC North. It's hard to stress just how important beating Pittsburgh was for the Ravens taking into account the grueling schedule that ensues this team. Baltimore heads out west to face San Diego next week, a game they lost last season in Qualcomm Stadium 34-14. The Chargers are a reeling team right now that needs a win, which adds to the daunting task of making that west coast trip. Baltimore than gets Pittsburgh again, this time at home, where the Ravens have not lost since December 5, 2010 against, you guessed it, the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, if Big Ben doesn't play again, it could be up in the air who is under center for that game. Byron Leftwich played as brilliantly as you could ask for a second string quarterback thrown into a game after taking just five practice snaps all year, but he seemed to have hurt his ribs after his scrambling touchdown run on the opening drive. A win for Baltimore in each of the next two weeks could all but wrap up the North, making the remainging four games (@ Washington to take on RG3 in the battle for Maryland, home against MVP candidate Peyton Manning and the Broncos and the annual second half collapsers New York Giants, and closing out against the revenge-hungry Cincinnatti Bengals) important only for playoff seeding. If Baltimore wants to play at home throughout the playoffs, after all, they will need to finish better than Houston. The Ravens were squandered by the Texans a few weeks ago in Houston and would rather not travel there again come January.

The Ravens are now 5-0 against Pittsburgh since 2004, when Ben Roethlisberger is on the sidelines. They are 4-7 with the rapist, er, Pro Bowl quarterback on the field. That is not to be ignored. However, Baltimore has won it's past three games against Pittsburgh, two of which came last season with Mr. Roethlisberger taking snaps. Joe Flacco has proven he can beat the Steelers, at home or on the road, with Big Ben playing. Flacco can lead an offense to crush the Steelers, he did so in Week 1 last season. He can lead an offense in a fourth quarter comeback against the Steelers, he accomplished that feat on national television in Heinz Field in Week 9 last season. And he can lead an offense to be just good enough against the Steelers by not turning the ball over and not making mistakes. He did that last night.

The Ravens offense scored as many touchdowns as I did last night. They got two field goals off turnovers and Jacoby Jones scored the team's lone TD off a 63 yard punt return in the first quarter. Side note, that was Jone's third touchdown return in five games. Also, Jones has quietly joined elite company by having two 105-plus yard returns in one season, something only teammate Ed Reed has accomplished. 

The bottom line, the offense wasn't pretty last night. This was the same offense that put up 55 on the Oakland Raiders last week, albeit the Oakland Raiders are more broken up right now than Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber (too soon?). Nevertheless, the Ravens were in the top ten for numerous offensive categories coming into last night's brawl (although those numbers are inflated from their two blowouts this season). The Ravens barely were able to muster 200 net yards and were an abysmal 3-for-14 on third down. Ray Rice had 35 yards rushing going into their final drive that Cam Cameron and Flacco managed pretty atrociously. Torrey Smith was as forgotten as Danny DeVito standing behind Michael Moore. You just couldn't find him. (Granted, Ike Taylor played incredible defense on him, and Dick Lebeau drew up beautiful packages to take him out of the game. Ryan Clark would consistently take out the flat for plays drawn to go to Smith, allowing Taylor to play deep. Any team that can execute this completely eliminates Torrey Smith's game.)

But they played just well enough, and that is how you beat this disciplined but aging Pittsburgh team. Baltimore finally realizes it. In years past, games would be decided by so little of margins, Baltimore's past four losses to Pittsburgh have all been under six points. But those margins would be decided by a late turnover on the Ravens part. That hasn't happened in the past two seasons. Joe Flacco is more disciplined, Ray Rice is a back who simply does not fumble any more, and the offense takes risks less often to avoid killer interceptions, but just enough to keep you honest and aware. While I disagree with mostly everything about Cam Cameron, from his play selection to his name, I respect what he is doing this year. They want to turn Joe Flacco into Drew Brees. He is not Drew Brees. He is Joe Flacco. And while that might sound like the most redundant and moronic argument I've ever made, you either don't know me or you don't understand what Flacco means to Baltimore. Flacco is a game manager, he is Joe Cool. Flacco has proven by how he has handled the Steelers in the past two years, and more notably since their AFC Championship loss to Pittsburgh in 2008, that he is one of the league's best clutch quarterbacks. You can count on Facebook to turn a three page paper into a day's work, you can count on Joe Flacco to turn a 4th quarter comeback into reality.

You can also count on him to deliver a hilarious commercial: And running...and scramlbing....and rambling

What does all of this culminate to? Baltimore are the new dogs of the AFC North. Pittsburgh is aging, they have not drafted as well as Baltimore has, defensively or offensively. Outside of James Harrison and Lawrence Timmons, their isn't a defensive player under 35 I would want on my team from that squad. The offensive line is atrocious, as I'm pretty sure the cast from New Girl could block on par or better than Willie Colon and his pundits. When does Old Guy come on?

Baltimore's core players are Joe Flacco, Ray Rice, Torrey Smith, Ladarius Webb, Terrell Suggs, Ray Lewis, Haloti Ngata and even Cary Williams. All of those players are under 30 minus Lewis and Suggs, and Suggs is 30 and in the prime of his career. Pittsburgh's core players are Ben Roethlisberger, Mike Wallace, Heath Miller, Troy Polamalu, James Harrison and Larry Foote. Miller is 30 years old, and other than him, only Wallace is still under treinta. Pittsburgh is one of the oldest teams in the league, and while Baltimore is old on defense, there is a certain youth movement. Key players in last night's game included Jacoby Jones, Joe Flacco, Cary Williams and even Dannell Ellerbee. While the defense is still led by Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, the young guys are stepping up. The same can not be said for Pittsburgh.

Injuries are killing this Steelers team, and that could be due to bad luck and that could be due to they are getting older. Pittsburgh's window is certainly not shut, had they made a play or two last night, they would be in first place right now behind a guy who has 50 career NFL starts and likely suffered bruised ribs. But that wind is getting drafty and the window is starting to shut. Energy costs are too high right now to just let it stay open, get a job and then maybe you can decide how we run this house. 

Call me crazy (I'm too giddy about Arrested Development not to take advantage) but I think this could be Baltimore's year. I don't want to jinx my squad, but they have the pieces for a championship team. A quarterback who knows the game, can make plays and is an excellent leader. A plethora of young and speedy guys at the skill positions. A defense that is finally coming together through all the injuries their top guys have endured (by the way, Ray Lewis is trying to make it back for the playoffs. Mariah Carey is singing All I want for Christmas is Rayyyyy as we speak. I'm looking at you, Nick Cannon. I'm a gigalo, spending lotsa dough) Baltimore could very well go 4-2 down the stretch, which would put them at 12-4. That would also likely land them a number two seed in the AFC, and they would only need to travel to Houston in any game in the playoffs, a game they certainly can win if they don't let things get out of hand. Baltimore might have caught up in the regular season in terms of the rivalry with Pittsburgh, but they have work to do in the Super Bowl column. Baltimore can flaunt all they want today, but Roethlisberger is still up 2-0 in the rings department and at least 1-0 in the bathroom stall department. Things get racy here, we need to calm down. if you don't have a box of tissues around you, i hope you're not a crier. i'm not. i swear i'm not. i swear. 

Kudos to Pittsburgh for a hard fought win, I loved everything about the game last night. While most people will complain, asking for their three hours back from watching such a horrendous game, to those people, how about this? There's a world outside your window, and it's a world of dreaded fear. Where the only water flowing, is the bitter sting of tears. Do they know it's Christmas time at all?

Sunday night was what the Ravens-Steelers rivalry is all about. Smash mouth, ugly, passionate football. Hard hits were more abundant than flea flickers, and running up the middle happened more often than a 45 yard big play (minus the 30 yard scramble from Leftwich, which haunted me more last night in my sleep than the final scene of Paranormal Activity 4 or the final scene of Breaking Amish, depending on whose reading). This rivalry is in your face football, and I love it.  This is the NFL's greatest modern day rivalry, outside of Roger Goodell vs the people. And it's the Baltimore Ravens rivalry to control. The ball is in their court.