Well Nation – after a long, barren two weeks, one filled with bitter tastes and recriminations, it’s time to finally look ahead to another Steelers game this week.

Not just any Steelers game either. An AFC North battle, and not just any AFC North battle – it’s Ravens week!

And to follow this road just a little further – it’s not just any Raven’s week either! It’s an early battle for first place in the North. It’s an event week in many ways.

Yes, the Ravens have lost 4 in a row. The Steelers have dropped their last two. The Ravens seem incapable of scoring consistently, and the Steelers, depending on what day it is, and what site you visit, will either have Ben Roethlisberger or won’t have Ben Roethlisberger.

It’s a freakin’ circus!

For once, the truth of the matter is, there are aspects of this game that we simply will not know until they line up for the kickoff.

Will Ben play? We might have a better idea at some point this week based on the practice reports. In his weekly press conference, Coach Tomlin said that they would see how the knee responds during practice before making a final decision. “All cards on the table” was how he referred to the idea that if he couldn’t start, maybe he’d be the backup (anyone remember the Cleveland game last year?).

Ben said in an interview that they are still monitoring his progress, and media reports have him starting Sunday, or sitting out. (Your guess is as good as mine.)

On the plus side, it looks pretty likely that Cam Heyward, Marcus Gilbert, DeAngelo Williams, Markus Wheaton and Sammie Coates all look like they may be healthy, or well on their way to being healthy.

Heck, even Ladarius Green is practicing!

I mean, this is about as healthy as we’ve been all year.

You know, other than Ben.

So, what should we look for this week? Let’s get to it.

Who Starts?

I don’t mean just Ben vs. Landry either here, although that is a big one.

Does Cam Heyward start? Does Sammie?

Let’s take the cup half full approach and say Ben plays. That means the offense will be as close to full strength as it’s been all year long. That could be a decided advantage for the Steelers. While these affairs are not normally blowouts, or high scoring, the Steelers offense, when fully-fueled, is a powerful weapon.

But it’s not just who starts (or plays) for the Steelers.

The Ravens were without Elvis Dummervil, C.J. Mosely and a host of others last weekend. Like the Steelers, the Ravens are coming off of their bye week as well, and those bodies they were without last week, look to be available for them this week. Even the guys who were questionable, or doubtful but still played two weeks ago will have had extra time to heal up.

This could be the closest both teams have been to full strength all year, and it really depends on who ends up being available as to where the advantage lies.

Mike Wallace

The proverbial “one-trick pony” isn’t really a one-trick pony anymore. Yes, Mike Wallace still has speed, but he’s become more than that with the Ravens this year, much to everyone’s surprise I think. In this week’s press conference even Coach Tomlin mentioned that Mike Wallace is doing things we don’t normally think of when we think of Mike Wallace.

Do the Steelers have anyone fast enough to cover Wallace deep? Who is that guy? Artie? Ross? Will Gay?

I don’t know.

He’s probably one of the fastest guys we’ve gone up against this year. DHB could be useful in practice this week pretending to be Mike Wallace.

If Steve Smith, Sr. can gimp his way to beating us, well, respect to Steve Smith, Sr.

Just don’t let Mike Wallace beat us.

Turnovers

As we learned the last time the Steelers took the field, you can win the turnover battle, and still lose the war. That’s what happened against New England. We won the turnover battle 2-1, but lost the points battle from turnovers 7-0.

And lost the game.

We need to win the turnover battle against Baltimore, but more importantly, we need to take advantage of those opportunities to turn the Ravens into a one-dimensional team.

Flacco has shown that he will turn the ball over this year (6 INTs vs. 5 TDs). If we make the Ravens one-dimensional, and put the ball in Flacco’s hands, we should be putting ourselves in the best position to win the game.

Conclusion

Missed opportunities haunted the Steelers against New England. They have to take advantage of what is presented to them. They also have to make their own opportunities – tackle more effectively, catch the ball when it’s in your hands.

Squandered chances will haunt, and right now what this team needs more than anything else is to show that they can put a lesser opponent under their heel and finish them off. The Ravens are a lesser opponent. They need to show that they can go for the kill (so to speak).

This is a perfect matchup for us in some ways, regardless if Ben plays or not. They are still a strong defensive team, but not as strong as they were. They have a lot of defensive players coming back from injury, and some of their older guys (Suggs, for example) are still good, but not who they were.

We need to be methodical, and we need to be prepared, and I think we will be both of those things.

Tomlin coming off a bye week is a solid winning bet, and to add to that, he’s got the benefit of getting healthy as well as having time to plan.

Steelers leave Baltimore 5-3 and in control of the AFC North with a 27-17 victory.

Until next time Nation!