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When the Baltimore Ravens take the field to face their archrival Pittsburgh Steelers for a pivotal Week 17 AFC North divisional matchup, it will have been nearly a month since they have had their best player available.
After missing his 12th straight practice on Friday, December 30, the team ruled out star quarterback Lamar Jackson for the fourth consecutive game since he suffered a sprained knee in the first quarter of their Week 13 win over the Denver Broncos.
He was one of two starters that were ruled out in the final injury report, with three-time cornerback Marcus Peters being the other. Six-time Pro Bowl defensive end Calais Campbell is listed as questionable to play after returning to practice on a limited basis on Friday.
Injury report and game status.
Third-year pro Tyler Huntley will be making his fourth-straight start and the eighth of his career in place of Jackson. The team has gone 2-1 with the former undrafted free agent at the helm and the offense is coming off its most productive outing from a scoring standpoint since Week 12 with a 17-9 win over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 16.
Both Peters and Campbell missed last week’s game with injuries suffered in Week 15 in a loss to the Cleveland Browns but the Ravens’ defense was able to have another strong showing in their absence.
They will be facing a rookie quarterback for a second straight game in Steelers first-round pick Kenny Pickett who they faced in Week 14 but exited the game in the first quarter with a concussion and did not return. Ravens’ Pro Bowl inside linebacker Roquan Smith sacked Pickett on the play he was concussed and is looking forward to the opportunity to play the first-year signal caller for four quarters.
BRINGING THE PRESSURE!!
@Patrickqueen_ brings the heat and Roquan finishes the job for the SACK!!
Tune in on CBS.
“It will be nice to get out there and really get to see him for a full game,” he said in a press conference on December 28. “I’m excited about the challenge, and what he’ll bring to the table. I know he likes to pull it down a little bit. So, we’ll see.”
In place of Peters, second-year pro Brandon Stephens will likely see his second straight start at outside corner. He notched five total tackles, half a sack, and a quarterback hit against the Falcons but will face a tougher test with the Steelers’ loaded group of pass catchers coming to town this week.
The Ravens’ defensive line also stepped up and came up clutch last week with their leader and best player not in the lineup. Third-year pro-Justin Madubuike led the way with a dominant performance in which he led the position group in total tackles with 7 that included 1 for a loss and 5 solos. He also ended a personal six-game sack drought with his fourth full of the season and recorded a quarterback hit as well.
Campbell played well in the first meeting with the Steelers this year and came up with a huge play on special teams when he blocked a field goal attempt that proved pivotal in deciding the final outcome. If he’s able to return to the lineup, it’d provide the unit a nice boost in both pass rush and run defense.
Top 3 Ravens Storylines for Week 17 vs. Steelers
Will the Ravens keep their division hopes alive?
Even though the team has already punched its ticket to the playoffs, they still have something to play for in the final two games of the season. While the Steelers will be fighting to keep their slim postseason hopes alive and prevent the first losing season in head coach Mike Tomlin’s tenure, the Ravens will need to take care of business to stay in the race to win the division.
Despite being the last game on Sunday after being flexed into primetime, there’s no way of knowing whether they’d be in contention for the AFC North crown prior since the first-place Cincinnati Bengals host the top-seeded Buffalo Bills the following day on Monday Night Football. With a loss, the Ravens would automatically yield the division to the Bengals before the two teams faceoff in the regular season finale Week 18.
Will the offense continue to commit to the running game?
In the first matchup between these two rivals, the Ravens punishing rushing attack paved the way to victory and racked up their second-highest total of the season with a whopping 215 yards on the ground according to Pro Football Reference. While the Steelers have been playing much better run defense since that porous performance, allowing an average of just 39.5 rushing yards in their last two games, Baltimore’s brand of bully ball is a different beast than anything they’ve faced and seems to be peaking at the right time heading into the playoffs.
The only thing that could hold the Ravens’ offense back from imposing their will on the ground to potentially complete the season sweep of the Steelers is if they opt not to lean heavily on the most dominant aspect of their offense.
After their passing game showed some promising signs of life with a pair of 30-plus yard plays on completions deep down the field, hopefully, offensive coordinator Greg Roman doesn’t get away from what works best with the division on the line in an attempt to continue to try to fix the aerial attack on the fly.
Will the defense continue to bend but not break?
The Ravens have fielded one of the league’s best units since acquiring Smith at the midseason trade deadline. They have been especially stingy when it comes to allowing opposing teams to put points on the board, allowing less than 20 points a game in all but one since Week 9. The last time they faced the Steelers, they came away with three interceptions and are currently tied for the fourth-most takeaways in the league per Pro Football Reference.
Even though they’ve allowed offenses to move the ball on them at times and even pick up multiple chunk plays on drives, they’ve played lights out in the red zone, allowing a touchdown on just three of their opponents’ last 10 drives inside the 20-yard line.
They haven’t allowed a touchdown at home since Week 7 and are expected to be in another slugfest on Sunday so extending their streak in their own stadium would go a long way toward helping the team win and keeping their division hopes alive and well.
Key Ravens & Steelers Matchups to Watch
The second meeting between these two bitter rivals will feature several pivotal matchups between players on both sides that will be looking for redemption, to prove themselves, or assert their will over a particular opponent again.
Marlon Humphrey v George Pickens Pt. 2
The Steelers’ standout rookie wide receiver got the best of the Ravens’ three-time Pro Bowl cornerback on more than one occasion last time around and finished with 78 receiving yards on three catches.
George Pickens vs Marlon Humphrey 👀
Having gone up against him once before, Humphrey has gone back and watched the film from that game and will undoubtedly adjust the way he approached covering the 6-foot-3, 200-pound physical specimen that Pickens has proven he can be, especially in contested catch situations.
Tyler Linderbaum v Cam Heyward Pt. 2
The Ravens’ rookie center has done more than hold his own against some of the league’s elite interior defensive linemen as well as off-ball linebackers. He made quite a few impressive blocks in the run game against the Steelers’ five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle who was just named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his 2 sack and 7 total tackle performance in Week 16.
Cam Heyward thought he was going to get Tyler Linderbaum when he shifted right over top the rookie. Nope.
Linderbaum will have his hands full again with a highly motivated Heyward and Co. coming to town with their season on the line so he should expect an even tougher test this time around.
Kyle Hamilton v Pat Freiermuth Pt. 2
The Ravens’ top rookie has been lights out in coverage all season in his versatile hybrid defensive back role, especially against tight ends. However, he allowed his first touchdown in 1-on-1 man coverage to the Steelers’ top tight end in the first meeting.
Kyle Hamilton allows his first TD of the season. The rookie S had been lockdown all season, until Pat Freiermuth. The Steelers TE has been a problem. #RavensFlock #HereWeGo
It came in the fourth quarter and made it a two-point game with two and a half minutes left to play. Hamilton, like Humphrey, will be looking to play much better for all four quarters and give up anything but especially in crunch time of what will likely be another hard-fought close game.
Brandon Stephens v Steelers WRs
The second-year defensive back will face a much tougher test in his second straight start and fourth of the season at cornerback. In addition to Pickens, the Steelers also have Pro Bowl wide receiver Diontae Johnson who leads the team in targets (130), receptions (82), and receiving yards (809) but has yet to catch a touchdown this year. Stephens will likely see plenty of both players as the Steelers will probably make a concerted effort to target him more than Humphrey in this game.
Ravens ILBs v Kenny Pickett
Two of the team’s three interceptions that they notched in the last meeting came from the inside linebacker position as both Smith and third-year rising star, Patrick Queen, made impressive plays on the ball for turnovers. Pickett might be weary about throwing over the middle of the field as well as taking off to run between the tackles because the Ravens’ dynamic duo will be flying around making plays from start until finish.
Mark Andrews v Minkah Fitzpatrick
The Steelers have done a great job limiting the Ravens’ three-time Pro Bowl tight end’s impact in his seven previous matchups against them. A big reason for that since 2019 has been the presence and play of their three-time Pro Bowl free safety.
Fitzpatrick’s ability to help other one and sometimes two defenders bracket Andrews in coverage has forced Jackson and other Ravens quarterbacks to either look elsewhere or make ill-advised decisions to throw into double and triple coverage. Earlier in the week, Tomlin said that to “label him as a tight end is kind of disrespectful to his talents” and that his team will try their best to “minimize” his impact on the game.
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Ravens Make Final Call on Lamar Jackson, Marcus Peters vs. Steelers