With history on Pittsburgh side this game should prove early that the Steelers are still the elite team in the AFC North and in the entire league. The Steelers carried over most of their super bowl team and will now have Pro Bowl center Pouncey available at center. The Steelers are also so deep at receiver with young talented players opposing defenses are going to struggle each week to try and stop the air attack. While they are worried about trying to shut down Hines Ward, Mike Wallace, Emmanuel Sanders, Jericho Cotchery , and Antonio Brown, they still have an improved running game.in Rashard Mendenhall, Isaac Redman, Moore, and Dwyer that will allow Pittsburgh receivers to get some favorable single coverages.
The Defense also returns and should be in mid-season form against the Ravens. The Ravens struggle each year against the sopisticated blitz schemes that the defense runs. With a 3-4 base it allows the Steelers to blitz from all over the field leaving opposing quarterback flustered and turning the ball over.
Harrison , Timmons, Farrior and Woodley are the best linbacking group in the league. Ike Taylor and Brian McFaddon can handle the receivers with the help of Ryan Clark and the NFL’s top Defensive Player in Troy Polamalu. Than you have Smith, Keisel, and Hampton up front and you have the NFL’s top defense.
The Ravens as a team didn’t really do anything this offseason to make that leap ahead of the Steelers. All they really did was replace players with players that had about the same amount of talent. They didn’t get much younger and get the deep threat that Flacco needs. Their defense only got a year old , but not a year better. Not having organized team activities for most of the off-season hurts teams like this that bring in new players that do not have the time to mess with each other.
In Ben Roethisbergers last 5 games vs the Ravens he is 5 and 0 and played very well against a great defense. This defense is not the same hard hitting, turnover producing defense that it has been in the past and the Steelers will expose it early and often. Its great to see two tough teams playing this early in the season. The Steelers will start out 2011 with a win in Baltimore and continue their dominance of the AFC.