Game Preview - Week 9: Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh: A battle of divisional rivals on Monday night should make for a nice ending to the football weekend. The Steelers are clicking on offense with both Ben Roethlisberger (15 TDs, 6 INTs) and Willie Parker (5 100-yd rushing games) having great seasons. Hines Ward is back from his sprained knee and Santonio Holmes is the perfect deep threat compliment. No question the Ravens defense is talented. Their top-ten ranking against the pass and run speaks volumes so don't expect eye-popping numbers but a score from both Roethlisberger and Paker should be expected. Note: The Steelers have won six of its last seven at Heinz Field with the only loss coming to Baltimore. However, Pittsburgh has not lost a Monday night game at home in more than 16 years.

Start: QB Ben Roethlisberger, RB Willie Parker, WR Hines Ward, WR Santonio Holmes
Consider: K Jeff Reed, Steelers D/ST, TE Heath Miller
Sit: WR Cedrick Wilson, WR Nate Washington

Baltimore: The Ravens swept the Steelers last season and will no doubt be jacked to play on Monday night however this team lacks the firepower to stay with Pittsburgh on their home field. McNair is shadow of his former self and while Derrick Mason and Willis McGahee are viable fantasy options they should be held in check by a top five defense, finishing with modest yardage totals. Todd Heap has been in and out of the lineup with a strained hamstring putting a damper on the Ravens passing game which continues to lack an identity. A missing persons reports has been filed on Mark Clayton so if you see him, please let him know the 2007 NFL season has begun.

Start: RB Willis McGahee, WR Derrick Mason
Consider: TE Todd Heap, QB Steve McNair
Sit: WR Demetrius Williams WR Mark Clayton

Krueger's Rankings/Projections

Baltimore Ravens
Rank	Player	Projections
QB 13	Steve McNair	Pass: 240, 1 Rush: 0, 0
RB 19	Willis McGahee	Rush: 70, 0 Rec: 3-20, 0
WR 10	Derrick Mason	Rec: 7-90, 1
WR 41	Demetrius Williams	Rec: 4-45, 0
WR 58	Mark Clayton	Rec: 3-30, 0
TE 13	Quinn Sypniewski	Rec: 3-30, 1
TE 23	Todd Heap	Rec: 1-15, 0

Pittsburgh Steelers
Rank	Player	Projections
QB 11	Ben Roethlisberger	Pass: 225, 1 Rush: 5, 0
RB 6	Willie Parker	Rush: 95, 1 Rec: 2-15, 0
RB 48	Najeh Davenport	Rush: 10, 0 Rec: 0-0, 0
WR 13	Hines Ward	Rec: 6-80, 1
WR 24	Santonio Holmes	Rec: 5-65, 0
WR 74	Nate Washington	Rec: 1-20, 0
TE 8	Heath Miller	Rec: 3-35, 0

View all Week 9 Rankings or Projections

Past Results and Remaining Schedule

Baltimore Ravens
Week	Date	Opp	H/A	Score	Dif
1	2007-09-10	CIN	A	L 20-27	-7
2	2007-09-16	NYJ	H	W 20-13	+7
3	2007-09-23	ARI	H	W 26-23	+3
4	2007-09-30	CLE	A	L 13-27	-14
5	2007-10-07	SF	A	W 9-7	+2
6	2007-10-14	STL	H	W 22-3	+19
7	2007-10-21	BUF	A	L 14-19	-5
8		Bye
9	2007-11-05	PIT	A	L 7-38	-31
10	2007-11-11	CIN	H
11	2007-11-18	CLE	H
12	2007-11-25	SD	A
13	2007-12-03	NE	H
14	2007-12-09	IND	H
15	2007-12-16	MIA	A
16	2007-12-23	SEA	A
17	2007-12-30	PIT	H

Pittsburgh Steelers
Week	Date	Opp	H/A	Score	Dif
1	2007-09-09	CLE	A	W 34-7	+27
2	2007-09-16	BUF	H	W 26-3	+23
3	2007-09-23	SF	H	W 37-16	+21
4	2007-09-30	ARI	A	L 14-21	-7
5	2007-10-07	SEA	H	W 21-0	+21
6		Bye
7	2007-10-21	DEN	A	L 28-31	-3
8	2007-10-28	CIN	A	W 24-13	+11
9	2007-11-05	BAL	H	W 38-7	+31
10	2007-11-11	CLE	H
11	2007-11-18	NYJ	A
12	2007-11-26	MIA	H
13	2007-12-02	CIN	H
14	2007-12-09	NE	A
15	2007-12-16	JAC	H
16	2007-12-20	STL	A
17	2007-12-30	BAL	A

Offense Stats Comparison

	BAL Offense	PIT Offense	NFL Average
Points for	16.3	24.3	21.3
Rushing yards	113.0	147.3	111.1
Rushing yards per attempt	3.95	4.55	4.09
Completion %	65.0%	67.4%	62.0%
Passing yards	215.7	204.7	215.6
Passing yards per completion	8.65	11.20	10.57
Passing yards per attempt	5.63	7.55	6.55
Interceptions	0.3	1.0	1.0
Fumbles lost	1.0	0.3	0.7
Sacked	1.0	3.0	2.1

Note: Team statistics are shown as the average per game through Weeks 3 to 8 of the 2007 season after deducting the best and worst value from the data set. The exception is yards per rush attempt, completion %, yards per pass completion, yards per pass attempt and the NFL averages, which are each calculated based on totals through Weeks 3 to 8 with no adjustment.

Defense Stats Comparison

	BAL Defense	PIT Defense	NFL Average
Points against	16.3	16.7	21.3
Rushing yards	75.7	89.0	111.1
Rushing yards per attempt	3.08	3.77	4.09
Completion %	56.7%	60.6%	62.0%
Passing yards	180.0	206.0	215.6
Passing yards per completion	12.59	9.88	10.57
Passing yards per attempt	7.14	5.99	6.55
INT return	1.0	0.7	1.0
Fumble recoveries	0.3	0.3	0.7
Sacks	2.0	2.0	2.1

Weather

Check the current weather forecast for Pittsburgh from Weather.com.

Team vs. Team History

Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Season	Week	Date	Vis	Home	Score	Winner
2000	1	2000-09-03	BAL	PIT	16-0	BAL
2000	9	2000-10-29	PIT	BAL	9-6	PIT
2001	8	2001-11-04	BAL	PIT	13-10	BAL
2001	14	2001-12-16	PIT	BAL	26-21	PIT
2002	8	2002-10-27	PIT	BAL	31-18	PIT
2002	17	2002-12-29	BAL	PIT	31-34	PIT
2003	1	2003-09-07	BAL	PIT	15-34	PIT
2003	17	2003-12-28	PIT	BAL	10-13	BAL
2004	2	2004-09-19	PIT	BAL	13-30	BAL
2004	16	2004-12-26	BAL	PIT	7-20	PIT
2005	8	2005-10-31	BAL	PIT	19-20	PIT
2005	11	2005-11-20	PIT	BAL	13-16	BAL
2006	12	2006-11-26	PIT	BAL	0-27	BAL
2006	16	2006-12-24	BAL	PIT	31-7	BAL

Note: Only playoff games from the 2004 to 2006 seasons are included in the team vs. team history. Playoff games from seasons prior to 2004 are not currently included in the database.

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