The Ravens beat the Steelers 21-17 in OT last month when Ben Roethlisberger was out of action but they will have to now beat them with him if they want to make the playoffs.  If the Ravens were smart they would come out throwing the ball against the Steelers after watching how bad the secondary of theirs played last weekend against the Packers.  If the O-Line gives Flacco time to throw the ball he will have a lot of success which means that Derrick Mason, Mark Clayton and Todd Heap could be in line for big games.  Don’t think that the Ravens will abandon the run however as Ray Rice is the best player on the offense.

The Ravens must blitz as soon as they get out of the locker-room because Roethlisberger gets careless with the football after he gets punched in the mouth a few times.  Still, the Steelers have a impressive corps of WRs and Heath Miller at TE so they could cause some problems when they throw the ball.  Rashard Mendenhall has to be the Ravens’ focus when the Steelers run the ball and he will be the responsibility of middle linebacker Ray Lewis who is still at the top of his game.

PREDICTION:  RAVENS 21, STEELERS 20