With Ben Roethlisberger out for a while, the Pittsburgh Steelers Baltimore Ravens game on Thursday night just became a lot more interesting. He sprained his MCL last weekend, and will be out against the Ravens. Baltimore hasn’t won a game yet this year, and they are hoping to take advantage of the fact that Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback is out.
Pittsburgh will have a veteran QB on the field Thursday, though. Michael Vick will take the field for the first time as a starter for the Steelers. He’s only played in a handful of games over the last two years, and he hasn’t been that impressive. However, he also hasn’t been given control of the offense in quite the same way that he will be given it on Thursday. Vick was once a very versatile and agile QB. He’s experienced and has a good eye for the ball, but is not the same player that he once was. Still, with WR Antonio Brown and RB Le’Veon Bell on the team Vick’s job suddenly becomes much easier. Brown has helped Roethlisberger’s daily fantasy football numbers incredibly, and there’s no doubt that he will help Vick, too. The only question is by how much.
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Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens need a big game to make up for an awful start to their year. They are currently undergoing the worst beginning to a season that they have ever had, and relief is needed quickly. A weakened Pittsburgh team presents a good opportunity for this. It really depends upon how the Baltimore offense stacks up this week, and how the Pittsburgh defense does against them. The Ravens’ offense is currently acquiring 23.3 points per game, and the Pittsburgh defense is allowing 17.3. Despite a 2-1 record, the Steelers are currently the 6th best team in the NFL from a defensive standpoint based upon this number. They are already at a slight advantage here, but Flacco will still need to play far better than he has all season to pull this off. Not having the home field advantage might hurt a little, but this probably won’t be enough to sway things either way because Vick doesn’t have the same experience in Pittsburgh that Roethlisberger does. Flacco needs a big game, and he needs his offense to as well.
Steve Smith, Sr. has provided some good support at wide receiver for Flacco, and it will be interesting to see how he pairs against Pittsburgh’s defense. He had 186 yards receiving last week; the second most of any WR. He’s currently number three in the NFL right now. The downside is that the number two WR plays for Pittsburgh. And while Vick certainly doesn’t have the same arm that Roethlisberger does, that doesn’t mean that he will not throw the ball at all. And when he does, Antonio Brown is more than likely to be his first choice as a target.
In Flacco’s defense, he did have a great game last week against the Bengals. He threw for 362 yards. Cincinnati was just far better than Baltimore. Their defense will also need to be on their top game. With Roethlisberger in and Bell finally at full strength, the Ravens would have been destroyed. With Big Ben out, and Vick in, things are much more undecided. This is one of those games that can now go either way.
Right now, the Pittsburgh Steelers should have the advantage, even though Vegas doesn’t quite agree. The Ravens have been listed as 3 point favorites with the absence of Roethlisberger. This seems more like a reaction to the injury than the fact that the Steelers still have a strong team. It will be a great game regardless.
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