You can feel it in the air, can’t you Nation?

That sense of anticipation, that feeling that something is brewing?

It’s like we all really and truly understand that famous line from Macbeth “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.”

It’s Raven’s week.

And it’s a Raven’s week unlike any in the last few years. There is just a bit of drama going along with this game.

Like what you ask? Well, let’s see…

• The Ravens are currently riding a 4-game winning streak over the good men in Black and Gold (and they are 9-3 over the last 12 games).
• The winner of this game will most likely win the AFC North (If the Steelers win that’s a definite, if the Ravens win, it’s probable, but not definite).
• And, to top it all off, it’s freakin’ Christmas!

It’s been a good long while since a Steelers/Ravens game meant quite this much, so let’s take a look at what this game might hold, and what the Steelers need to do to give the Nation a much desired late Christmas present!

Don’t Be Conservative and Follow Ben

The facts are pretty straight forward here. We’ve lost the last 4 times we’ve played the Ravens. You know when we last won?

November 2, 2014 – 43-23. Emily and I were at that game (it was the Joe Greene jersey retirement game). You know what else happened? Ben threw 6 touchdowns.

SIX!

In other words – they were not conservative!

Ok, last year, the Michael Vick game, I get it. Vick was, well, not comfortable in the offense. So, you had to play conservative. And the truth is, we would have won that game if not for Scobee-Do missing his FG attempts.

And it’s fair to bring up that in 2 of those losses, we were without Le’Veon. And yes, in the last matchup, earlier this year, Ben was coming off injury.

I get it, we have had reasons to have conservative game plans.

But it doesn’t work. We don’t want this game to be close. We don’t want a slow plodding game – that plays into the hands of the Ravens! Look at the last game, we started off inexplicably trying to run the ball, run the ball, run the ball, and it wasn’t working.

You know when things started clicking?

When we started letting Ben throw.

I’m not saying be totally pass happy – we do need balance. But the Ravens, we all have to admit, have a really good run defense. Really good. In order to run the ball, it’s very likely we are going to have to throw it first.

To win this game, Ben needs to have a game at least as good as he did last week, and probably a better one. We need TD’s instead of FG’s.

Does he have to throw for 6 TD’s again? Probably not, but it sure as heck wouldn’t hurt!

Ben needs to find a rhythm quickly, and he needs to spread the ball around (because we know they are going to try and take away AB). Sammie needs to show up, Le’Veon needs to be there for the dump offs. We maybe should try and use some sets where DeAngelo Williams is in the backfield, and Le’Veon is out wide. Ben needs to come up big

And I think that one guy can maybe have a breakout day to help him do this…

Mr. Rogers – bELIeve

Eli had a solid game last week against the Bengals, and made some really big catches. He needs to build on that this week, especially if Ladarius Green is out (which it sounds like he might be, since he’s in the concussion protocol). Eli has had an up and down year, but maybe he’s starting to point that arrow up again at just the right time.

He needs to make the middle Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood (I tried so hard to make that a thing earlier in the year, but it just didn’t work out).

If he can exploit the middle, that will open things up for Antonio Brown, and maybe Sammie Coates, who looks like he might just be getting healthy again at the right time as well.

Keep Up The Pressure (Will we Do-it Tuitt?)

The Ravens appear to have rediscovered their rushing game. Against the Eagles last week, they ran for 169 yards, and threw for 159. Look for them to try and establish the run early, especially if Stephon Tuitt can’t go (well, probably even if he can).

That means we need to keep up the pressure against the run. We’ve been playing the run really well lately, and are now ranked 5^th in yards allowed and yards per game. That’s been an improvement, even without Cameron Heyward!

But man, are we thin on the D-line right now. If Tuitt can’t go, that leaves us paper thin. I mean like tissue paper thin, you know, the kind that as soon as you blow your nose in it, it just tears and everything gets all over your hands… umm… sorry, but you get the point.

Without Tuitt, we have Dan McCullers, Ricardo Mathews, L.T. Walton and Javon Hargrave. And Ricardo was dinged up last week too!

We adjusted to those limitations last week, and the truth is that a lot of the weight is going to fall on guys like Ryan Shazier, Lawrence Timmons, James Harrison and Bud Dupree. The linebacking corps is going to have to continue to play great to support the D-line.

They are going to have to find ways to stuff the run, and if the can, and the Ravens become one dimensional, then they are going to need to find ways to get to Flacco, and get him on the ground.

That is where these guys come in…

The Magnificent Five

Yeah, yeah, I know the movie is the Magnificent Seven, but we don’t have seven, so sue me.

Mike Mitchell, Artie Burns, Sean Davis, Ross Cockrell and Will Gay are going to be key this week. If they can smother the likes of Steve Smith, Jr., Mike Wallace and Breshad Perriman, that will be a huge help in letting the rest of the defense get to Flacco. Hopefully between Sean Davis and Ryan Shazier we can also control Dennis Pitta. Tight Ends, for once, haven’t been the thorn in the Steelers side the once were, and we need to make sure they don’t become one again.

Throw in a couple safety blitzes from Sean Davis, and we could make the Ravens Christmas a really sad one.

I’m all about the Steelers playing Scrooge to the Ravens.

Conclusion

It’s not an understatement to say we need this game. Yes, as I wrote earlier this week, there are a variety of ways that the Steelers can get in the playoffs, but the best way, the right way, is by putting their proverbial foot on the neck of their biggest rival, the Ravens. It’s a dominance thing. It’s an attitude thing. It’s a Steelers thing.

It’s important to let these young guys continue to gain confidence, and swagger (Oh Ike Taylor, please say that these boys are “Swaggin” just once).

If we have any chance at the 2 seed, we must win this week. Frankly, just to break this bizarre spell the Ravens have on us lately, we must win this week.

I think we will, and I think we will win big. 38-17 Steelers.

Until next time Nation!