The Baltimore Ravens (6-5) were able to squeeze out an overtime win against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but it was much closer than the Ravens wanted.  The Steelers were without Ben Roethlisberger and their number two quarterback Charlie Batch, so they started the very inexperience Dennis Dixon.  Dixon had only thrown one pass in his career going into this game, but Dixon preformed pretty well on the big stage.  The Ravens defense seemed almost surprise that Dixon was so effective, but in the end they got the better of the young quarterback and intercepted him in overtime to set up their game winning field goal.  The Ravens can’t be very happy with how successful a 3rd string quarterback was against them, as he had 145 yards passing with a touchdown and 27 yards rushing with a touchdown.  They were not able to pressure him enough, getting zero sacks and only 2 QB hits.

The Ravens offense played well, but they put the ball on the turf too often.  They fumbled the ball 3 times, and lost 2 of them.  Joe Flacco lost one and Mark Clayton the other.  Flacco had a solid game though, going 23/35 for 289 yards and a touchdown.  The Ravens ran the ball great, with Ray Rice leading the way.  Rice rushed for 88 yards on 19 carries, while Le’Ron McClain and Willis McGahee combined for 46 yards and a touchdown on 9 carries.  Billy Cundiff nailed 29-yard field goal in overtime, with Paul Kruger the one getting the interception that led to the game-winner.  Ravens fans would have liked to see the defense do a better job against a third-stringer, but they got it done when it mattered most.

The Baltimore Ravens (5-5) are hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-4) Sunday and they are still waiting to hear whether or not Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is going to play.  Roethlisberger has a pretty bad concussion last week, but was expected to play this week until reports surfaced Friday that their is a good chance that he will sit out for precautionary measures.  This would be great news for the Ravens and their defense, because that would mean that the inexperienced Dennis Dixon would start.  If Dixon does start, it will really limit the Steelers’ offense and the Ravens defense will be able to pressure the young quarterback into a lot of mistakes.  The Steelers will probably limit Dixon and that means the Ravens can key in on Rashard Mendenhall and Willie Parker.  They are holding opponents to 92 rushing yards per game, and if Dixon starts they should be able to keep the Steelers under that.

On offense, Joe Flacco needs to step it up for the Ravens.  The Ravens have lost two of their last three, and Flacco is one of the main reasons why.  He has not thrown a touchdown pass in those three games and has three interceptions.  The Steelers’ run-defense is one of the best in the league (69 rushing yards per game), so the Ravens really need Flacco to get the offense going.  If Roethlisberger starts, the Ravens may be in trouble.  If Dixon starts, it should be a definite win.  Either way, I’m going to go with the the Ravens in a close win.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Baltimore Ravens 20, Pittsburgh Steelers 13

Last season 24-year old fullback Le’Ron McClain got a lot of action running the football but he’s back to his old blocking duties this year with Ray Rice and Willis McGahee getting almost all of the carries.  Last year, McClain played in all 16 games for the Ravens and he carried the ball 232 times for 902 yards (3.9 ypc) with 10 TD runs.  He also added 19 catches for 123 yards (6.5 avg) with a TD grab.  This season though has been different for McClain and it probably bothers him some.  He has played in 10 games for the Ravens this season and he has carried the ball 26 times for 92 yards (3.5 ypc) with 1 TD run and he has caught 18 passes for 124 yards (6.9 avg).  Only a injury to Rice or McGahee would likely lead to McClain getting the ball more this year.

The Ravens have lost back up RB Matt Lawrence for the season due to a severe knee injury.  The 24-year old Lawrence played in 8 games for the Ravens this season and he carried the ball 4 times for 0 yards (0.0 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 4 yards.  Where the Ravens will likely miss Lawrence is on special teams as he had 8 tackles this year.  The Ravens have signed 25-year old fullback Charles Ali to replace Lawrence.  Ali played in 15 games for the Browns last season and he caught 4 passes for 13 yards (3.3 ypc).  Ali also made 2 tackles last season.

The Ravens have lost starting CB Fabian Washington for the season due to a torn ACL.  He played in 10 games for the Ravens this season and he had 36 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss and he defensed 6 passes.  The Ravens will start rookie CB Lardarius Webb in Washington’s place and the defense shouldn’t miss a beat.  Webb has played in 10 games for the Ravens so far this season and he has 17 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 pass defensed.  He has also really excelled on kickoff returns as he has 21 of them for 589 yards (28.0 avg) with 1 TD return.

Poor Baltimore fans……doesn’t it hurt to have a team with those horseshoe helmet come to town and bust you up again?  The Ravens probably should have won this game but it’s hard to win when 5 field goals (Billy Cundiff) is all the points you can muster.  Joe Flacco completed 23 of 35 passes for 256 yards with 1 INT.  Ray Rice was the player the offensive game plan was built around once again as he carried the ball 20 times for 71 yards (3.6 ypc) and he also caught 7 passes for 64 yards (9.1 avg).  Willis McGahee pitched in with 6 carries for 25 yards (4.2 ypc) today.  Derrick Mason was great in this game for the Ravens with 9 grabs for 142 yards (15.8 avg).  The Ravens finished up with 354 total yards on offense (98 rushing, 256 passing) today.

Ray Lewis led a decent effort by the Ravens’ D today with 8 tackles and 1 QB hit.  Safeties Ed Reed (4 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 INT) and Dawan Landry (3 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 INT) also had solid games for the Ravens on D today.  The Colts finished up with 375 total yards on offense (76 rushing, 299 passing) but they only put 17 points on the board.  The Ravens are now 5-5 on the season.

The Colts are coming off a miracle win over the Patriots last week and a lot of experts expect them to be flat this week.  I am not one of them however as this is a good matchup for the Colts’ offense.  The Ravens are giving up 208.9 yards passing per game which is the strength of the Colts’ offense as they are averaging 315.1 yards passing per game.  Peyton Manning has only been sacked 8 times this season and the Ravens will be without Terrell Suggs in this game meaning that he will likely be comfortable in the pocket.  If he has time to throw the ball he will pick the Ravens’ secondary apart.  Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark will likely both have big games this week.  The Ravens can’t double either of those guys or Manning will go to Pierre Garcon and rookie Austin Collie who are both having good years.  The Colts’ running game has been weak this season so the Ravens’ strength of defending the run will be negated.

The Ravens will likely be more conservative than usual as they don’t want to get into a fire fight with the Colts.  That means that Ray Rice and Willis McGahee will likely get a lot of carries this week in a attempt to control the clock.  The Colts are giving up 108.7 yards rushing per game (4.3 ypc) so the Ravens should have some success on the ground.  But, the Ravens need Joe Flacco to play well especially if the Colts bring extra players in the box to defend the run.  That means that Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton will have to have good games for the Ravens to win on Sunday.  Another issue could be how much time that Flacco has to throw the football with DEs Dwight Freeney (9.5 sacks) and Robert Mathis (8.5 sacks) attacking from the edges of the pocket.

PREDICTION:  COLTS 30, RAVENS 17

The Ravens are still waiting for 27-year old WR Mark Clayton to step up.  He has played in all 9 games for the Ravens this season and he has caught 24 passes for 318 yards (13.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Clayton has also carried the ball 4 times for 28 yards (7.0 ypc) so far this year.  The Ravens expected so much more out of Clayton when they drafted him in the first round 5 of the NFL Draft five years ago.  Clayton has played in 71 games in his NFL career and he has caught 224 passes for 2,954 yards (13.2 avg) with 12 TD grabs.  He has also carried the ball 25 times for 112 yards (4.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs in his career.  The Ravens need Clayton to step up the rest of the year if they are going to make the playoffs.

The Ravens have signed 29-year old kicker Billy Cundiff.  Cundiff played in 5 games for the Browns earlier this season and he was 6 for 6 on field goal attempts and he made all 4 of his extra points scoring 22 points for them.  Cundiff has now played in 63 games in his NFL career and he has made 66 of 89 field goals (74.2%).  He has also made 104 of 105 extra points to rack up 302 points in his NFL career.  This was a good move for the Ravens as Cundiff was kicking the ball very well for the Browns earlier this season.

The Ravens have released starting kicker Steve Hauschka.  Hauschka played in all 9 games for the Ravens this season making 9 of 13 field goals (69.2%) and 27 of 28 extra points to finish his time with the Ravens with 54 points.  The final straw for Coach Harbaugh came last night when Hauschka missed a field goal and had a extra point blocked by Shaun Rogers of the Browns.