1. Finale history
The Pittsburgh Steelers have won 11 consecutive regular-season finales and are 17-2 in them since the turn of the century. But before Steelers fans get too excited about their chances Sunday in Baltimore, both defeats in finales came at the Ravens.
There is, however, interesting history involved with one of them.
In 2007, the Ravens’ win in part was because the Steelers rested several starters since they were locked into the No. 4 seed. But in 2003, it was Baltimore that was locked into the No. 4 seed, and the Steelers who were long eliminated from the postseason. But then-Ravens coach Brian Billick played his starters the whole game.
“This is the Pittsburgh Steelers,” Billick said in explaining his decision after a 13-10 overtime victory.
While Baltimore and Billick appeared to pull one over on their rivals — twice — by winning the division and beating them in the final game, it would be the Steelers who would get the last laugh.
That’s because the defeat dropped the Steelers to 6-10, which gave them the 11th pick in the ensuing draft. If the Ravens rested their starters and the Steelers won that finale, they would have dropped 2-4 spots in the draft.
The player who unexpectedly fell to the Steelers at No. 11? Ben Roethlisberger.
No one knows how things would have played out had the Steelers picked, say, 14th. But the team that picked 13th that year, the Buffalo Bills, about two hours later traded future first-, second- and fifth-round picks to the Dallas Cowboys for the 22nd pick so they could take a quarterback.
And if Buffalo invested that much to nab the eminently forgettable J.P. Losman, it’s reasonable to believe they would have been highly intrigued by Roethlisberger. That would have left the Steelers with Tommy Maddox as their quarterback and, in all likelihood, probably without the two Super Bowl wins Roethlisberger led the Steelers to over the next five years.
Indirectly, all because Billick wanted to stick it to the Steelers.
2019 marks the 16th season for players selected in the 2004 NFL Draft, including @Giants QB Eli Manning (1st overall), @Chargers QB Philip Rivers (4th overall) and @Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger.
Check out where this draft class ranks among the all-time greats. #NFL100 pic.twitter.com/wQp4SOzxf2
— NFL345 (@NFL345) August 26, 2019
2. Who’s No. 2?
There is zero question about what the most successful franchise in the NFL has been since 2000. But who is No. 2 to the New England Patriots? The Steelers and Ravens probably have the best cases to be made.
No other franchise ranks in the top five in the league over the past 20 seasons in wins, Super Bowl appearances, Super Bowl wins, conference title game appearances, winning seasons, playoff berths, playoff games and playoff wins. The Patriots lead the NFL by a wide margin in each of those categories, but the Steelers, respectively, are second in wins, tied for second in Super Bowl appearances, tied for second in Super Bowl wins, tied for second in conference title game appearances, second in winning seasons, tied for fifth in playoff berths, tied for third in playoff games and tied for second in playoff wins.
In those same categories, the Ravens are fifth, tied for fifth, tied for second, tied for fourth, tied for third, tied for fifth, tied for fifth and tied for second.
Five moments that define the @Steelers–@Ravens rivalry! #BALvsPIT #fbf pic.twitter.com/FuDQr4ombf
— NFL (@NFL) December 8, 2017
3. Flagging them down
Although the Steelers, according to nflpenalties.com, have had roughly the same number of penalties called on them and their opponents this season (105 on them, 109 on their opponents), there has been a yardage chasm in favor of the Steelers.
The Steelers have gained 243 yards this season relative to their opponents: they’ve been penalized 840 yards and benefited 1,083 yards because of penalties. That’s the third-biggest net gain in the NFL. In 11 of their 15 games, the Steelers have gained net yardage from penalties relative to their opponent.
Only one team has been penalized more at home this season than the Steelers (63 flags). But only two teams have been penalized fewer times on the road than the Steelers (42).
Also, just four teams have had more pre-snap penalties than the Steelers’ 42.
With James Conner unable to finish the regular season with a thigh injury, the Pittsburgh Steelers will turn back to a committee approach Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.https://t.co/S8SFNc6Fwa
— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) December 27, 2019
4. Kerrith the one
Kerrith Whyte was signed by the Steelers before Week 12. Since then, of the 58 running backs who have at least 21 carries, Whyte ranks sixth in yards after contact per attempt per attempt (3.95), according to PFF.
He is the Steelers’ highest-graded running back since joining the team, and his 5.5 yards per carry rank among the top 10 of all backs in the NFL who have had as many carries as him.
Hey, Steelers Nation, get the latest news about the Pittsburgh Steelers here.
Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
"last" - Google News
December 28, 2019 at 10:38PM
https://ift.tt/2Zwdms8
Four Downs: Last time Ravens beat Steelers in meaningless finale, Steelers won out in end - TribLIVE
"last" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2rbmsh7
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
No comments:
Post a Comment