3 reasons the Pittsburgh Steelers will win in their Week 8 Matchup vs Ravens

There may be a question to who has the better defense in the AFC north. That will be answered this week.

There is no doubt in my mind that this defense will be legendary by the time this season is over. The Pittsburgh Steelers, out of necessity to stop run-dominant teams, have allowed some bigger pass plays to leak through. However, there is not a better front 7 in the league than Pittsburgh’s, and that is even with the loss of Devin Bush. There isn’t a better 4 man rush than that of, T.J. Watt, Bud Dupree, Cam Heyward, and Stephon Tuitt, in the league at generating pressure.

Even with the Ravens’ ultra-talented group of corners that contain the like of Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Peters, and even Jimmy Smith, the Steelers have more talent overall. Minkah Fitzpatrick is still one of the best safeties in the league, even with teams doing everything they can to avoid him. Terrell Edmunds has been showing improvements in coverage. I really think that this is the better defense. Matchups are important too. The Steelers strength is defending the run and that is the Ravens’ strength on offense. Pittsburgh has been shutting down some of the best running attacks in the league all season and I don’t expect that level of run defense to just disappear.

Furthermore, the Steelers are leading the league in sacks and Lamar Jackson has not been playing well under pressure this season. He has the tendency to try and do too much in the backfield. I do think that isn’t the worst thing when you have a quarterback who can run like he can. However, Jackson has been trying to buy too much time for a rather weak receiving core instead of just running it himself and that has led to him being sacked the 10th most among quarterbacks in the NFL in 2020. That is terrible considering he has one of the best tackle pairings in the league on his offensive line, being Ronnie Stanley and Orlando Brown. To his credit, he’d rather take the sack than throw interceptions as he only has two on the season.

I really think this Steelers defense is going to make Jackson’s day a rough one. They are going to get on him quickly and often with his tendency to move outside the pocket. With Joe Haden, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Steven Nelson consistently looking for the chance to swipe the ball, I expect Jackson to throw an interception or two while under pressure this week.

This game could be up and down. However, I think the final score may not reflect that. I’d like to say that the Pittsburgh Steelers have the potential to win by 2 or 3 scores and they do. However, I think that the Steelers have a few bumps before taking control of the game and walking out with a win 30-24.