Matching up again for the first time in 34 days, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens will be playing for all the marbles in the AFC North on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium.
These two teams are very familiar with each other and know their strengths and weaknesses through and through. Not much is going to catch either team off guard, so it all comes down to execution Saturday in all three phases.
There will be games within the game to watch, like the turnover battle, tackling battle and more. Make sure to keep an eye on key individual matchups, too. There are plenty of them this week from top to bottom in all three phases of the Steelers against the Ravens
Below are my four matchups to watch on Saturday.
STEELERS OLB T.J. WATT VS. RAVENS RT ROGER ROSENGARTEN
While he doesn’t have an injury designation entering the matchup, it’s hard to believe T.J. Watt won’t be somewhat limited with his ankle injury, which he suffered in Week 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles. He’s going to play through it, and should play his usual number of snaps, so he needs to find a way to be, well, T.J. Watt.
He’ll find himself up against Ravens rookie RT Roger Rosengarten, who has been quite good since the Week 11 matchup with the Steelers. Even in that matchup Rosengarten allowed just one pressure. In his last 133 pass-blocking snaps dating back to Week 11, Rosengarten has allowed just two pressures.
The Washington product has been outstanding. He will have his hands full with Watt, though, and will undoubtedly get some help from chips and slides. Watt needs to find a way to impact the game in a big way Saturday.
STEELERS S MINKAH FITZPATRICK VS. RAVENS TIGHT ENDS MARK ANDREWS/ISAIAH LIKELY
With safety DeShon Elliott officially ruled out for Saturday’s game against the Ravens, the Steelers are probably going to need to spin Minkah Fitzpatrick down into the box once again, much like they did against the Eagles in Week 15. Fitzpatrick will have to be a key run defender against Ravens’ RB Derrick Henry, but he’ll also have to handle coverage against Ravens TEs Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely.
The last time these two teams met, Likely had a big day, hauling in four passes for 74 yards, including a 42-yard catch and run early in the game off play-action. Likely has paired with Andrews to form a deadly combination this season for the Ravens. Andrews has a touchdown in three straight games, and in four of his last five. The only time he didn’t score recently was against the Steelers in Week 11.
Fitzpatrick has a tall task in front of him. He’s struggled in coverage this year, too, allowing 32 receptions on 39 targets for 487 yards three touchdowns. The three-time All-Pro has also allowed a passer rating against of 144.3, according to Pro Football Reference.
STEELERS WR MIKE WILLIAMS VS. RAVENS CB BRANDON STEPHENS
In the Week 11 matchup between the Steelers and Ravens, Pittsburgh attacked Brandon Stephens early and often, primarily with George Pickens. Unfortunately, Pickens won’t play tomorrow, so Stephens and the Ravens catch a bit of a break there.
The Steelers have to make sure they continue attacking Stephens down the field, though, and they should do so with Mike Williams. Since coming over to the Steelers via trade, Williams hasn’t done much outside of hauling in a game-winning TD in Week 11 in Washington. He’s played limited snaps, and he hasn’t seen much work in the passing game from Russell Wilson.
That has to change this week. Keep going after Stephens and give Williams opportunities to win down the field in contested-catch situations. The Steelers desperately need that vertical threat in their passing game. They have one. Time to use him.
STEELERS INTERIOR OL VS. RAVENS NT MICHAEL PIERCE
The Ravens got their big, run-stuffing nose tackle in Michael Pierce back in the lineup last week against the New York Giants, giving them a significant boost. Pierce played 23 snaps in New York and graded out at a 69.9 overall from Pro Football Focus and recorded one run stop. The Ravens held the Giants to just 55 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.
Pierce missed the Week 11 game against the Steelers. In that game, Pittsburgh had quite a bit of success running the football, recording 122 yards on 34 carries. Pierce is a huge factor this game and will test the Steelers’ young interior offensive linemen in rookies Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick.
Pittsburgh has to be able to run the football early and often in this one if it wants to have a shot at beating the Ravens on the road. That matchup in the trenches, particularly at center and nose tackle, is a massive one.
