When the season began everyone expected the Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens to be battling for a playoff bid, which meant the two games they played against each other would be huge. But then the Steelers opened the season, 0-4, then the Ravens lost 4 of 5 games. Despite both teams playing the worst ball they’ve played in years, Thursday’s game will be just as big as it has always been, with the winner right back in the stick of the playoff race. Despite the extremely poor play by these two perennial powerhouses, most of the rest of the AFC have been just as bad. So bad that the two teams with 5-6 records are still in the playoff hunt. The Steelers and the Ravens are battling with the New York Jets, 5-6; Miami Dolphins, 5-6; San Diego Chargers, 5-6; and the Tennessee Titans, 5-6. All battling for the last wild card spot. The division winners will have the top four spots and right now that appears to be the Denver Broncos, 9-2; New England Patriots, 8-3; Cincinnati Bengals, 7-4; and the Indianapolis Colts, 7-4. The Kansas City Chiefs, 9-2, will most likely be one wildcard team, leaving the other six teams battling for the last spot. Both the Steelers and Ravens won impressively last Sunday, the Steelers 27-11 over the Cleveland Browns, and the Ravens 19-3 over the Jets. Both teams’ defenses looked like the good old days. The Steelers were very impressive on both sides of the ball as the defense had five sacks and forced nine turnovers that led to 17 of their 27 points. Antonio Brown continued to look impressive as he’s making people forget Mike Wallace, with six catches for 92 yards. Ben Roethilisberger was 22 of 34 for 217 yards and two touchdowns. Despite forsaking the passing game in the fourth quarter as they tried to establish the run and run out the clock, Le’Veon Bell only had 80 yards on 23 carries. If they had been playing any other team other than the lowly Browns, they probably would have left the door open for a comeback. The youngsters on defense played a great game. The defense was headed by veteran Troy Polamalu, who forced two fumbles with his super aggressive plays which set the tempo and tone of the game. Joe Flacco had a solid game going 17 of 26 for 273 yards and a touchdown. The ground game was just so-so with Rice and Pierce combining for only 60 yards. This game should’ve be a strong defensive struggle, but overall the Steelers have a better defensive team and they are superior to the Ravens offensively as well, which should lead to the Steelers pulling their record even at 6-6 with the win over Baltimore. This win would put the Steelers two games behind the Bengals, who must face the Chargers and Colts before a gigantic game against the Steelers. Then Cincinnati will close out against the Minnesota Vikings and finish the season against the Ravens. Whereas the Steelers have the Dolphins between the Ravens and Bengals, and will close out the season against the Green Bay Packers, hopefully without Aaron Rogers, and the Browns. They could very easily be 10-6.
