The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers are playing on the AFC Wild Card playoffs schedule on Saturday night at Heinz Field and the NFL game is live on NBC and the NBC Sports Network Live Extra website starting up at 8:15 pm ET as the North division rivals meet with Ben Roethlisberger and Joe Flacco starting under center.
The Ravens come in after winning in the final week of the season to get into the playoffs and that came with a victory against the Browns. The Ravens were up and down this season, but they are into the playoffs again after winning the Super Bowl a couple years ago and now they have a very familiar opponent in the Steelers. The divisional matchup comes as three North teams are in the playoffs in the AFC and the Ravens come in after going 10-6 overall and 3-3 against the division.
The Ravens were fourth in the league in rushing yards allowed per game and the Steelers will be coming in without Le'Veon Bell, making this an even tougher matchup. The Ravens were eighth in rushing yards per game on offense despite losing Ray Rice and that means Justin Forsett will be a key player on Saturday night. Joe Flacco had a solid season and had nearly 4000 passing yards, while Forsett ended up with 1266 yards on the ground. The Ravens ended the season winning three of their final four games to get into the playoffs, taking down the Jags, Dolphins and Browns, but losing to the Texans in Week 16.
Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers had a massive season on offense, with Bell, Big Ben and Antonio Brown among the league leaders at their respective positions. Brown set records with 129 catches and 1698 yards along with 13 touchdowns, while Roethlisberger ended up with nearly 5000 yards passing and 32 touchdowns. Bell had over 1600 total combined yards this season and he will be out with a knee injury and that could be big for this matchup.
The Steelers ranked second in the league in passing yards per game with over 300 yards per contest and the Steelers finished the season with a win against the Bengals. The Steelers went 11-5 this season after going 4-2 in the AFC north as division winners and they now host their divisional rivals in this game. The team is ranked sixth in the league in rushing yards per game allowed, but they were one of the worst ranked pass defenses in the league.
Antonio Brown is a superstar and the Ravens will have to find a way to shut him down, while Bell will be replaced with Ben Tate in the offense. The Steelers won four straight games to finish the season and five of their final six, with the only loss being a close game at home against the Saints. The Steelers only lost twice down the stretch, winning all their other games since back in Week 7 apart from those two games. The Steelers offense and the Ravens defense could be the matchup that decides this game and if the Ravens can stop Big Ben, they will have a chance.
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