November has arrived and wins against divisional opponents are in high demand as playoff races take form. Week 9 features a showdown between AFC North rivals, the Baltimore Ravens (5-2) and the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2), at Heinz Field on Sunday night (NBC 8:20 PM ET). Pittsburgh hopes to rebound from a 35-7 loss at Baltimore in Week 1.
"The root of the matter is, we have two very good football teams with the same intentions and that is to dominate the AFC North and put themselves in positions to chase the Lombardi," says Tomlin whose team is 5-1 at home against Baltimore during his tenure (including postseason). "That is why we will always have issues with these guys because I expect that their goals will be unchanging like ours."
The Ravens are still buzzing after overcoming a 24-3 deficit to defeat Arizona 30-27 in Week 8, but their focus has quickly shifted to Pittsburgh.
"I think it’s a big game," says Ravens head coach JOHN HARBAUGH. "It’s a game that we love to play in. It’s Ravens-Steelers. We know how to play that game; they know how to play that game. We’re looking forward to it. I do know that."
(Click on the 'Jump' to see the match-up and game capsule)
SUNDAY NIGHT
BALTIMORE RAVENS (5-2) AT PITTSBURGH STEELERS (6-2)
SERIES
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RAVENS |
STEELERS |
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SERIES LEADER |
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18-13 |
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STREAKS |
2 of past 3 |
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COACHES VS. OPP. |
Harbaugh: 3-6 |
Tomlin: 7-4 |
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LAST WEEK |
W 30-27 vs. Cardinals |
W 25-17 vs. Patriots |
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LAST GAME |
9/11/11: Steelers 7 at Ravens 35. Baltimore QB Joe Flacco passes for 224 yards & 3 TDs for 117.6 rating. RB Ray Rice adds 107 rush yards & TD as Ravens win on Kickoff Weekend. |
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LAST GAME AT SITE |
10/3/10: Ravens 17, Steelers 14. Baltimore WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh catches game-winning 18-yard TD pass from QB Joe Flacco with 32 seconds remaining. |
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BROADCAST |
NBC (8:20 PM ET): Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya (Field reporter). Westwood One Radio: Dave Sims, James Lofton, Scott Kaplan (Field reporter). SIRIUS: 94 (WW1), 92 (Bal.), 93 (Pit.). XM: 227 (WW1), 225 (Bal.), 226 (Pit.). |
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STATS
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PASSING |
Flacco: 141-262-1,751-8-6-75.4 |
Roethlisberger: 183-284-2,302 (2C)-14 (T2C)-7-95.7 |
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RUSHING |
Rice: 115-489-4.3-5 (T2C) |
Mendenhall: 107-421-3.9-3 |
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RECEIVING |
Boldin: 34-539-15.9-2 |
Wallace: 43 (2C)-800 (2C)-18.6-5 (T3C) |
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OFFENSE |
341.0 |
388.8 |
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TAKE/GIVE |
+3 (T3C) |
-10 |
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DEFENSE |
263.3 (1L) |
270.8 (2L) |
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SACKS |
Suggs: 6 (T2C) |
Woodley: 9 (1C) |
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INTs |
E. Reed, Webb: 2 |
Clark, Woodley: 1 |
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PUNTING |
Koch: 46.8 |
Sepulveda: 46.1 |
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KICKING |
Cundiff: 69 (1C) (18/18 PAT; 17/20 FG) |
Suisham: 58 (19/19 PAT; 13/18 FG) |
NOTES
RAVENS: Seek 4th straight win vs. AFC North…In past 2 vs. Steelers, QB JOE FLACCO has completed 34 of 62 passes (54.8 pct.) for 490 yards with 4 TDs vs. 0 INTs & 102.2 passer rating. RB RAY RICE had 107 rush yards with 2 TDs (1 rush, 1 rec.) in last game vs. Pit. Rice posted career-best 3 rush TDs last week…WR ANQUAN BOLDIN has 100+ rec. yards in 2 of past 3 (132, 145). Boldin (98) needs 2 catches to reach 100 with Ravens. Boldin (8,896) needs 104 rec. yards to reach 9,000 career…Ravens allow NFL-low in yards per game (263.3) this season…Defense leads NFL with 9 FRs in ’11…LB TERRELL SUGGS (74.5) needs 0.5 sack to reach 75 career. LB PAUL KRUGER had career-best 2 sacks last week & has 3 sacks in past 2…S ED REED has 12 games with at least 2 INTs, most by any player who began career in SB era…STEELERS: Seek 6th consecutive win at Heinz Field…Incl. postseason, Pit. has won 5 of past 6 at home vs. Ravens…Since Week 5,QB BEN ROETHLISBERGER has NFL-best 11 TD passes. Has AFC-best 108.3 passer rating at home in ’11. Incl. playoffs, Roethlisberger has 7-1 record vs. Ravens at home with 15 TDs vs. 6 INTs & 94.1 rating. Aims for 3rd straight game with 300+ passing yards…Incl. postseason, RB RASHARD MENDENHALL has 5 rush TDs in past 5 games vs. Bal…WR MIKE WALLACE had 8 catches for 107 yards (13.4 avg.) in last game vs. Bal. WR ANTONIO BROWN had career-best 9 catches last week & has 16 rec. in past 2…TE HEATH MILLER had season-best in catches (7) & rec. yards (85) last week…Defense allows NFL-low in passing yards per game (171.6) this season…LB LA MARR WOODLEY aims for 4th consecutive game with at least 2 sacks. Woodley (48) needs 2 sacks to become 6th player in franchise history with 50 career sacks…DE BRETT KEISEL has 3 sacks in past 3 games.