Five observations from watching the Baltimore Ravens rally late to upend the Pittsburgh Steelers 23-20 on Sunday night and sweep the season series between the AFC North rivals:
1. Joe Flacco has learned well from Ben Roethlisberger. Flacco and Roethlisberger are similar quarterbacks, which is appropriate for the recent nip-and-tuck nature of the Ravens-Steelers rivalry. Roethlisberger?s trademark is using his size and mobility to extend pass plays until the point he finds a strike available downfield. The Ravens have seen Flacco imitate that style, but as a still-developing quarterback, he had been a little short of matching Roethlisberger?s prowess in the clutch.
Putting behind some of the struggles he?s had this season?and his team?s past near-misses against the Steelers?Flacco showed exceptional composure and confidence in leading the Ravens on a 92-yard scoring drive that ended with the game-winning touchdown pass to rookie wideout Torrey Smith in the waning seconds. In the past, Roethlisberger had the advantage with his superior unit of receivers. But with Smith joining Anquan Boldin, Ed Dickson, Dennis Pitta and running back Ray Rice as a diverse group of targets, Flacco now has the right tools to one-up Roethlisberger.
2. There might be room for three AFC North teams in the playoffs. The victory moved the Ravens to 6-2?a half-game ahead of the 6-3 Steelers for the division lead. But the Cincinnati Bengals also won on Sunday, making for a tie at the top. The Steelers and Ravens are finished playing each other in the regular season, but each team still has its pair of matchups with Cincinnati ahead. The NFC West also will play a factor. The Bengals have already played San Francisco and Seattle, with two very favorable games left against Arizona and St. Louis. Both the Ravens and Steelers still need to play the 7-1 49ers. So although Sunday night?s game was big for both teams involved, it?s only one part of a tough second-half schedule.
3. Smith and Antonio Brown will be big factors in this rivalry for a long time. The Ravens have been wary of how dangerous Brown is since he burned them in the playoffs. As the second-year wideout has become a fixture in the Steelers? passing game, he has proved what a difficult matchup he is with his hands and speed anywhere on the field. Smith has shown blazing speed but is still a work in progress as a route runner, which is not surprising considering he?s a rookie. The fact, however, that Flacco continued to throw the ball to him with the game on the line shows just how much the Ravens think of his talent. The Steelers learned the hard way that Smith is the ideal type of receiver to complement Boldin because he can take advantage of single coverage against No. 2-type cornerbacks.
4. James Harrison has still got it. He?s 33, he's coming off an eye injury and he didn?t have injured fellow outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley to draw attention on the other side Sunday night. That didn?t matter to Harrison, who benefited from being on the shelf by having fresher legs. The result was three sacks of Flacco and a forced fumble that gave the Steelers a late chance. They, will, however, need both Harrison and Woodley healthy at the same time sometime soon so coordinator Dick LeBeau can more effectively make moves with all of his defensive chess pieces.
5. Billy Cundiff is a secret weapon for the Ravens. Baltimore had a big advantage with Cundiff?s ability to stick the ball in the end zone on kickoffs last season. Now, even though touchbacks are the all rage after the rule change, his big leg is paying off in other ways. Cundiff delivered a 51-yard field goal?a rare 50-plus yarder for a Heinz Field visitor?in the second quarter and made up for the 40-yard miss he had earlier. He got the tough points for the Ravens until their offense found enough of a rhythm to finish drives in the second half.
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