Considering their recent track record, the Baltimore Ravens are rather wary of the Pittsburgh Steelers. They have lost four games in a row to their divisional rivals, and eight out of nine. In fact, they haven’t even scored 20 or more points against the Steelers since 2020.
A big reason for that is the fact that the Ravens have lacked ball security when playing the Steelers. Nobody is more aware of that than OC Todd Monken, who has been working overtime this week drilling into them the importance of protecting the football. That’s probably a wise move, given the Steelers lead the NFL in takeaways.
“I’ve been here for three games [against the Steelers] and we’ve turned it over eight times”, Monken said, via the Ravens’ website. “We’ve fumbled it seven times. If that doesn’t tell you it’s a priority, I don’t know what is”.
Earlier this season, the Steelers recorded one interception and recovered two fumbles against the Ravens. The Steelers got things started early when OLB Nick Herbig punched the ball out from Derrick Henry. Later, they got the better of TE Isaiah Likely, as well, while Payton Wilson picked off Lamar Jackon. Of course, that interception was hardly Jackson’s fault, and was a phenomenal play by the rookie.
there isn’t much Todd Monken can do to prevent the Steelers from making a play like that, but the Ravens can certainly work on securing the football better. And the thing is, outside of Jackson, who runs a lot, they haven’t even fumbled a ton this year. Henry has three on the season, on 267 touches, which isn’t exactly exorbitant.
“Last game [against the Steelers], we had penalties and turnovers”, the Ravens coordinator said. “You’re not going to win when you do that, I don’t care who you’re playing. So, we’ve got to be a lot better, a lot cleaner than that. It doesn’t matter who you play, let alone a really good football team like this who has a really good defense. We’ve got to play cleaner”.
And Monken put his money where his mouth is during the Ravens’ practices this week. He got hands-on when his offense was practicing ball security drills, frustrated with what he saw. He know how important it is that they beat the Steelers. They want to win the Super Bowl this year, and that starts with winning the division. If they lose this game, they lose the AFC North—it’s that simple.
https://x.com/MorganAdsit/status/1869469756891467998
The Steelers have had success taking the ball away from other stingy teams this season, like the Washington Commanders. This season, the Steelers only have 10 giveaways, the fourth-fewest in the NFL. Yet three of them came in one game against the Steelers, the only time this year they have given the ball up more than once. What are the odds it happens again? Well, when the Ravens play the Steelers, the odds go out the window.
