***SWAMPY CLAUS - MERRY XMAS - GAME 1 - BAL @ PIT***
***BALTIMORE RAVENS @ PITTSBURGH STEELERS***
Merry Christmas from the Swamp to wherever you are! What a game that the NFL has gifted us fans with to feast on today as maybe the best rivalry in the NFL take center stage when the 8-6 Baltimore Ravens swoop into Pittsburgh to take on the 9-6 Steelers in a game where playoff hopes and dreams are at stake. Since the Ravens won the first matchup back in week 9, they would hold coveted tie-breaker if they were able to pull off a big road upset on the road today in Pitt and would be able to jump ahead of the Steelers in the AFC North with one week remaining. With a Ravens loss today, the Steelers would clinch the division and the Ravens would be eliminated from playoff contention all together. Needless to say the Black Birds backs are against the wall and they will need to dig deep to get a road win in Pitt on Christmas in front of the world. The last time around when they were able to defeat the Steelers in Baltimore, Pitt QB Ben Roethlisberger was fresh off of an injury and was clearly a bit rusty as they struggled to get anything going offensively and lost the game 21-14. That being said, the Ravens know how to contain Pitt WR Antonio Brown better than anybody in the league, but will be without their best CB in Jimmy Smith to help do so today. The emergence of a young Baltimore CB in Tavon Young has been a pleasant surprise and he will be a big time key in helping make up for Smith's absence. With a Head Coach in John Harbaugh I know he will scheme up a way to help make up for Jimmy Smith's injury and use veteran Safety Eric Weddle to help where needed. Baltimore also does a great job in limiting PItt RB Le'Veon Bell, another big time threat for the Steelers. It is nearly impossible to stop all the Killer B's in Big Ben, Bell, & Brown but a focused Ravens squad with their playoff lives on the line has a great shot at slowing them down some. That being said, Big Ben at home and especially in revenge mode is usually at his best. I am sure he, Bell, and Brown will find a way to get theirs and put up some points today. However, I believe Ravens QB Joe Flacco and this offense are due to start catching fire and what better time to do so, am I right?! The Ravens are great at facing adversity at the end of the season and always seem to be pretty clutch come December, especially when road dawgs and up against their bitter rival the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steeler defense has been playing much better in their recent five game winning streak but they can be vulnerable to the deep ball and I like Joe Cool to try and take advantage. A motivated Steve Smith Sr., the young Breshad Perriman and a speedy Mike Wallace up against his former team makeup for a very dangerous WR core for Baltimore and I believe will have themselves a day. These are two of the best deep ball throwers in the game and I think both QBs sling the rock today and go toe to toe to put on an entertaining Christmas battle to help make up for the snoozfest that was the Bengals versus the Texans last night. Swampy smelling the possible upset here! RAVENS+6
