Ratbirds Game Prediction

[Lofaw]

I want to see how much faith you have in the team with Ben out hurt. The betting public and Vegas books definitely have no faith as the line went from Pittsburgh -3.5 to it now being the Ratbirds -3.5. Which in my opinion is ridiculous and if the online sportsbook I used was still in business I'd bet the game taking us straight up on the money line. Anyway what is your prediction for tonight's game?

It looks like Mendenhall and Clark will play.

I believe! Usually when teams have a star go down they rally and in this case playing at home against a bitter rival you'd have to expect the defense to really get up for this game. I also believe Letwiches biggest weakness is his long throwing motion which behind a suspect OL would seem to be a big problem. If this was last season under Bruce Arians I'd worry, but under Haley's system of short passes I'm not worried about Leftwich's weakness. I also believe the full week of getting all the snaps in practice will go a long way of how Leftwich will look this week compared to last week when he had hardly any snaps during the week. The OL will play over their head knowing they have to for this one and as long as we keep the penalties to a minimum and don't turn the ball over we will win this game tonight. I'll say 23-16 Steelers We're going to run for over 200 yards tonight with the bulk of the yards coming from Dwyer who will also have 1 TD. Heath will have the other TD. I'm not expecting a big throwing night from Leftwich and think he'll pass for a little under 150 yards, but more importantly won't turn the ball over.

Your Predictions?

[Canada]

13-10 Steelers.

we find a way.

I'm gonna be watching real closely Harrison's play.......

[westcoast]

A couple things bother me with the obvious one Ben being out. The Ravens are without Webb and another corner Smith I think, it's not like Ben has had a field day agaiinst the Ravens in the past because of their pressure but with the new offense and Ben getting rid of the ball quicker against a depleted Ravens' secondary things were really looking up. I understand Leftwich is playing with the same offense but he does take longer to get rid of the ball not to mention our best receiver especially in the underneath passing game is out as well. Granted our running game should have more success but the Ravens will play to stop the run and see if Lefty can beat them. I also worry about Leftwich staying healthy for four quarters and Batch if he must play, those two are brittle.

On the other hand, the Ravens offense although inconsistent has allot of weapons to be concerned about not to mention their special teams. This game falls on the shoulders of our defense and offensive line which I is always the case. If we're going to win we must come up with a couple touchdowns from the defense and/or special teams. They don't have to go in for a touchdown but an interception or return inside the Ravens 20 would go a long way. I don't see us winning unless the turnovers are at least two in our favour and that's only if we don't cough up the ball or give them good field position because of their return game. Otherwise we'll need even more help.

I'm not big on a Steeler victory because the things we need (turnovers) we haven't done in a couple years. Past Steeler victories against this team almost always are predicated on at least one score by our defense and a couple other Flaco blunders. I'm not going to predict a score but if I were a betting man I'd take the Ravens giving up the 3.5. I can't believe the spread opened the other way, I had to take a double take Tuesday morning because I knew Ben wasn't dressing and that Brown was out which has been ignored this week due to our QB situation. Hell, no one is even talking about Polamalu although that's the least of our worries.

[Muddler]

Not overly optimistic here. Missing Ben is tough, with him on the field I figure we always have a chance to win. Glad the game is home. Lefty didn't look that great last week though he should be better with a week of practice. Flacco has been up and down this year - I hope we catch him in the down cycle. We can win IF the oline gives Lefty time to make plays downfield to Wallace and Sanders and I'm hoping we finally bust some big plays on STs. However, with our weak run defense I fear that Ray Rice is gonna shred us.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst: Rats 24-17.