Steelers defense allowed 6.1 yards per carry and did much of their damage after losing starting running back Ben Tate to a knee injury. They are a young defense and will improve, but the last thing that defense needs is a short week to make adjustments.

Bernard Pierce off horrible game for Ravens, but he should benefit from cut blocking schemes and we look for him to bounce back. We have talked so many times that there are errors that are difficult to correct and there are others that are very correctable. The Ravens combined for seven dropped passes. Steve Smith, Jacoby Jones and Torrey Smith all had the ball bounce off their hands in key situations. These are good receivers, so we can write their sloppy effort off to an aberration. Dennis Pitta had 10 catches and his return to the line-up this season is huge.

Ravens CB Ladarius Webb is questionable but he did practice, so they should get a key component back. Steelers waned down stretch against Cleveland and that does not bode well versus a Ravens team in back-to-back home games.

Oh and those who have been with us for decades, and thank you as it has been many, know that teams tend to rally around adversity. You may have read but Baltimore had their share this week. History says this is a rallying cry, not a distraction.