This AFC North clash features key battles between specific players, units, and coaches.
The Baltimore Ravens will be back on the road in Week 11 where they will travel to play the Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC North showdown on Sunday afternoon. For the tenth straight week, the Ravens are favored to come out on top in this clash of divisional archrivals who are both vying for the division crown.
However, games aren’t won on paper or decided by betting odds. There are some pivotal matchups between individual players, units, and coaches that will go a long way in determining the outcome of this contest.
Below are a handful of those key battles that could be deciding factors in Week 11.
OT Roger Rosengarten v. OLB T.J. Watt
The second-round rookie right tackle will have the most daunting task on a down-to-down basis since the Steelers’ six-time Pro Bowl pass rusher and Defensive Player of the Year candidate lines up almost exclusively on his side of the line. Rosengarten has come a long way since allowing a sack on his first regular-season snap while in a regular rotation in Week 1. He will face arguably the hardest individual matchup of his career on Sunday when he and Watt are lined up one-on-one or even on the occasions when he gets help in the form of chips and double teams which should be early and often given how devastating of difference-maker the future Hall of Famer can be on any given play but especially late in tight games.
Ravens cornerbacks v. Steelers wide receivers
Since the insertion of nine-time Pro Bowl veteran Russell Wilson as the starting quarterback, Pittsburgh’s passing attack has taken off. The vertical element in particular was unlocked which makes the big-bodied wideout duo George Pickens and Mike Williams big-play threats anytime Wilson drops back to pass and uncorks one of his iconic moon balls in one of their directions. While the Ravens’ cornerbacks have struggled to keep opposing receivers in check while in zone coverage, they’ve been much better when playing man, especially down the field.
With veteran nickel Arthur Maulet already ruled out for this game, expect to see a heavy rotation of Brandon Stephens, rookie Nate Wiggins and newcomer Tre’Davius White on the outside when three-time Pro Bowler Marlon Humphrey moves inside to man the slot. Stephens in particular could get heavily targeted in this game down the field no matter the situation with his struggles tracking the ball this year that opposing teams are well aware of and have regularly exploited.
Ravens interior OL v. DT Cam Heyward
While the Washington Commanders did a good job of not letting Watt wreck the game off the edge last week, holding him without a sack, the Steelers’ six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle was still able to wreak havoc up the middle both as a run defender and interior pass rusher. Heyward played a significant role in bottling up dynamic rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and keeping him from escaping the pocket, recording a team-leading two sacks, two solo tackles for loss and two quarterback hits. The 14-year veteran will be a handful for Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum and starting guards Daniel Faalele and Patrick Mekari to handle for most of the afternoon.
Ravens pass rush v. Steeler offensive line
On the other side of the line of scrimmage for both teams, Baltimore’s front seven could be poised to have a heavily impactful game against a susceptible Pittsburgh pass-blocking unit that has given up the eight-most sacks and allowing sacks at the eighth-highest rate. In the past three games, since Wilson has been the starter, they’ve given up eight sacks and seven in the last two weeks alone. The Ravens are coming off a game in which they generated 40 total pressures and kept Joe Burrow under constant duress while sacking him three times and hitting him 13 times. Pro Bowl defensive tackle Nnamdi Mabubuike recorded all three sacks and logged a fourth of the team’s pressures by himself and both he and a healthy third-year pro Travis Jones could have a similar highly disruptive impact in this game well.
While Steelers right tackle Broderick Jones is coming off one of his best games of the season, he has been inconsistent and a liability at times for most of the year and could be taken advantage of on the edge by Ravens veteran outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy who leads the team with seven sacks in 10 games. The return of All Pro safety Kyle Hamilton could be massively impactful to the pass rush as well as nickel blitzer off the edge especially when the Steelers dial-up play-action on early downs.
FB Patrick Ricard v. LB Patrick Queen
After spending the previous four years going against each other in practice, the two Pro Bowlers will square off for the first time in live action as adversaries in a game since Queen’s defection to Pittsburgh. The Ravens have the league’s best rushing attack with an average of 182.6 yards per game and 5.7 yards per carry thanks in no small part to Ricard’s contributions as a road grader in the ground game. The slighted Queen will be looking to blow up some of the Ravens’ running plays before the league’s leading rusher can get going downhill. Still, he’ll have to get past his former teammate and practice partner first on most of those runs as Ricard is often the lead blocker climbing to the second level to make a key block to spring a chunk gain or touchdown.
RB Derrick Henry v. DB DeShon Elliott
The Ravens’ four-time Pro Bowl running back is their physical tone-setter on offense while the Steelers’ veteran safety serves in a similar role for his team’s defense. Elliott is another former Ravens starter who began their career in Baltimore and will be out to prove that they made a mistake in not bringing him back three years ago following the 2021 season. He leads the Steelers in total tackles ahead of Queen with 64 and will likely be spending a lot of time down in the box trying to meet Henry at or behind the line of scrimmage or prevent him from ripping off longer gains if he gets past the second level of the defense.
Ravens fans remember Elliott fondly for a big hit laid on Henry during the 2020 season that stopped him in his track near the sideline and the seven-year veteran would like nothing more than to endear himself to the Steelers fanbase by making a similar play on Sunday. However, that will be easier said than done given how Henry is having one of the best and most efficient seasons of his career and is showing no signs of slowing down as long as the Ravens consistently feed him the ball.