I hate every one of you purple goons.  Now it's time to throw down.  Week 16 @ Heinz Field.

Righteous

Nothing gives me the 1000 yard football stare more than knowing that the ravens are next up on the schedule.    What injuries will Steelers stars face after dealing with the ravens dirty play? What sort of whining will ray-ray bleat out in the locker room?  What sort of nonsense will Malor spout?  What if the ravens win, which is always a likely scenario?  It makes me sick thinking about it.

What if the ravens won the AFC Title game last year in Heinz Field?  I couldn't imagine the intolerable horror I would feel on a daily basis knowing we let the ravens take our ticket to Tampa.  I will say this, hosting the ravens helped us prove that the AFC North is the toughest division in football.  Having our rivalry featured in the biggest game in the AFC has made me respect the ravens as a football team.  I'll always hate you though.

The ravens are like the bizarro Steelers.  They've clearly been created in the Steelers' image and their roster and strategy are designed to beat the Steelers above all else.  I fear that with today's signing of Mike Holmgren as President of the cleveland clowns, that team too will turn into a tool of vengeance, hell bent on stopping Steeler domination.  You know that guy is still bitter about XL.  All the crying in the world hasn't changed the score book though.

So anyway, ravens are up next.  I fear a repeat of the last game, without Dixon's ability to throw the ball away.  The Steelers' pass D is like swiss cheese right now, so if flacco curtails the bonehead plays, I foresee a long, painful game for the Steelers.

That said, the ravens' pass D is banged up too.  Lardarius Webb out for the season I see?  I think the Steelers depth on WR will help.  Then again raven fan favorite Hines Ward may be out, so we may see # 14 Limas Sweed on the big stage, either redeeming himself, or putting the final nail on the coffin of his NFL career.

What can the Steelers do to stop ravens wide receivers from making embarrassing plays against them?  What can flacco do to stop getting sacked at the worst times?  What can Mendenhall do against the ravens defense this time, at home?  Will ray rice posterize the Steelers on 4th down again to help win the game?

I can't believe the Steelers took the ravens to OT without Big Ben.  That was tough watching that game, it was almost like a college game with the QB play we saw.  There's no reason why the Steelers can't get all 2007 Monday night and lay a beatdown.  We can't lose with the throwbacks!

hopefully not all 2006:

BTW, I don't know if you guys noticed, but the Steelers aren't dead yet.  They have hope.  They want a wild card and the ravens are in the way.  Good luck on Sunday.