I think we match up very well with the Steelers. I watched how Balt played them, who are a team very similar to the Fins (tough defense, good pass coverage, low-scoring offense, solid but inconsistent QB with a big arm, underperforming run game). That Steelers defense like the ball in front of them. They're an experienced grizzled unit, but when the Ravens went deep and stretched them, the Steelers had no answer, couldn't contain them. Secondary was suspect all night. Balt committed to the run throughout, even though Ray Rice has had a horrible year. Flacco did big damage out of play action having established the run.
Steelers did get some pass pressure on, so Flacco had to step up in the pocket or buy time, but nothing about the Steelers D-line sets off warning bells. The Ravens shut down the Steelers O until very late in the game, when they stopped covering so tightly and Ben started connecting. The turning point was a run from Bell that he bounced outside for a huge gain. That set up the comeback for Pitt. We can't let Bell get the edge and bounce out.
Ben was very mediocre under centre, quite inaccurate throwing from the pocket for a lot of the time. What Balt focussed on was keeping him coralled and it worked a treat. I don't know that the Ravens D touched Rothlisberger all game. They didn't blitz much - just kept a leash on Ben's escapology tricks and kept tight coverage (for the most part) on his receivers. Up to the final drive, the Steelers had no answer for it. If Tomlin hadn't pulled his stunt and Bell hadn't benefitted from poor tackling to break that run, this could have been a whitewash.
Nothing about that gameplan couldn't be repeated by the Fins. If anything, our pass coverage is better. I would worry about our run D and we need to establish the deep ball, but other than that the Ravens gave us a perfect blueprint for a victory.
