NFL fan reaction: Roethlisberger beats Flacco again

The first half of the Steelers and Ravens Divisional Playoff game might be the worst half I've ever seen a good Steelers team play in twenty plus years. Pittsburgh went into half time down by fourteen points and just about nothing went right in the first half. Most teams would have faltered in the second half and other teams would come out in the second half and try hard but fall short. The Steelers on the other hand never doubted the result of the game. Every Steeler went into the locker room after an abysmal first half down by 14 and knew they were still winning the game.

The defense clamped down and almost gave up nothing in the second half. More importantly the defense caused a few turnovers to lead to Pittsburgh's two scores to tie the game. Roethlisberger never panicked, Hines Ward(notes) continued to go toe-to-toe with Ed Reed(notes), Heath Miller(notes) made important catches, Rashard Mendenhall(notes) kept jamming it up the middle and on the most important play of the game a rookie out of Central Michigan named Antonio Brown(notes) proved he belong to be among the winners.

To be fair, the Ravens weren't short on winners either. The Ravens defense came out ready to play and matched the Pittsburgh defense play for play. Ben Roethlisberger(notes) is possibly the hardest quarterback to tackle in the league and Terrell Suggs(notes) tossed him around like a rag doll. Ray Lewis(notes) and Ed Reed caused their usual havoc as well but they kept surrendering points mainly because not everybody was winners on Ravens.

In my very first article on Yahoo Sports I proclaimed that the Pittsburgh Steelers would win the Super Bowl (and the AFC North on their way). This isn't a bold prediction now but at the time the Baltimore There are many good reasons to enjoy being a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and one of them is that they are like the New York Yankees of the NFL. No, the Steelers don't buy all their championships, they're not constantly overrated and Pittsburgh is a lot more of a blue collar town. The reason they are similar though is that baseball players are constantly talking about something special happening when they put on those pinstripes. It's almost as if their body is possessed by Jethos, the god of winning. A similar thing happens when a football player puts on the black and gold - they become winners.

That is largely what it came down to in the win over the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday evening. The Steelers proved they are winners. The Ravens proved they are not, or at least not all of them.

Ravens were the popular pick to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. The experts all thought that Joe Flacco(notes) was poised to have a break out season. The experts thought that the receiving core was the best in football. Add that to Ray Rice(notes) and the Ravens defense and you have a winning formula.

The problem is everybody was wrong. Joe Flacco did not have a break out season. Flacco was pretty good, but not great, in the regular season and then just plain bad in the game Saturday. At halftime Flacco had 12 completed passes but most of them were screens. Most the passes that went down field were off. Most of them were too high, which is usually a sign of being nervous. The Ravens' first scoring drive that tied the game at 7 - 7 only occurred because the Steelers got two pass interference penalties that moved the Ravens down the field.

When Flacco did finally make passes his receivers didn't always catch them. In particular, T. J. Houshmanzadeh dropped the final pass of the game, which would have at least extended the game four more downs. Normally the most disappointing team in the league is a team that was supposed to go to the playoffs and didn't but in 2010-2011 the Ravens offense was definitely the most disappointing unit. Flacco's "breakout" and their "great" receiving core were good enough to finish 22nd in the NFL in yards per game.

The Steelers receiving core includes one veteran, a two year player and two rookies, plus Roethlisberger missed four games (they only averaged 150 yards passing per game in those first four games) and the Steelers still finished 14th in yards per game. Then there is Flacco vs. Roethlisberger. Leading up to the game all the analysts were selling this game like an even contest between two rivals but that isn't the case. Roethlisberger owns Flacco. The Steelers have now beaten the Ravens seven consecutive times when Big Ben plays

Now the Steelers turn their eyes towards the New York Jets. The Steelers can't afford to give up costly mistakes against the Jets because New York proved they are winners last week. Mark Sanchez(notes) isn't going to dominate many defenses, especially not the Steelers, but he did make big plays in pressure moments. The Jets receiving core includes two castoffs, Braylon Edwards(notes) and Santonio Holmes(notes), but they came through in the end. The Jets can also throw a defense at the Steelers that is as good as Baltimore's and a running game that is better. There's no reason to think the Steelers can't win but expect a very un-Ravens-like performance from the Jets.

Sources:

Gerry Dulac, Comeback versus Ravens among most satisfying, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Ed Bouchette, Steelers rally to beat Ravens, 31 - 24, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Scott Brown, Steelers rally to stun Ravens, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

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