5 things you must know about the Steelers Week 8 matchup vs Ravens

The Pittsburgh Steelers are dealing with the best group of cornerbacks in the league.

Baltimore’s general manager, Eric DeCosta, deserves a ton of credit for the defense that he has put together. I understand that the Ravens have a great pass rush, but the strength of this defense lies in its secondary. Without all of the terrific cornerbacks that can effectively match up with any receiving group in the league, the Ravens would not be able to successfully utilize the blitz as much as they like to. Baltimore, per NFL’s game preview, blitz on 46.1% of their plays which is a league-leading number. The Ravens can only afford to blitz that often because of the incredible talent in their secondary.

Baltimore is dealing with a lot of injuries in the secondary. However, their top 3 options are mostly healthy. Marlon Humprey is an elite corner and could possibly be in the discussion for being in the top 3 in the league despite just being 24. Marcus Peters is a ball-hawk from that position if there ever was one. Jimmy Smith is their 3rd best corner and he could start on pretty much every other defense in the league. Smith is the only one that is questionable, but he practiced on Monday in a limited capacity. Provided that there aren’t any setbacks, he will be good to go for the game on Sunday.

This is the first team and probably the only team in the AFC maybe even the NFL that can match up with Pittsburgh’s receiving core in one on one situations. Jimmy Smith is big and if he keeps Claypool in front of him it is going to be hard to get the electric rookie going. Marcus Peters and Marlon Humprey can both handle the other receivers pretty well and it could be a hard day getting the passing game going. However, both JuJu Smith-Schuster and Eric Ebron should be heavily involved this week. They are the best combat catch guys on the roster currently and it will be hard for guys to get open this game.