Steelers Lab

Yinzers,

Science cannot explain the fact that Charles Q. Batch not only threw a football 50 yards, but did it twice. The theoretical yield of a 35 year old, fourth-string quarterback is a pretty low number, statistically. However, the experimental yield greatly outweighed both expectations and doubt. Props to Charlie! I've always loved the local boy and I'm ecstatic that he is still with the Steelers and doing well. In my opinion, the next big accomplishment for the Steelers, Superbowl or otherwise, should be signing-on a new quarterbacks' coach: Charles Q. Batch. Just my opinion.

ESPN is finally wising-up and dealing in reality, much to the chagrin of yours truly. ESPN has has Pittsburgh ranked #1 in the most recent power rankings. I mean it is logical, considering they are 3-0 with the 3rd best defense in the league (statistically) and have been playing without their best quarterback, but I would much rather they play the doubter card. It is just much more gratifying to prove "experts" wrong. Rashard Mendenhall has found his groove, Charlie Batch is throwing pills, the offensive line did not let up any sacks last week and the defense is lights-out as usual. Things are looking good at this point in the season.

This week will be a big test of the Ben-less team. The Baltimore Rat Birds come to Heinz Field. No matter how good or how bad either team is, the sheer hatred for each other dominates every game between these two franchises. Baltimore is coming off of a mediocre win against the Cleve Brownies. The "experts" said that the Baltimore defense is the toughest, roughest defense in the NFL, but the Rat Birds let up 304 total yards, 173 of which were on the ground, to the lowly Browns. Granted, the Ravens' defense is #1 against the pass right now, but if teams are being successful against the 22nd best run defense, they're probably not going to pass as much. Meanwhile, Joe Flacco and the Rat Birds' offense has been about average this year. The Ravens' passing attack ranks 17th in the league with about 213 yards per game and the running game of Ray Rice and Willis McGahee is averaging just 89 yards per game. I would expect that to change this week against the Steelers. Every time these two teams play, it is a beat 'em down, drag 'em out, smash-mouth football game. I would expect the Ravens to really try and establish the run early and often and work the play-action off of that. The biggest threat in this game to the Steelers defense is going to be the off-season acquisition of Anquan Boldin. The guy is dangerous down field and has great hands. It also helps that he is Joe Flacco's favorite target. If the Rat Birds want to win, they will have to get to Charlie Batch often and work the play-action to Anquan Boldin.

The Steelers know what they are up against this week. This is by far one of the nastiest rivalries in sports. These teams will be at each others throats for 60+ minutes. The 3rd best [statistical] defense in the NFL will need to play as stout as ever against this Ravens offense. The Ravens always bring their A-game against the Steelers. If the Steelers defense goes about their business as usual, they should be able to let Casey Hampton feed on Joe Flacco, thus keeping the Ravens' offense in check. On offense, the realization that Charlie Batch can throw the ball should open up Bruce Ariens' playbook quite a bit. For the first half however, expect the usual iso-iso-screen mantra until BA has his first shot of confidence. The offensive line needs to protect Charlie just like they did last week and open holes for Rashard to get past Ray Lewis' gang. Trai Essex, Chris Hoke and Dennis Dixon did not participate in practice this week and I would doubt their appearance in Sunday's game.

As usual, I make no predictions and in this case you can't. As I stated before, no matter how good or bad either of these teams are, they always play their best against each other. The Steelers-Ravens rivalry dates back to the old Cleveland Browns and they will always be the first and most hated rival in Pittsburgh. Game time is 1:00 pm on Sunday.

Here we go,
B Brog