Week 11 Gameday Thread: Steelers vs. Ravens 11/18/2012

[ricardisimo]

Steelers host Ravens at Heinz Field



Pittsburgh Steelers (6-3) vs. Baltimore Ravens (7-2)
Date: Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012
Kickoff: 8:20 p.m., ET
Site: Heinz Field (65,500) • Pittsburgh, Pa.
Playing Surface: Natural Grass
TV Coverage: NBC (WPXI-TV, locally channel 11)
Announcers: Al Michaels (play-by-play)Cris Collinsworth (analyst)Michele Tafoya (sideline)
Local Radio: Steelers Radio NetworkWDVE-FM (102.5)/WBGG-AM (970)
Announcers: Bill Hillgrove (play-by-play)Tunch Ilkin (analyst)Craig Wolfley (sideline)
National Radio: Dial Global Radio Sports
Announcers: Dave Sims (play-by-play)James Lofton (analyst)Rod Woodson (sideline)Spanish Radio: Grupo Imagen - Destrito Federal (Mexico City)XEDA-FM 90.5

Steelers notes for Ravens game

THE COACHES

Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin
Overall regular-season record: 61-28 (.685)/sixth seasonRegular-season record at Pittsburgh: 61-28 (.685)/sixth seasonPlayoff Record/Years: 5-3/four years

Baltimore Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh
Overall regular-season record: 51-22 (.699)/fifth seasonRegular-season record at Baltimore: 51-22 (.699)/fifth seasonPlayoff Record/Years: 5-4/four years

Series History: Series began in 1996Overall: Steelers lead 18-14At Pittsburgh: Steelers lead 10-6At Baltimore: Tied at 8-8Neutral Sites: n/aLast Regular-Season Meeting: Nov. 6, 2011 (in Pittsburgh)Baltimore 23, Pittsburgh 20Postseason Series: Pittsburgh leads 3-0Last Postseason Meeting: Jan. 15, 2011 (in Pittsburgh)
Pittsburgh 31, Baltimore 24 (AFC Divisional Playoff)(postseason record not included in overall series record)This season marks the 17th consecutive year that these twofranchises will play each other in the regular season…this is thethird straight season that one of their matchups has been shownon Sunday Night Football...during that time, these clubs havefaced off at least twice every season during the regular seasonand met three times in the postseason…in the 16 years theseteams have been playing, Pittsburgh has won the first meeting ofthe season 10 times, en route to five regular-season sweeps…the2011 season was the first time Baltimore swept the regular-seasonseries since they won twice in 2006…Pittsburgh is looking toavoid losing three straight regular-season games to the Ravensfor the first time since the second game of 2005 and the 2006series installment…since the Steelers won four straight regularseason games in the series between 2001 and 2003, neitherteam has managed to win more than three games in a row duringthe regular season…Pittsburgh is 8-3 at Heinz Field againstBaltimore in the regular season.

STEELERS-RAVENS CONNECTIONS

LOCAL CONNECTIONS
• Ravens QB Joe Flacco played for the University of Pittsburghfrom 2003-2004 before transferring to the University of Delaware.• Ravens Head Coach John Harbaugh coached tight ends for theUniversity of Pittsburgh in 1987.• Ravens secondary coach Teryl Austin was born in Sharon, Pa.,and played collegiately at the University of Pittsburgh from 1984-1987.• Ravens wide receivers coach Jim Hostler was born in Pittsburghand played collegiately for Indiana (Pa.) from 1986-1989. Hecoached at his alma mater from 1990-1992 and 1994-1999 andalso at nearby Juniata (Pa.) in 1993.• Ravens C/G Gino Gradkowski is a native of Pittsburgh and agraduate of Seton-LaSalle High School.

PRO CONNECTIONS
• Steelers LB James Harrison spent time on the Ravens’ practicesquad early in his career before being added to the Steelers’active roster.• Steelers defensive backs coach Carnell Lake played for theRavens in his final season in 2001.• Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin was the defensive coordinatorfor the Minnesota Vikings in 2006 when Ravens OT Bryant McKinnie and C Matt Birk played for the Vikings. Tomlin alsospent time on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaching staff and in2001 he and Ravens’ quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell were onthe staff together in Tampa.• Steelers defensive assistant Jerry Olsavsky played his finalNFL season with the Ravens in 1998.• Steelers linebackers coach Keith Butler and Ravens specialteams coordinator/asst. head coach Jerry Rosburg were on theCleveland Browns’ coaching staff together from 2001-2002.
• Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley and Ravens WR Anquan Boldin both held the same roles with the Arizona Cardinalsfrom 2007-2008. Also, Steelers LB Brandon Johnson and Boldinwere teammates with the Cardinals from 2006-2007.• Steelers offensive line coach Sean Kugler and Ravens runningbacks coach Wilbert Montgomery both held the same positionson the Detroit Lions coaching staff in 2007.• Steelers WR Jerricho Cotchery and Ravens SS James Ihedigbo were teammates with the New York Jets from 2008-2010.
• Steelers LB Brandon Johnson and Ravens G Bobbie Williams were teammates with the Cincinnati Bengals from 2008-2011.COLLEGE CONNECTIONS
• Steelers RB Jonathan Dwyer and Ravens RB Anthony Allen were teammates at Georgia Tech from 2008-2009.• Steelers LB James Harrison played for the Kent State GoldenFlashes from 1999-2001 when Ravens defensive coordinator Dean Pees was the head coach of the Golden Flashes.• Steelers assistant head coach/defensive line John Mitchell wasthe defensive line coach for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 1974-1976 when Ravens general manager and executive vice president Ozzie Newsome played for the Crimson Tide.• Steelers WR Mike Wallace and Ravens OT Michael Oher wereteammates at the University of Mississippi from 2005-2008.• Steelers C Maurkice Pouncey, OT Marcus Gilbert and RB Chris Rainey were teammates with Ravens WR Deonte Thompson atthe University of Florida from 2007-2009. Gilbert was teammateswith Thompson through 2010 and Rainey and Thompson areboth in their rookie seasons and played together for the Gatorsthrough 2011
• Steelers LB Larry Foote (1998-2001) and LB LaMarr Woodley (2003-2006) were both at the University of Michigan while Ravensoffensive line coach Andy Moeller was with the Wolverines as atight ends and offensive line coach from 2000-2007.• Steelers TE David Paulson and Ravens TE Ed Dickson wereteammates at the University of Oregon from 2007-2009.• Steelers CB Curtis Brown and Ravens CB Chykie Brown (norelation) and K Justin Tucker were teammates at the Universityof Texas from 2008-10. Curtis and Chykie also played for theLonghorns in 2007.• Steelers S Ryan Mundy and FB Will Johnson were teammatesat West Virginia University with Ravens C/G Gino Gradkowski during the 2007 season. Johnson and Gradkowski wereteammates with the Mountaineers in 2008 before Gradkowskitransferred to Delaware University to finish out his collegiatecareer.• Steelers P Drew Butler and Ravens LB Dannell Ellerbe and DE DeAngelo Tyson were all teammates at the University of Georgiain 2008. Butler and Ellerbe were also teammates in 2007 whileButler and Tyson are both rookies and played together for theBulldogs through 2011.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

PITTSBURGH TEAM NOTES
• Pittsburgh looks to improve its home record to 238-89-1, including69-22-1 at Heinz Field.• If the Steelers win they will be 19-18 all time on Sunday NightFootball, including 7-5 at home.• The Steelers are looking for their 12th win the last 13 homegames.• If Pittsburgh wins will start 5-0 at home for the first time since2007 when the Steelers started 7-0 at Heinz Field• The Steelers are looking to improve to 19-14 against the Ravensduring the regular season, including 11-6 at home.• Pittsburgh is looking to improve to 3-2 in primetime games thisseason.• Pittsburgh is looking to improve to 403-253-2 during the regularseason since 1970.• Pittsburgh is looking to improve to 2-0 while wearing the 1934throwback uniforms.• Pittsburgh is looking to accumulate more passing yards thantheir opponent for the 17th straight home game, which wouldbreak the NFL record of the 2000 and 2001 St. Louis Rams *****gistered more passing yards than their opponents in 16 consecutivehome games.• The Steelers defense is looking to keep its eighth opponent tounder 100 yards rushing this season.• If Pittsburgh holds Baltimore to less than 170 net passing yardsit will mark the fifth game in a row and the seventh time this seasonthe Steelers did not allow their opponent to register at least 170 netpassing yards.• The Pittsburgh defense is looking to extend its regular seasonstreak of holding teams under 300 net passing yards to 33 games.The last time the Steelers allowed a team to record at least 300 netpassing yards was on 11/14/10 vs. New England (350).• The Steelers offense is looking to score points on their openingdrive of the game for the sixth time this season and on the openingdrive of the second half for the seventh time this season.• Pittsburgh’s defense will try and hold the opposing quarterbackto a passer rating of 75.0 or less for the sixth straight game and theseventh time this season.• The Steelers defense is looking to register at least one takeawayfor the ninth game this season.

PITTSBURGH INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Head Coach Mike Tomlin
• If Pittsburgh wins, will improve to 62-28 during the regular season.• Looking to improve to 21-9 in primetime games, including 9-6 onSunday Night Football.• With a win, will start 5-0 at home for the second time as headcoach (2007).

QB Ben Roethlisberger
• If Roethlisberger registers at least 134 passing yards, he willbecome the 25th quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least29,000 yards and run for at least 1,000 yards during the regularseason.
• Looking to record a passer rating of 120.0 for the fourth time thisseason, which would tie for the second most times he has registereda passer rating of at least 120.0 in the same regular season(four in 2004 / five in 2009).
• Is looking to throw for at least 360 yards for the third time thisseason, which would tie 2011 (3) for the second most times hehas thrown for at least 360 yards in one season (2009, 4).

RB Jonathan Dwyer
• Looking to eclipse 100 yards rushing for the third time in his lastfour games played.

RB Rashard Mendenhall
• Is one rushing touchdown shy of becoming the fifth player infranchise history with 30 career rushing touchdowns.

TE Heath Miller
• Needs one receiving touchdown to pass Elbie Nickel (37) for themost receiving touchdowns by a Steelers’ tight end.• Is two receiving touchdowns away from tying Louis Lipps (39) forthe fifth most in franchise history.• Is one receiving touchdown shy of tying his single-season careerhigh of seven, set in 16 games in 2007.

WR Mike Wallace
• If he records at least 100 yards receiving, it will mark the 14th 100-yard game of his career.

LB James Harrison
• Needs one sack to tie Joey Porter (60.0) for second place on theSteelers’ sacks list, dating back to 1982 when sacks became anofficial statistic.

LB LaMarr Woodley
• Needs 2.5 sacks to tie Greg Lloyd (53.5, 1988-97) for the fifthmost sacks by a Steelers’ player since sacks became an officialstatistic in 1982.• Looking to tie his single-season career high (2010) with hissecond interception of the season.

LB Jason Worilds
• Needs one sack to pass his single-season career high of three,set in 12 games last season.

CB Ike Taylor
• Looking to extend his consecutive games played streak to 133games.
[Note: Deleted Troy's individual notes, as he has been scratched from play. - Ricardo]

[Lady Steel]

Hope everyone has a great time watching tonight's game!

HERE WE GO STEELERS HERE WE GO!

[Atlanta Dan]

Unlike Monday night weather looks good - clear, low 40s with little wind at kickoff - high 30s by 11:30

Wonder what the field is like after being torn up 6 days ago?

[nj1923steelgirl]

Would not be doing anything else! Let's kick some Raven #%*!

[harrison'samonster]

Here we go Steelers!

[Bayz101]

Am I the only one a little pumped to see what Leftwich brings to the table?

[Rick5895]

I see 300 yards from Lefty and 2 TDs. We win 20-17.

[harrison'samonster]

I can't wait to see what Leftwich can do. I think he proves the doubters wrong tonight.

[Bayz101]

Originally Posted by Rick5895

I see 300 yards from Lefty and 2 TDs. We win 20-17.

I'm going to go with that, too, although I see it playing out differently...

Lefty two touchdowns. Mendenhall one touchdown and two field goals. Final score: 27-24

[LVSteelersfan]

Go Lefty. I am not a huge fan normally but you leave me with no choice tonight. Please have the best game you have ever, ever had in your whole career. I hope they do play action on the first play of the game and go up top to Mike Wallace right off the bat for a long one. Test those Ratbird secondary players right off the bat.